Don’t let the fact that you’re under- or even unprepared get you down; the school year starts tomorrow and you’ve already got the first few days planned. You have your syllabus (which you’ve written, scratched, revised, nixed, or overhauled), you have the first two days absolutely planned even though a number of questions have come your way, and you’ve squared up your room so that it almost resembles something you can teach in.
The next step is inviting in the kids and calming yourself down, and you are free to switch around the order of those two items.
You’re on your own after that, but don’t let it worry you. The year, like each student, is an open canvas. Explore what you can in teaching, and let the kids explore along with you.
And before you step through those doors tomorrow, make sure you read (and re-read) Bud Hunt’s Open Letter to Teachers.
Filed under: Blog Link, Expectations
Hope you had a wonderful first day – and glad you had (what sounds to be) a relaxing and restful summer : )
I am totally freakin’ out! Which is counter-productive because now I’ve hunkered down at my computer playing video games rather than facing the reality of preparing for the first day of teaching. OMG :O This has never happened before because I’ve always worked at a year-round school. This is our first year going traditional and starting in September, so this is like teaching day 1 year 1.
I love this blog! Keep up the good work.
Check this out:
http://theinfluentialteacher.com
thank you for posting this. i’m not quite as planned up as you are, and our kids begin on tuesday, but this is a good reminder that i’ve done it before and can do it again. hope the year is starting off well for you!
Quite an interesting blog here! Im a guitar teacher myself. I’ll be keeping an eye out on this place.
Excellent blog! The first day is always difficult for me. I’ve found this helpful to break the ice…
Jason (EducationDynamics)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDfew0YcDTo
Hey Mister,
Just found your blog through Two Writing Teachers. You know, I freak out too. That’s after 30 years. I always can’t think about anything I need to do in those first days, but then I get the students in my room, relationships develop, and suddenly I know exactly what to do. In my teaching nightmares during the summer, I never have relationships with the students.
Mike
hello!
i was searching through your other website (“the reflective teacher”) and found your MLA handbook idea. I LOVED it–did you ever finish it by chance? if so, could you email it to me? or post it somewhere? thanks so much.
Hope you have a wonderful new year at school. I have been following your blog for sometime… though this is my first comment here.
Thought would drop by and send you this site for your opinion before I start using it with my class.