Some Simple Advice For New Teachers

You've finally made it, you finished college, and (the vast majority of you) student teaching, and now you have your first teaching job. There's really nothing quite like the first time you walk into a classroom and know that it is yours, you can do what you want with it. The excitement and wide-eyed wonder that comes with those initial meetings, either district meetings or hopefully a first year teacher program if your district does one. The excitement quickly gives way to fear and anxiety as you begin to realize that you no longer have a safety net, you are responsible for the educations of your students, and you will be held accountable and expected to step up from day one.

The first year of teaching is very eye opening, and unforgiving in many ways. It's the year of "things they don't teach you in college," including dealing with difficult (or completely uncaring) parents, helpful and supportive staff friends, or the opposite, and challenges to implementing the curriculum within the constraints set forth by the many stake holders that influence the classroom.

But fear not, it'll be fine. Just accept that your first year will be challenging, difficult, and humbling. Many new teachers walk in thinking that their education is cutting edge, and they'll show those old washed up, dinosaur teachers a thing or two. The quicker you lose that attitude, the better. Those dinosaur teachers can be the best thing that ever happened to you, they've been around and seen it all. Seek them out, make them your friends, and things will get much better.

Hopefully you have a supportive principal, but who knows if you do or not. If you do, seek them out for advice, but don't become needy, seeking them out daily.

Become friends with the custodians and secretaries. In fact, have a positive attitude and a smile on your face, and make friends with as many people as you can.You'd be surprised how much easier your job can be on a daily basis if you're in good with the custodians, secretaries, the art teachers, librarian, PE coach, etc etc etc. Nobody likes a complainer, or a gossip, so stay away from it. I've had a few years in my career when it's been easy to get sucked into those negative behaviors, and it's toxic. My best advice is to go in to work every day with a smile on your face, even if you don't mean it. Tell yourself that you're going to have a good day, and stay positive. The second you get negative, everyone around you, especially your students, know that you have.

During that first year, you'll have ups and downs. The euphoria over having your own classroom will carry you for awhile. Don't fret when you hit the grind and start getting down on yourself, saying that you can't do it, because you can. Make friends in your building, and have a support system you can call on.

Once that first year comes to a close, you've just finished the hardest year of your career, IT WILL GET EASIER. The field of education needs its professionals to stay around for a long time. Consistency is key. You don't have to change jobs or buildings every two years, I've been in the same school for eight years now (some who have been in one place longer would laugh at a mere eight years), and I hope to stay at least eight more. Don't be afraid to stay, you'll become part of a community.

Have fun, teaching is the greatest job in the world. We don't deal with boredom sitting behind a desk. We don't deal with a lot of monotonous tasks, and every day is something new and challenging. Anybody who makes fun of you for only working 180-185 days a year is an idiot, remember that. They probably work at one of those boring desk jobs where they do less work in a month than you do in an hour. Even if they get paid more, it doesn't matter. You didn't go in to teaching to make big bucks, you went into it to make a difference, and you are making a difference.

Congratulations on joining the field. We need more people like you out there doing this work.

The First Day of School: How It Looks In My 5th Grade Classroom

It's hard to believe that the first day of school for students is less than two weeks away (August 15th to be exact).

That first day fills students and teachers alike with anticipation and nervousness. For me, the first day is something that I try to put a lot of thought into.

How you start the year out is important to the success of that year. Your first impression on your new students in those initial days will set the tone for the entire year. If you come off as wishy washy, unorganized, or weak on discipline, you will have issues that will plague your class all year.

Some of the best advice I ever received about the beginning of the year came from my dad, a master teacher with over thirty years of classroom experience. He said that you really need to let the kids know that you mean business, that they can trust you but must respect you, and that you will hold them accountable, all right from the second they walk into the classroom.

I make it a point to greet my students individually that first day. I make sure that I ask their names if I don't already know them (and as a long timer at a school that has had generations of the same families, I do have a lot of students and families that I've known for years), and I make sure that they understand that they will be held accountable for their behavior and responsibility every single day.

