5 Tips for New Graduates

With the start of the 2016 school year getting closer each minute, I thought I'd take the time to write down some advice/tips/words of wisdom for any new graduates starting in their first classroom tomorrow (or for any non-graduates who may need a little pep talk :) 

I bet Uni seems so long ago now. The relief you felt when you handed in that final assignment last Spring has now turned to nervous excitement at the prospect that, tomorrow, you will be walking into a school for the first time as an actual teacher. Not a pre-service teacher, or a student-teacher, no more L plates for you; you have been awarded your (metaphorically speaking) probationary teachers licence and you are in the drivers seat. No one there to help you, or remind you to put the brakes on earlier than you would have thought to; no one to remind you to look left, then right, then left again; no one to tell you how loud the radio should be/if it should be on at all. 

That's a damn scary prospect, because you are now the adult in the room; all responsibility falls to you. 

I say this not to scare you, because that's the last thing I want to do! But rather to focus you and to make you realise that this IS real, this IS happening, but that help with ALWAYS be available for your. 

So, on that note, here are my 5 tips for new graduates about to embark on their teaching career. 

TIP 1: Get Some Sleep! 

This tip does not just apply to the night before the first day of school, it applies to every night, especially during Term 1! You. Will. Be. Buggered. A 'happy' type of exhausted, but stuffed nonetheless. 

DEFINITELY get a good nights sleep before the very first day of school, both the first day for teachers and the first day with students. Try and get at least 8 hours if you don't already, as once you get into the term, you will need all of that wonderful recovery that happens when you sleep. 

Getting the right amount of sleep is just about the moment important thing you can do, because I guarantee you, you will get sick. Not the first week, but at some stage during your first year, you'll get something! New teachers, like babies, don't have a good immune system yet. You'll build up resistance to those nasty germs and yucky illnesses that float around schools the more you teach, but setting yourself up to have a good, solid, uninterrupted amount of sleep each night will help you stave off any unwelcome bugs.

TIP 2: Think About Food 

The hardest thing I found when I started teaching (aside from the actual, y'know, TEACHING) was the structure of my day had changed. For 5 years I'd been free and easy, able to do whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. If I wanted to eat lunch at 3pm, I could! If I wanted to sleep in until 11am, I could! Starting a full time Monday - Friday job changes the structure of your day, and you need to be prepared for that. 

For starters, think about what you'll eat each day. I hate this part of planning my week and I'll say that I end up not taking lunch most days to work because of poor planning. DO NOT DO THIS. It's a trap you can easily fall into and once you do it's hard to get out of it because it requires "pre-planning" and "organisation" and by the time I need to do it, it's Sunday night at 7.30 and I just want to watch Masterchef and then go to bed. 

But seriously, think about what you'll take to school. Almost all staffrooms have a fridge, so it's easy to buy things in bulk, like a big tub of yoghurt, and leave it at school to snack on each day. Just as teachers take rice biscuits, muesli bars or soup to school in their packaging, straight from the supermarket, so they know they always have something even if they do forget to bring lunch day-to-day. You might prefer to sit down each Sunday and plan your meals for the week, so you know what you'll be eating. I'm a big fan of leftovers, and try to always cook a portion extra for dinner so that I can take that for my lunch the following day. Summer is usually wraps or salads, the salad part I prepare on the weekend (cutting, chopping etc) so each morning it's super easy to just assemble it. Winter sees soups coming in very handy - I like the La Zuppa soups - as they can be stored in your office for weeks and used as necessary. 

Think also about what you will snack on. You'll get to work around 8am, have a break at 11am, lunch at 1.30, then after school meetings/planning etc from 3.30-5pm each day. Most schools have a "brain break" or a "fruit break" at around 10am, and I always get so hungry when I see my kids snacking on their fruit during this time. So take a piece of fruit to eat at the same time as them (and you model this good behaviour at the same time as staving off your hangry-ness...win win). I'm a fan of good old carrot and celery sticks to munch on at recess time and think about what you can snack on after school, especially if you have a meeting or responsibilities that mean you won't be home until later than usual. 

TIP 3: DON'T, Repeat DON'T Get Overwhelmed. 

Starting any full time job is a huge change, but when that full time job is to teach and enrich the lives of 24 kidlets, it can all seem extremely overwhelming, especially since Uni never actually seems to inform you ALL of the expectations placed on teachers. 

Your very first day will be slightly nerve-wracking. For most schools, this is a student free day, where teachers partake in PD, have a big staff meeting and introduce new staff (i.e. YOU), review procedures/polices for new staff (again, YOU) and perhaps organise things like yard duty or library times. Sometimes, there is a full day PD. Other times, unit teams usually have some time to plan in the afternoon, or have a last minute fix up of their classrooms (it depends how many student free days you have at the beginning of the year). There will probably be some time to speak to the teachers who had your students last year and discuss their learning needs with them. It's A LOT to take in, especially when you're not used to it, but ask questions of your mentor/team teacher/unit leader/AP/Principal; they are there to and want to help you, so use them! They will prefer you to ask for help and seek clarification on something you are unsure of, however big or small, so don't be afraid they will think it's a stupid question because their success depends on your success, so you need their help to be successful together. 

