I am going to be teaching 2nd grade and i have no idea what to expect, i havent even seen my classroom yet because i am going to be teaching in GA and i am in NJ. I will be moving in July and school starts in Aug so any advice i would apperciate
As I said to a precious poster, start reading some materials on classroom management. I strongly suggest Harry Wong's The First Days of School. (Start formulating your management policy soon.) After that, contact your colleagues and principal to find out where your materials are, if & who your mentor teacher is, and policies/procedures for the district/school. Ask about the standards and benchmarks that you will be required to teach towards. Inquire as to previous year's lesson plans from the veteran teachers. Then, start looking at the curricular materials that you have. Good luck and welcome to the wonderful world of teaching... ~*Robin*~
=] I also did 2nd grade for my first year. You should probably come up with your behavior plan, & some thematic units, a room theme, & some lesson plans. If you have any more questions, please PM me. =] Hannah
Hey, Yes i have heard nothing but great things about HC so i am really excited about the move. My fiance and I just bought our first house there, we move into our in July. So i have alot going on moving for the first time ever, having my own house, finally having my own classroom i have alot going on lol.
Hannah - Could you share some ideas for themes lessons... this is the grade level I am most interested in teaching. Any ideas for a beginning of the year theme. I wanted to do something like All about Me, but unsure. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
For students or for the room?. List of things to have in your room have you thought of: yard stick, ruler, lots of extra pencils, lots of stickers, whistle so you don’t have to yell at recess, a must --bar stool to rest your feet, great to even lean up against or captain’s chair it has a back, but cost more, rubber bands, safety pins, sewing kit –needle and variety of color spools of thread –a dollar at dollar store in a small plastic box, clear finger nail polish to repair runs in hose, 3 hole punch, single hole punch, stapler, a couple big boxes of Kleenex, paper towels, sticky notes, a bunch of extra pencils, (short pencils with no erasers work great (students don’t want to borrow them and for some reason don’t break their lead and remember to sharpen their pencils before class), magic markers with grey included several boxes, good gel pen for grading papers and writing notes, I like my pink, zip lock bags –large and small, masking tape, scotch tape and heavy dispenser, deodorant, brush or comb for yourself, clear finger nail polish for quick fix hose runs, nail file for broken nails, large paper clip for your use so much better than the small ones, disinfectant (clean desk tops, pencils and door knobs –keep your room as germ free as possible, big scissors to fit your hand, erasers for top of pencils boom box, tape recorder, CD something to play music and etc on. digital timer, Glue: buy one small glue bottle for each student, than when bottle gets used, refill from your big bottle, which is cheaper, buy during beginning of school sales. Little bottles work better with little hands. Glue sticks are best. But cost more. Calendar, camera, dictionary – thesaurus, extension cord and adapter. Slide-grader. Go to garage sales, flea markets, Good Will, Salvation Army and thrift shops and buy books for in your room. If there is a box ask how much for the whole box usually cheaper. Tell them it is for a classroom, usually give you a discount. Buy a stamp pad and stamp “Property of your name” stamp on first page and along the edge if possible and several other places. Need book shelves. Buy used book shelf size of your file cabinet, butt it up against one side of the cabinet and use other side for a magnet board center. File folders –one for each student, keep all notes to and from home, note late papers, lose of recess one minute or two because of behavior problems and etc. Information Sheet. Student’s full name. What student will be called in the classroom, address, phone number, father’s name, address, phone number, mother’s name, address, phone number, emergency phone number, allergies, food and etc. And any other information that I might like to know about your child. A can of play dough for each student for the first day. Students go to their desk and start working with the play dough, while you are greeting more students, makes your room busy and under control from the first moment of arrival, no running around. Stamp pad and stamp with your name on it. Mark everything that you buy. Mark books back and along the edge. Library books for your room --get at garage sales, thrift shops, Goodwill and ask parents at parent night when they clean out their children’s rooms you’d love to have their extra books. You will mark donated by: Your room will look more educational with books on the shelves. Here is an excellent web page, you might want to check out for more ideas. http://www.kinderkorner.com/chklist.html
Do you have to make your supply list? We do ours by grade level -each grade level decides on the supply list because students may have to change classes at the beginning of the year due to overcrowding and also it makes it a lot easier on the secretary when new families come in to pick up supply lists.