Some of those kids go home that first night and say "wow, Mr. B isn't as nice as I heard he was," or "I don't know if I want to be in this class." But that's ok, remember, we're not there to be liked, and sending the kids home with fuzzy goodness on the first day isn't always a good thing. Be strict, rigid, and by the book those first days, and eventually you can start to pull back, but your students will remember that they're accountable and act accordingly. This is a tried and true method, I'm not saying be mean and scary, but you don't have to try to make friends and be the popular teacher on day one, in fact I mean not to in my class.

I know I've been a little wordy here, so I'll go ahead and jump right into my plan for the first day (school goes from 8:00-2:30 in my school district, with 40 minutes for lunch 12:00-12:40) Before I begin, remember that the hallmark of that first day, and the first week, is setting up rules and procedures. Scholastic Professional has a page that is called Head off Behavior Problems With Classroom Procedures, and lists 30 things that you should have procedures for.

• First I greet the class, introduce myself by talking officially about my education and credentials (even though this will go over some of their heads). I then tell them that I have until the end of the day to learn their names, first and last, and I practice.
• Next, we go over rules and procedures. I will do the following things every day for the first five days:
• We will go back outside to the place they line up on the playground when the bell rings. I will discuss proper line etiquette, and what to do if I do not arrive to pick them up (you never know what will occur before school starts). 
• Pushing in chairs: This is very important in these large classrooms that most of us teach in these days. I set up the rule of pushing in your chair everytime you leave your desk, and diligently call every student on it who forgets.
• How to leave the room: Where the sign out sheet is, hall passes, and the expectations for behavior in the school when alone.
• Starting the day: How students enter the room. In my class, they walk in through the outside access door, empty their materials from their back packs, put their back packs in the hallway, enter the room, get breakfast, have a seat, and work on their morning journal activity while the announcements go on. 
• Supplies: I collect most of the students supplies and keep them communal. I take glue, crayons, colored pencils, pencils, and paper, and put them into large bins that we will share. Students are then given the expectations for the usage of these items and the consequences for damaging them purposefully (their parents will be asked to purchase new ones).
• Handing in work: I go over where the work baskets are located, the consequences for late work, and where to find work after you've been absent (the absent folder).
• Lining up: I normally have my students line up in a set order. I usually start with alphabetic order and if I have any conflicts, I move students around those first weeks. We practice extensively the proper line etiquette in the hallway. I gripe if they're not straight, if anyone talks, and on and on. I will always find something wrong with the line, and make them practice it many many times that first week. But after that, they line up much quieter.
• Lunch procedure: Where do they go for lunch? We do recess first, so we talk about how to leave for recess, where to line up for lunch, and where I pick them up. We practice this as well.

OK, I think you get the point. We go over all the rules and procedures, I'll stop explaining and just list all the rules that are important:

• Where to line up in the morning, after lunch, fire drills, etc.
• Pushing in chairs
• Morning routine
• Lunch routine
• End of day routine
• Supply sharing
• Group work expectations
• Where to turn in work in
• Where to get absent work
• How to use computers
• When to use computers
• What to do when done early with work
• Raising your hand before talking
• Practice walking in the hallway
• Desk organization

Yes it can be daunting, but it's necessary. Be organized, be rehearsed, and present yourself professionally. It will go a long way. Even if you're nervous, new, scared, don't let it show. Be awesome!

5th Grade Math Unit 4: Fractions, Decimals, and Percents

5th Grade Math Unit 4 is on Fractions, Decimals, and Percents. This unit is pivotal to the 5th graders future success, especially as this group of skills is seen as very important to their understanding of algebra in middle school.

This unit is placed within my static pages (the link is above). As always, I am placing that entire page here for convenience. I hope you find it helpful:

Math Unit 4 in my 5th grade class is focused mainly on fractions, decimals, and percents. In many conversations with 6th grade teachers, I am often told that if their incoming math students know only two things, it needs to be basic multiplication and division facts, and the ability to work with fractions. This is the unit that we start on coming back from Christmas break, and it carries for an entire month. Of course, the teaching of these skills begins early in the school year through daily math practice and consistent math homework as well.