Then comes the REAL first day. Y'know, the one with the actual children in the room? My very first day was stressful enough because of the whole "this is my classroom I'm in control I'm not sure I'm really qualified for this" mentality I had going on (P.S. you are TOTALLY qualified for this). Not only did I have all my brand new students coming into the room and I was trying to make sure that was all going smoothly, but I had a lot of parents in the room too. Now, if you were teaching Prep, this would be standard. Even grade 1 or 2, would be understandable, as the students are still young. I had grade 3/4, so whilst all my parents were ABSOLUTELY LOVELY, I figure they were there to check me out. And rightly so; I'm new, they wanted to meet the person in control of their child's education. 

I found this the most overwhelming part, the parents (because that's the part they leave out of the Uni courses). Be prepared to meet more parents than usual on the very first morning, because you are a new staff member and the parents don't know you. If you see parents in your room, go over and introduce yourself, because it makes a good impression. If they don't say, (although they probably will) ask who their child is "And you're the mum of...? Right, nice to meet you Alison." 

• Introduce yourself by your first name, that is, your proper first name; the name on your badge. If your name is Jessica, but everyone calls you Jess, introduce yourself as Jessica. It makes a better impression and also stamps a bit of authority/respect onto the relationship you have with your parents. After time (like months) if you know them well enough, then you could revert to more casual names, like Jess. 
• When they introduce themselves, repeat their name. This helps you to remember who they are and shows them you are paying attention and that you are 'present' in their conversation. 

Parents will be anxious on the first morning of school, especially if their child is with a brand BRAND new teacher. They WILL have faith in you, because your school has faith in you and YOU need to have faith in you, but they may still be slightly uneasy, because they don't know you. That's natural. Be your kind, friendly, lovely self and their fears or concerns will very quickly be alleviated. Remember YOU ARE IN CHARGE and if parents are still in the room when the music/bell goes to start the day, kindly remind them it's time to start and ask them politely to leave. Once the day has started, address the students; get them to all come together on the floor and only when they are focused on you, introduce yourself, mark the roll and let your first day begin! 

TIP 4: YOU Are In Control

From the moment you gather your students in the morning on the first day of school, you are setting the standard for what will and will not be accepted in your classroom. A lot of people say it is "our" classroom, and that the classroom is a very student-orientated environment, where they get a say in how things are done. This is not a wrong concept, but I think it's not the most correct one either. 

For starters, YOU are the adult in the room. YOU are in charge. YOU are responsible for everything and anything that goes wrong, so YOU have to have the final say on the rules, expectations and procedures in YOUR classroom. Yes, the students should feel involved; yes, they should feel safe and comfortable; yes, they should have input (to a certain extent) about how things are done/managed etc. The level of student involvement will increase as they get older (student voice looks a lot different in a Prep grade than it does in a Grade 6 room) because the expectations we have of them change, so it's natural to give them more responsibility, more of a "say" as they prove themselves capable of making such decisions. 

The first half hour or so of the very first day should be about outlining your expectations of student behaviour. If students don't know what you expect, they will do everything and anything to work it out and you DO NOT want that to happen. During my third year of placement, my supervising teacher gave me a list of behavioural situations (like 'student calls out when you're talking' or 'student swears and leaves room') and asked me to write down my management of these situations. I found this activity really enlightening and extremely reflective, and the fact that I still remember that activity he set me 5 years on must mean it was a good one. So I suggest this to you; sit down somewhere quiet, and write down your behaviour management process. The majority of schools will have something in place already, but some schools may have rules and guidelines, but leave the actual management system to individual teachers. Whatever you do, KEEP IT SIMPLE; if you don't, both you and your students will get confused, which won't help anyone. Think about what will you do if someone is talking when you are, what steps will you follow? What will happen if a student isn't working as you expect them to be? How will you handle it? What if you hear a student swearing, or making a derogatory comment about a peer? What process will you follow? Whatever you decide, communicate that with your students; do this not only on the first day, but for the first few weeks, until it becomes ingrained. If there is one thing I have learnt, it's to keep it simple. The students understand better if instructions, expectations and consequences are clear, and you understand better what you can ignore and what you can't. To get you started, here's an example: 

• Level 1: non-verbal communication with student not meeting expectation (eye contact, stop talking, a "look") 
• Level 2: 1st verbal warning, something along the lines of "Bob, you are speaking when I am speaking. You are not meeting our class expectations of listening when someone is speaking. This is your first warning." 
• Level 3: 2nd warning, time out in the room "Bob, you are continuing to talk when I am and this behaviour is not acceptable. Remove yourself from our group to rethink your behaviour." 
• This is the stage where Bob moves to a designated "time out" "chill out" "cool down" "reflection" area of the room, for 5 minutes. Once the time away from the main group has finished, make sure you de-brief with Bob about the situation using restorative practices. "Do you know why you were in time out? Please tell me why" "Which one of our learning environment/classroom (etc) expectations did you not meet?" "How can you change this in the future?" "This is your second warning, if this happens again, you will be sent out of our learning space.
• Level 4: Out of Room: Well, Bob just can't help himself, he's talking and distracting others and not doing any work, so the time has come for him to be removed from classroom. Something like "Bob, you are continuing to talk and distract others, even after we have spoken. This is unacceptable and you are not welcome in our learning space until you can meet our expectations." This is where you send Bob, with his work, to a 'buddy' room, for 20-30 minutes. 
• Level 5: Principal contact: If Bob comes back into the room after an exclusion time in another room, but his behaviour continues, then you would send him to the Principal/AP If he refuses, then send students to the office to get the Principal/AP, or if you are in an open learning area, send responsible students to get another teacher who can help you. 

