Quick recap, I started in the middle of the school year last year after receiving my teaching credential, so I've never had a "first day of school" day. After receiving my pink slip, I was rehired 1 month into summer by the same school, this time moving into an International Baccalaureate (IB) school model. I was pretty nervous about these new types of lesson plans I'll have to do, but my principal reassured me there's training and since it's the first year, we'll only need to create one IB lesson plan. Score. I accepted.
I was a nervous wreck several days before school started. I went into the school every day for a week to decorate and take a look at my new textbooks and curriculum I'll teach. I learned that I was teaching an Algebra Readiness course for 8th grade and one 7th grade Pre Algebra class. 7th graders?? I was nervous since I've never taught any grade lower than 8th and I remember 7th grade me an extremely awkward year for everyone. One thing I learned was 1 week was not enough time for me to prepare, especially since 2 of those days were spent at all-day meetings. I must've edited my syllabus 100 times and still couldn't decide how to grade homework, what students should do with late work, and even how I should arrange the tables in my classroom! See, student teaching doesn't prepare you for these things! I even felt like more pressure would be on me this year since last year everyone said my students were "terrible" because they had 3 bad teachers before me. This year, I was solely accountable. Yikes. Did I also mention my students test scores were over 60% below basic. Great.
Of course I didn't sleep my first week as a teacher due to excitement, nervousness, anxiety, and anticipation. My first day consisted of 2 in class assignments. One, was writing a letter to their future self. I told them I could give it to them on their last day of school (8th grade promotion) or to mail it to them 4 year from now when they're in senior year of high school. They wanted the high school thing, so they wrote a letter, brought it back in a self-addressed stamped envelope and I will mail it 4 years from now. I haven't quite decided how I'm going to deal with the students who will move by then but I'll figure it out by the end of the year. Note to self: Students in 8th grade don't know how to label an envelope to themselves, so next time I do this activity, I should teach them as a class before I have them do it on their own! My 2nd activity was something I had to come up with on the spot (since I thought they'd put more thought into their letters and that would take up all period) I have a bell I use in class so this was a perfect activity to start training them. Every time I rang the bell, I made them stop, look, listen for directions. I told them stuff like "look for someone with the same color shirt as you" or "find someone with the same first letter of your first name" and then I'd ask them to find out something about their partner i.e. favorite color, movie, music, tv show etc. This way they start learning about my classroom procedures with the bell, and also learned more about each other. Worked out well to share some answers at the end so I knew what was going on in the 8th grade world these days. This way, I can talk about some of their favorites when I'm teaching to get them interested.
Analysis: First day of school tells you a lot. Even if the students are known for misbehaving, the first day of school is usually quiet and students typically listen and follow directions. I had a class of only 23 students (it's typically 33 on average) and they were really tough that first day. Needless to say, 2 weeks in, they are still my most difficult class. I also noticed that students appreciate "nice" teachers. I know everyone says "don't smile till December" and make sure the students respect you and fear you, and maybe that works from some, but for those that know me, that'll never work with my style. The students look at me and think I'm straight out of high school. I tell them I expect lots. Tell a couple jokes here and there, drop in "Jersey Shores" comments, smile a lot and by the end of the first week, but students are already telling me how much they love math class and how they actually want to learn this year (even though they hate math). Music to a teachers ears. Success! Let's see how the rest of our days go...
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