This upcoming school year, we have drawn out the following schedule (our entire math schedule for the 2012-2013 school year can be accessed in .doc format HERE):


January 9 – January 18: Equivalent fractions, decimals, and percents
January 22 – January 30: Compare and order fractions
January 31 – February 8: Add and subtract fractions

When viewing the document for the entire school year, you can see that "unit 4" includes the data unit as well. This was done for our own purposes, but for the purposes of this blog, I have kept these two units separate.

Each one of the skills listed above constitutes what we call a "cycle," according to our Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) format of data analysis and collection. I will list each cycle separately below, with the necessary documents, and some valuable resources and ideas:

Equivalent Fractions, Decimals, and Percents

At one time, as many teachers have, I tried teaching these three skills separately, and found that it was redundant. Fractions, decimals, and percents all go so nicely together, and should be taught together. The PDSA for this cycle is available HERE, as well as the Unit 4 Exam (a quick note, the exam for the entire unit is what I have linked to, the first two problems (the first and most of second page) are what constitutes the exam for this section. To save time, we normally take that portion in isolation, change out the numbers, and give the test). Our tests are in the format they are in because it closely resembles the New Mexico Standards Based Assessment. Here are the resources for this cycle:

• Fling Your Teacher: An online multiple choice review quiz that eventually lets the student fling the teacher in a trebuchet.
• Fractions Through Lines of Symmetry: A simple starter worksheet (pdf) that has students cut shapes into various fractions. It's a simple way to get started or give struggling students a chance to be a little more successful.
• Equivalent Squares: A very cool dominoes style game that students will enjoy. It plays right into the very point of this skill. It's a pdf document, it comes with very clear instructions and the squares ready to cut out. 
• Percentage Squares: Another great game, it's not the same as the one listed above, but is a very good, quick activity in pdf format. Since I've listed two resources from the same site, go ahead and check out Teaching Ideas, a great site from the UK with tons of printables. 
• Equivalent Fractions Memory: A matching game played in browser.
• Math Illuminations Equivalent Fractions Builder: If you use a Smartboard to teach, use this great interactive for whole class teaching.
• Equivalents Table: This is pretty much the backbone of this entire lesson.
• Worksheets: 
• Worksheet Works Equivalent Fractions Worksheet Builder, and the entire Worksheet Works Fraction Page
• Mathaids Worksheet Builder and the fractions page
• Equivalents Fill in Practice Worksheet: An easy to use worksheet that practices the skill exactly as it appears in the unit exam.
• Equivalents Packet: A few good activities, already ready for printing.
• Fraction Strips: This is a good activity. I have students make fraction strip books based on the strips in this worksheet. It's a great visual

Compare and Order Fractions

When looking at the Unit 4 Exam and the PDSA for this lesson, you'll see that this lesson involves putting fractions (and decimals) in the correct order, and comparing them using <,>,= statements. We go up to twelfths, and use like and unlike denominators:

• Math Playground Comparing Fractions, a simple starting point: A good place for the student that just needs more practice to get it online. I have students take a sheet of paper, and work out the problems as they go.
• Flower Power: An ordering decimals computer based game.
• Worksheets:
• Are You My Equal?: A packet with some decent activities, this whole thing is put together as a unit, with a summative assessment at the end. I'm partial to the fraction templates, equivalent fractions, and dare to compare worksheets included (which I have isolated into a separate pdf file HERE). 
• TONS of Blackline Masters: I'm surprised I hadn't ever come across this page. There's tons of pdf documents available that are age appropriate for 5th grade, including fraction strips, circles, and a Fraction Number Line. This is based exactly on a lesson done in Math Investigations (but a lot less costly, free always helps).
• Math Drills Worksheets: A lot of comparing decimals worksheets.