Proud- Call me crazy, but I have a hunch I may get second grade and I don't want to wait to the last minute.. so I'm just trying to think ahead.
I just finshed my 1st year teaching 2nd grade, the age is great you will have fun, I realized that they are so young and you are required to cover soo much.I did alot of learning projects to keep their interest and attention. they are very expressive. go in with a great classroom mngt plan and a lot of patience and you will do great!
Jill, I am in GA also I am in Newton County so you aren't far from me either. I will be starting my 4th year here. This will be my 3rd year in 2nd grade. Do you know what Reading Series you are going to be using? Also what Math, Science, Social Studies and Health? If so and if you are using the same ones that I use here in Covington I will be glad to pass along resources that I have made over the past couple of years. Good luck and you will love it down here. I moved here from Kentucky and it's been wonderful, have had some cold weather but have only had actual snow once Let me know if I can be of help. Melissa
Mrs Frizzle, lets see.. some things that worked for me were groups,giving each a name, assigning team captains. I also used brag booksThey decorate), with nine pages for nine weeks of grading period, they get daily stickers proving they had good behaivor.They would grade books , a for 5 stickers b for 4 and on . Those with a's would join me in classroom on monday for lunch, We broke into groups and split up science questions and gave each group one to work allowing them to sit were they wanted. I would set timer and first one done would get a small prize. , Authors chair, they would write questions pertaining to story of the week, and sit in chair in front of room until they guessed wrong.They learn fast and expect routines, set good rules and follow them strickly. Reward and recognize those with good behaivor often. Glance through the First Days , by Wong , alot of tried and true stuff. relax and enjoy!
Congratulations on your new 2nd grade position! I have taught 2nd grade for 4 years (after 9 years of kindergarten) and you will LOVE 2nd graders. A couple of things that I have done, just organizational wise, is... 1) I have a hanging file (looks like a milk crate) with a folder for each child in it. When I have checked papers (whether informally or for a grade) I tell my kids to "file their paper", and it's one less thing I have to do. Quite a time saver. If I collect papers to grade at a later time, I have a basket of papers to "be filed" beside the crate, and there are always several children willing to file for me. 2) In my file cabinet, I have a folder for each month, and then one set of folders labeled 1-5. Whichever month I'm currently in, the 1-5 folders are behind that month. Whenever I make copies, or have theme related ideas, or book orders, I put it in the file (if it's something I'll use during week 1...it goes in folder 1, during week 2, folder 2, etc... if it's something that will be needed at the beginning of the month, like book orders, or behavior calendars, it goes in the month folder.) This has been a handy way to put things in a safe place, but where it'll be when I need it. 3) 2 of the big things covered in 2nd grade are beginning cursive and double digit addition and subtraction with/without regrouping . Bone up on your cursive! I was surprised to see just how different MY cursive was to the cursive that's correct! A fellow 2nd grade teacher taught me a poem to help kids learn to subtract double digit numbers. If there's more on top, do not stop If there's more on the floor, go next door If the number's the same, 0's it's nameEven though you're getting all of this advice, try not to get overwhelmed. I know that before your first year there are lots of questions, but the important things for you to have in place before the first day of school are: 1) procedures (think of all the things that will happen in your room, like bathroom breaks, getting a drink, sharpening pencils, etc... and decide how YOU want your students to do them. For example: I don't like to hear a pencil sharpener, but I also hate to write with a dull pencil, sooo...I purchased several small individual pencil sharpeners, put them in a gladware container, and there ya' have it, pencil sharpeners without that sound!) 2) behavior system 3) daily schedule (although if your school is like mine, we don't get our schedule until we are back in August, but if you asked, I'm sure that you might be able to get it sooner) 4) room set-up (how do you want your desks? what about YOUR desk? group time area? etc...) 5) and don't forget to familiarize yourself with the curriculum. When I moved from K to 2nd, my summer reading consisted mostly of teacher's guides. Whew! I'd better stop! Good luck and enjoy your first year!!!!
