:help: I got the job... now I'll just spend the summer being scared! LOL. I've never taught pre-K before and feel very inept. Contract starts the 18th of August, school starts the 20th, we have a teacher meeting on the 11th. Those are all the dates I have.... I do know that we use the dept of ed's benchmarks, so I could start looking those over... What is everyone else doing to keep sane? Or is everyone else just confident and not worried at all.... Thanks for letting me be nervous!!
Are you kidding? I go from ok one minute to a nervous wreck the next! I have even cried! I've wanted this for so long, and here I am terrified! I'm so overwhelmed. I start working on something and get sidetracked with something else.....for example, I've been really working on procedures, then I got on here and saw the post about activity cards, so now I am doing those. I can't seem to FINISH anything, cause my brain can't stay focused!!!! I think that going over your benchmarks will be a great start. Maybe even finding some books that will go along with them too. I've been working on procedures for stuff, so that might be a good thing also. GOOD LUCK and Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Next week, I begin "teacher stuff" at my school, and I will continue until school starts on August 11. I am so relieved that I will soon have to stop thinking about stuff and actually do it. I think I have thought and worried about school so much that it's made me even more nervous! I'm ready to get in there! To pass my summer and keep my sanity, I have: 1) attended a classroom management workshop 2) read lots of books 3) gone on vacation 4) created class rules (and poster) and discipline procedure (and poster) 5) written my syllabus and procedure packet and made a procedure movie 6) planned the first week of school 7) planned how I want to arrange my classroom (I actually have a blueprint -- the hubs thinks I've lost it!) 8) gone teacher shopping (today, actually! It was so much fun to buy decorations for my classroom!) 9) blogged about my excitement and concerns 10) been faithful to this fourum!
This is so me as well! :unsure: It's like a roller coaster right now for me. I haven't even seen my classroom yet...I have only been in my elementary for a total of 15 minutes...for my interview! In a month, I start a week of new teacher orientations, the following week is in-service at my school, and then school begins. I am planning on calling the school at the beginning of August to see if I can stop by to get into my classroom that I have once again, never seen! To keep my sanity, I have been trying to plan, plan, and plan. I visit A to Z so much throughout my days to get ideas. I have also been exercising.
Could be worse. I tentatively accepted... and now the principal is on vacation and I don't know if he's gotten through checking my references. My "classroom" is a virtual one to boot, so I have technology questions out the wazoo.
Congrats, catnfiddle! Hopefully the principal will be back soon! Thanks, I go back and forth from being super nervous to just a little nervous. HAHA I've been passing my time by...looking for a place to live, shopping in the dollar Target aisle and I've done some garage sailing. I SHOULD exercise, I just have trouble getting motivated to do that. I've been wanting to do school things, but don't know WHAT I should be doing. =) I've only seen the classroom once and I'm mot even sure which one it was because I believe there are 3. And she also showed my the preschool rooms as well, so it's all a jumble! Thanks for the support!
OMGosh, you guys have said it all - I am nervous, thrilled, excited, scared out of my wits!!! I was notified of my hiring on Thursday afternoon and told to show up for PD if I was available. Of course I did and spent the next 2 hours at the school with some of my team. The classroom I will be teaching in is full of supplies left by the previous teacher, who retired after teaching for over 20+ years in that same room. I will be going through the room next week to see what to keep and what to toss. I am so very lucky to have gotten all the bookcases, etc. The week after that I will be able to meet with the team leader and see where I need to begin. I just graduated and wonder all the time if I am "really ready". I'm glad I'm not the only with all of these conflicting emotions!
I got the job... now I'll just spend the summer being scared! LOL. I've never taught pre-K before and feel very inept. Contract starts the 18th of August, school starts the 20th, we have a teacher meeting on the 11th. Those are all the dates I have.... I do know that we use the dept of ed's benchmarks, so I could start looking those over... What is everyone else doing to keep sane? Or is everyone else just confident and not worried at all....It it totally natural to feel nervous and uneasy about the year to come. Just spend your nervous time making a list of things you want to get done in order to have a great start to the year. You will feel more organized and ready to go when school starts~! Thanks for letting me be nervous!![/QUOTE]
I'm terrified! Luckily right now I have the joy of moving 3/4 the way across he country to keep me occupied. In a way that's good, because I have something else to concentrate on and keep me away from freaking out about being a new teacher.