Add and Subtract Fractions

Here's the final part of the unit. The PDSA for this lesson and the Unit 4 Exam will both show that we teach adding and subtracting fractions with both like and unlike denominators. Once students have the hang of it, move on to having them add and subtract mixed numbers:

• Action Fraction: A fun online game at Fun School. I played it for a few minutes, by Level 3 it can get a little difficult, but it's fun and engaging.
• Math Playground Practice Activity: Another nice activity from Math Playground. It gives good practice in the web browser. Send a kid with some paper to work the problems, and they get instant feedback.
• Worksheet Works: Fraction Addition Sequence (I love this activity and will be using it). There's also a nice selection of Fraction Addition Skills and Fraction Subtraction Skills worksheets there. Everything they have on fractions can be seen HERE (I absolutely love this website). With all of these worksheets, have the struggling student use the Fraction Circles as a tool to help them along.

Two Weeks and Counting: Schools is Right Around the Corner: An Awesome Desk Name Tag Idea

I put my own children on notice today, they have exactly two weeks of summer vacation left. For many of us teachers out here in the American Southwest, we go back to school in mid to late August. I'm not sure why we go back earlier than most of the East and West coasts, but we do.

Two weeks, that's not a very long time. And since I have many many inservice days before that time, I go back to work in only six days. I can't believe it, I've squandered another summer!

So what now? For me, that means I continue trying to get my resources up on my blog, and try to get into my classroom a little bit here and there. Registration in the Las Cruces School District for elementary school students is Friday, August 10th from 9:00-11:00. I'd like to have my class presentable at that time since it will be playing host to parents and students alike. That first impression is a strong one, so I've been spending mornings in the classroom organizing and basically just sprucing things up.

For my students name tags, I'll be changing things up this year. I ran across a great idea at 24-7 Teacher called Desk Name Tags: Never Distracting and Always Clean. I'll be velcroing (or hot gluing, or taping) the plastic badge holders to the corner of the desk, and than I'll make each student a business card sized name tag using Logotype Maker. This will save money and I think will keep the desks looking cleaner. Name tags have a tendency to either get torn off within a few weeks, or drawn on.

Teachers Pay Teachers: A Good Place To Find Resources Online?

I have a busy morning ahead, with school starting for me (six days of teacher inservice before the kids come back) in six more days, I'm trying to get some work done in my classroom.

What was on my mind this morning was the vast amount of teacher resources that are out there on the internet. Since I've begun running this blog, I've been posting many pages of links to resources, worksheets, and other documents. My focus has been on free resources, because as all of you know, things can start to add up quickly.

My thought is that if you find something that you like, but can't afford it (or, like me, are really frugal and would prefer to not spend anything), just tell yourself that you can find something similar on the internet, for free. This has served me pretty well. Yes, there are those rare occasions where you can't find a resource online, but if you're looking for worksheets, unit plans, videos, or games, there are millions online.

I have been browsing around Teacher Pay Teachers for some time. I like that you can buy things on there from teachers. If I'm going to spend money on a resource, I sure would prefer that money to end up in a teachers pocket as opposed to a publisher.

Not too many teachers have a positive view of the book publishers, and with good reason. $100 for a single social studies book? $400 per kid for the reading series? Yikes. School districts spend millions on these books and resources that ultimately just don't cut it, they're not good, and are just flash with no substance. Of course, sometimes these resources come in handy, and sometimes they are good, but millions of dollars worth of handy and good? I don't think so.

So back to Teachers Pay Teachers. I'm going to lay out some pros and cons of the site, but please, go find out for yourself:

TEACHERS PAY TEACHERS:

THE PROS:

• There are tons of resources, and they're organized by grade, subject, price, and even standards.
• You can download thousands of things there for free.
• If you decide to spend, your money goes to the teacher who posted the item.

THE CONS:

• The vast majority of the free offerings are of very low quality.
• Some of the resources are VERY over priced.

Ultimately, my view on Teachers Pay Teachers is the same as anything else. See if you can find it for free by searching in Google. If you can, good for you, if you can't, go ahead and buy it. You'll have the peace of mind in knowing that your money is going to help other teachers, and not line the already deep pockets of those publishing companies that most of us don't like anyways.