Now, this might seem extreme, but it's really not. Bob has already had 3 warnings before being sent out of the room. In my experience, they only need the internal classroom time out to stop their unacceptable behaviour. If the student does need to be sent out of the room, this also sends a message to other students which says "she's serious". 

This is ONE example, and you might have a very different model of behaviour management, which is completely fine! Just as long as you completely understand how to implement it and you communicate that to the students. Discuss with them what type of behaviour would result in them facing consequences like being sent out of the room. Similarly, discuss what behaviour would result in them being awarded table points, dojo points, a sticker (positive rewards). 

Minor incidents, like talking when you are, would follow this heirarchy of consequences. However, if a student were to hit another student, or swear, or throw a chair, you wouldn't go through this process and first give them a non-verbal warning, would you? It's just as important to tell your students that, while this is the process we will follow, if you think for any reason they are being harmful to themselves or to others, that they are putting themselves or others in any danger or harm, then YOU will choose the appropriate consequence, which very well may be being sent straight to the Principal. 

Whatever your system, you need to be consistent. Your students will be testing you from the moment they walk into the classroom, so YOU need to know what YOU will do, for anything. What will you do if they talk back? What will you do if they don't follow instructions straight away? Having a set plan in place will make managing the situation much easier for you, and will help you not worry about not being consistent, or "stuffing it up". 

It is important to let your students know that YOU are in charge and that YOU have the responsibility to keep everyone safe. At the end of the day, WHAT YOU SAY GOES. Students need to know that you have the final say, the final voice on ANYTHING that goes on. They NEED to know you are in control, that you can keep them safe, otherwise they will test you until you prove yourself. There is a well-know teacher saying which is "Don't smile before Easter" which is to say you need to be serious and stern and really on top of behaviour in Term 1 to get your students to comply with your expectations. That's not true at all! You HAVE to smile before Easter, how else will your students see the real you? BUT you DO need to be consistent in those first few weeks; stamp your authority by giving students the consequences associated with their actions and behaviour, both positive and negative. 

TIP 5: HAVE FUN!! :) 

After all of this, you're probably over thinking everything and worrying that what you've done, or what you planned to do, isn't good enough and that you're not prepared for the 'real' side of teaching. BALDERDASH! Of COURSE you're ready! You were brilliant enough to be offered a position and YOU WILL SUCCEED!! Will it be easy? Not always. Will you stuff up? ABSOLUTELY! Will you finish the day and think how horrible it was and that you're changing the way you do things first thing tomorrow? YES! This is all about being a reflective teacher; you need to REFLECT on your practice, the good, bad and the ugly! NO teacher is perfect their first year out, no teacher is perfect their second, third or fourth year...in fact, NO TEACHER IS EVER PERFECT!! A wise, wise mentor told me that the moment you think you have learnt everything their is to learn about teaching, is the moment you need to retire. Teaching and learning is FOREVER changing and their will ALWAYS be something new to learn, or something new to try. There is no one fixed way to do things for everything; you have to try new things and see if they work for you. No one expects you to be wonderful on the first day, during the first week or even the first term! They do expect you to try your best, ask for help and reflect on your practice. I guarantee you, that you will FEEL yourself becoming a better teacher as each term passes, because you ARE! EVERYDAY you are in your classroom with your students you will learn something new; you'll learn what works and what doesn't and you will reflect and seek guidance appropriately to help you further.

It is SO IMPORTANT that you take the time to appreciate your class and your time with them. I think back to my first year and it seems like a blur! I was so caught up with doing everything right and for the first time, I think I forgot to enjoy myself. I felt the most at ease in December...11 months AFTER I started! Don't expect to feel like you've got everything under control on the first day, or during the first few weeks or months because you won't, but you will learn how to. Enjoy the successes of your students, celebrate with them! Reflect on your practice for the better; celebrate your own successes with your colleagues and laugh about the errors when you find a better way to do things. Make sure you take time for yourself to de-school; go to the movies, go running, watch a movie. You will burn yourself out if you are forever thinking about school; it is impossible to get everything done, so prioritise what you need to do, and the rest can wait. 

I'll leave you with this, because I think it's an excellent mantra to live by: 

The standard you walk by is the standard you accept. 

Someone much smarter than I am coined this phrase, and I think it is so relevant to everything we do in our lives. But as you enter your classrooms for the first time, remember this: YOU are in control, YOU set the standard and YOU have the final say. 

What are you going to really teach to your students? 

Mel :)