I just found out that I got the job today and I don't think it's fully sunk it so I'm not really nervous yet. I haven't taught before either (other than student teaching), and I never thought I was going to teach in an actual classroom, so I have NOTHING at all prepared! Eek - I'm almost scared to believe it's real until I've signed a contract and been given a textbook and seen a classroom...then maybe I'll start to get nervous and overwhelmed.
Yeah, I get really nervous about teaching. Sometimes, I think to myself, how the bleep did I get pass the certification tests? I don't feel like I know everything I need to know! 3 years ago I was just beginning to learn Spanish and now I'm certified and will be teaching it in a little over a month! But then I have to remind myself that I worked my hindparts off to get where I am, studying when everyone else was sleeping or partying or just slacking off in general. I passed tests that native speakers can, and DO, fail on a regular basis and I was closer to a perfect score than to a failing score, so I know what I'm doing. Sometimes it helps to think of the worst case scenario and then imagining yourself solving it successfully. It reinforces the idea that you're capable and that you can do it. And in my case, it helps me to remember that even though some of my students have been speaking Spanish longer than I have, I've had way more formal language training they have and can function better in the academic world than they can and I wouldn't exactly be loss in the streets either.
You guys pretty much have me pegged. I'm freaking out too! School starts on the 14th, we report on the 11th and there's a teacher orientation the week before that. I still have not seen my classroom or seen any curriculum. Plus I'm moving and haven't found an apartment yet! I feel like I need more time just to mentally process it all! Every once in a while the realization hits me - this is real! They are actually going to give you your own classroom! It sends a little wave of panic and excitement down my back Its pretty much a whirlwind right now but honestly, I've wanted to be a teacher my entire life so I'm happy that I finally get to stress about it!
I'm glad that I'm not the only one! I feel like I've worked SO hard to become a teacher, it is very exciting to finally be one! I don't think I'll be as nervous when I actually get into the classroom. It's just a matter of me figuring out what to teach, how to teach it, and all the schedule. We don't really have a specific curriculum I guess-- but there are resource books and such. I know the standards that I'll need to be meeting, so I suppose I should just get all of that out and start arranging and figuring out how to meet all of those in 9ish months.
What a sigh of relief it is to read these posts! We really are all in the same boat. Some days I'm so excited for school to begin, and other days I wonder what I've gotten myself into! I also struggle with sticking to one thing. I started to plan out my procedures, then the next thing you know I'm printing off standards. I go to get a snack, come back, and begin to read posts about management plans. I'm all over the place, and I worry I'll never get it all pulled together. I'm also frustrated because I emailed my principal to ask about curriculum/pacing guides and getting copies of teachers' editions, but she never replied. Maybe she's on vacation. I also don't know when I can get into my classroom. I still haven't seen it. Lastly, I still don't know 100% what grade I'm going to be teaching. I was hired for 5th, but when I heard there might be an opening for 4th, I asked my principal to consider me. I would be THRILLED to get 4th, since 5th is departmentalized at my school, and I would rather be self-contained. Sigh....just typing this out has me stressing! If I didn't have this site as a soundboard I'd be mental years ago
Glad I'm not alone! I was super excited and now I am beginning to get nervous. For me...New district and a new school!! We will have our 1st team meeting coming up the first part of August. So, that should help.
Congrats on the teaching position. :2up: I know how you feel, I went through it last year which was my first year of teaching. I got the job the week before school started. So in a week I had to quit my current job in NY, pack and move to NH and start teaching. I had nothing! Not even textbooks, they were ordering new ones that didn't come until November. I planned day by day. The things that helped the most were: 1. My mentor, she was always there to help with whatever I needed. 2. Talk to the other teachers, most are willing to help and give advice. 3. I purchased a lot of supplemental teacher books that pertained to what I was teaching. 4. I spent a lot of time on line researching about the subject I was teaching. 5. Work closely with that grades standards and GLE's. 6. Most important make sure you take time for yourself, do something you enjoy. Currently I am trying to plan for next year as much as I can. I am teaching a completely different subject. So I am getting all the materials together, writing out lessons and activities. For myself I get out and run every other day. Relax and don't stress, it will all come together.
