Your First Days as a New Elementary Teacher

So you have your degree, you’ve completed student teaching, and you’re about to begin your first year as an elementary school teacher. You’re on the threshold of starting one of the most important and rewarding careers out there. It can also be one of the most difficult, especially for new teachers.

There are so many moving parts to education that it’s easy to get lost in the shuffle in your first few years, but there are three main ideas that you need to keep in mind as the school year starts: Create routines for your classroom ahead of time, get to truly know your students, and be prepared to learn alongside them. Remembering these can help keep you growing as an instructor and help you start your year on a positive note.

Routines

First, let’s talk routines, and along with that comes classroom management. Before the students enter your classroom, brainstorm routines for how you want your classroom to run.

Routines can help your classroom run smoothly. Trying to plan these out may feel overwhelming because there is a routine for everything. Start small and simple, and then add routines to your classroom as you get the hang of it. Two great routines to start with are an attention-getter and lining up.

Attention-getters: There are a variety of different types of attention-getters; some are silent hand signals, some can be a call and response with the class. A personal favorite is a call and response whereby, when I need the class’s attention, I say, “If you can hear me, clap once.” Students clap. “If you can hear me, clap twice.” As the year progressed, I would trade clapping for other movements, such as snapping or pointing at the board. I would challenge my students by decreasing my volume when I needed their attention, even down to a whisper, to keep them focused on me.

Ensure that the attention-getters refocus the class without distracting them. Consider the volume of the class’s response, and choose something you’re comfortable with. If the attention-getter doesn’t feel authentic, the students won’t have as much of a buy-in.

Lining up: This will begin when you’re setting up your classroom before the kids get there. Make sure there is a clear path from the door to the desks. Think through exactly how you want your students to walk through the door and where you want them to stand. Consider the voice level you’re comfortable with as they perform this routine.

When students are exiting, one option is to use an attention-getter to quiet the room and have their eyes on you. Be sure to remind them of the expectations—e.g., put things in their desk, and when their table is called, they should walk directly to the door with a zero-level voice. Ask them for a signal that they understand, like a thumbs-up, then start to release each table. Once students from the first table are in the line, release the next table.

Suppose your room is set up with predetermined line spots, in an assigned order, or designated spots on the floor where you are to stand. Use your attention-getter, and then restate the expectations that when you say go, materials go into the desk, and they move to their line spot silently. Wait until you have a silent room and confirmation from the students, then release them to complete the routine.

Thinking through these routines is important before students arrive, because once they do, it’s time to have them practice. In your first few days, you will need to teach these, and any other routines you’ve come up with, the same way that you would teach content. Model the appropriate way to complete the routine, have students practice multiple times, and have them show you they’ve mastered the skill by performing the routine meeting the expectations. This would look like students passing a skills test where they are showing that they know the content.

These routines will need to be practiced and retaught throughout the year. The key is making sure the students are following them—e.g., if you notice the routines are getting disorganized, that’s a good indicator that you need to practice them more. This does take a reasonable amount of time at the start of the year, but a classroom that runs smoothly is essential and allows you to spend more time on the content.

Get to know your students

The start of every year can feel like a blur with everything going on, but find time to get to know your students. This doesn’t mean just looking up their test scores or reading the feedback from their previous teacher. These are good pieces of data, but what’s more important is spending time with your students.

At the beginning of the year, meet with each of your students individually or in small groups. Come up with a few questions you want to ask each student; it doesn’t need to be a full interview, but three to five questions is excellent. I tend to stick to a pattern where if I’m asking four questions, two of them are about school (What is your favorite thing to learn? What is something you like about our school?), and then there are two questions that don’t have to do with learning (What do you want to do outside of school? Do you like to play or watch sports?). These are general questions, but they get your foot in the door for building a relationship with your students.

Actively engaging with your students is another great way to get to know them. You can join in games at recess and check in with them throughout the day. One of the best ways to get to know them is to meet them at the door of the classroom each morning. The first five minutes of each day are very important. Getting to know your students and building a relationship with them is key. One of the most significant success indicators for students in school is having a positive relationship with adults. Intentionally building these from the beginning will start you on your way to a successful classroom in your first year.

Be open to learning

Be ready to learn. Find other teachers who have experience, and learn everything you can from them, both academically and behaviorally. Depending on the size of your school, this could be other teachers on your grade level team or your team or department lead. Every successful teacher out there has started where you are and has learned a great deal along the way.

Education is not a solo sport. The most effective schools are effective not because they have one or two outstanding teachers, but because they have teams that are working together. As you start your year, keep these ideas in mind. Preplan routines, create time to get to know your students, and keep learning. These factors can make a much smoother start to your year and set you on the right track to one of the most challenging but rewarding professions out there.