Many of us will face many new learners in the next few days. Many have already met the individuals we will be making an impact on this year. Starting the school year has always felt like Christmas Eve to me. When I was a kid I could not sleep because I was excited about the day ahead, yet nervous. I think educators should be nervous and excited because we have the mission of guiding the learning journeys of many. Educators will make an impression on their learners; whether, this is a positive or negative impression is up to us. I like to start on a positive note and ensure I choose to walk in my class everyday and positively impact my students. Perhaps, you feel the same but need some inspiration or guidance. I hope the following tips and resources will help you along your journey! Bon Voyage!

Get your copy of The 30 Goals Challenge, Learning to Go, or Hacking Digital Learning. Ask me about training your teachers, ShellyTerrell@gmail.com!

My Survival Tips

1. Walk in motivated!– you will have the rest of the year to get bogged down, stressed, and in the dumps. What’s wrong with walking in believing you can really make a difference to your learners? I say start optimistically because it is often more difficult to pick yourself up.
2. Engage parents!– Let’s start  with a positive message about each student instead of a negative message. I like to write emails and send one to each parent with a nice personal note about the student. I also incude information about the school supplies, technology we will use, and more. I also invite them to a parent workshop with food to encourage them to attend. At this workshop we discuss the technology that will be used in the classroom and I ask parents to share ideas to improve the learning environment.
   • Tips for Engaging Parents this School Year.
   • Larry Ferlazzo also has great tips for engaging parents!
3. Set-up your classroom to support the various learning styles!
   • Shoeless Classroom
   • Be Very Afraid– Kids designing their own learning environments
   • Physical Places
   • Heller Up Skole
   • Learning Places and Spaces
4. Encourage learners to take part in creating their own learning environments!
   • Have them graffiti on butcher paper on the wall
   • Have them post their inspirational quotes on the wall
   • Have them create bulletin boards
5. Be preventative and proactive when it comes to managing your classroom!– Doing this will ensure you have less behavioral problems.
   • Why He Threw the Chair at Me
6. Unbind yourself from course books!– You know what your students need to learn so feel free to pick and choose what will work in the book and try having students be the main content creators of materials.
7. Try a flexible curriculum!– Don’t be glued to your curriculum. Instead, invite parents and students to make decisions about the curriculum. Once students are involved in their learning, they take ownership of their learning.
8. Reassess assessment!– How will you grade your students? Try a different approach!
9. Get to Know Your Students!– All your students should start with a clean slate. No matter what their past has been, you could be the first individual who has reached out to them. Our toughest students misbehave for a reason and usually are facing something horrific in their lives. Let’s care for them and let them start with a fresh record in our classroom.
   • Love Them Before You Know Them by Greta Sandler
10. Integrate technology effectively!– Pedagogy first then technology. When we use technology it should:
    •  support students ownership of learning
    • allow students to be content creators
    • engage and motivate students to be continuous learners
    • support effective communication, especially with peers worldwide
11. Have fun!– When you enjoy your job your kids have fun learning!
    • Fun Theory Video

Presentation video:

These tips are from a recent presentation I did for American TESOL. Please feel free to watch the Youtube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9s5JZD2i7k&feature=player_embedded

More Resources

These are more resources to help you:

• Survival Tips for the First Week of School 
• The 30 Goals Challenge for Educators– Free ebook and goals to inspire you throughout the teaching year!
• Goal-Setting with English Language Learners
• LiveBinder of Resources
• Great list of resources for New Teachers by Shamblesguru
• What you wish you knew before you became a teacher (Slideshare presentation)
• Top 12 New School Year Resolutions for Teachers
• Tips for Beginning the School Year Right
• Survival Tips for Teaching Kids English
• EFL Teacher’s Kit for Surviving Kids– In this post, I explore more tips for working with young learners.
• What Works: Cooperation vs. Competition– In this post, I explore how cooperative learning improved the culture and behavior of my young learners.
• Parent Release Form for Publishing Student Work Online
• Parent Release Form for Publishing Student Work Online PDF
• A Post About FirstsFirst impressions and first activities on the first day of the semester by Cecilia Lemos
• Dear Me (On the Eve of My First Year Teaching) by Matthew Ray
• First Days by Pamela Moran
• Dear Teacher Who is Afraid by JessieVaz12
• First Day of A New School Year by Sylvia Ellison
• Need Energy by Eva Buyuksimkesyan
• Getting to Know Each Other: Strategies and Activities for Beginning a New School Year
• Back to School and Ready to Go by Angela Maiers
• The Start of a New Year by Vicky Davis, The Cool Cat Teacher
• First Day of School: Anastasis Academy by Kelly Tenkely

Challenge:

Try any of these resources or tips with your learners.

If you enjoyed this post, you may want to subscribe for FREE to receive regular updates!

What are your tips for surviving the first day, weeks, and/ or month of school?