Pisces, I'm definitely like that too! I get distracted according to what posts are on top.... I start looking at managment and then I see file folder activities! ( Never heard of those!) So I started to make those. I did centers today. My mind is a whirlwind of all the things I need to do. I also feel like I'm bugging people if I ask too many questions. I do need to contact the principal and find out what I do and don't have. Then I can figure out what I really need to focus on. I'm going to the library tomorrow to get two teaching books which I was going to order... I was really excited that they have them! I will get started on reading and copying and all that good stuff.
I've just been calling it summer brain, so I am glad to know it isn't just me! I have post it notes ALL around my screen! I'm the same way with seeing a new post and it gets me all off on a different tangent! I told someone the other day that I feel like my brain is a fish bowl, with all these little fish swimming all over the place. Too much to think about, so little brain space! I get to go set up my room tomorrow and I am hoping that will help me some. My TIP program starts on the 21st and I'm feeling very overwhelmed the closer things get. I have TIP the week of the 21st, Pre-planning the week of the 28th, Open house on the 31st, and then the first day on the 4th!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm on a freaking out level tonight. I can't believe these parents are going to leave their kids with ME! OK--I feel better now. Thanks for knowing just how I feel! This sure helps A BUNCH!!
Well, I WAS starting to feel a bit of confidence, thanks to all of you here, but now I've been switched from math & science 3rd grade to 4th grade lang arts. Now I feel like I am back where I started
I haven't even signed a contract yet (verbally accepted an offer, waiting for board to approve it) and I've had dreams about school starting already. I haven't started worrying about details yet...want to wait till the ink is on the paper for that. Luckily for me, I will be in a school that I've been subbing in for the past four years, so I know all the staff, the curriculum and the students (I even long-termed in this grade, at this school, two years ago). I agree with the posters who talk about waiting for this for so long. I almost can't believe it's finally happening!!
I am so glad I'm not the only scared one! I interviewed via phone and in person and was hired within 5 days (all last week)! Talk about a whirlwind. And I've never even subbed! I have zero experience. But apparently the VP thinks I can do it. lol! It still hasn't sunk in that I'll be teaching high school English so quickly. I started my credential courses last summer and thought I'd sub for a year before starting my internship. Um, guess not! Institute days start 8/11 and school starts 8/13. I have no idea how to do my room or what my curriculum will be like... thankfully, I have a friend on campus that will help me but still! I'm going out of my mind with all that needs to be done.
I'm mostly scared because I'm not sure who else to call about this job while the principal is on vacation. I had oral surgery the day after my interview (where I was verbally offered a position) and wasn't able to speak about things further. Now he's on vacation this week and will be at a conference next week. What on earth do I do next?
well, one thing that helps me is that I keep a small 8"x5" notebook that I can jot down ideas and feelings in as they come to me. I just finished one entire 80 page one where I wrote starting about a week before I began student teaching. I talked about wanting to travel abroad, I was thinking about attending graduate school vs. taking a teaching position, I talked about certification test anxiety, I wrote about the interviews I went on and the joy of finally receiving an offer. I have sketches of bulletin boards that I would like to do and descriptions of classroom procedures and set ups that I would like to implement. I have names of books, magazines and videos that would be helpful as well as an outline of my classroom rules. It's great because I have so many ideas rattling around in my head and I can jot them down so I don't forget them.
I'm so glad I'm not alone! I have been so excited and so nervous since I accepted the job last month! I'm waiting to get into my classroom as well, but everyone has been gone but I call everyday just in case! To get ready and keep myself busy/calm I: 1. PRAY! 2. Have been stocking up on decorations, school supplies, etc. (I have things hidden in every closet and under all my furniture!) 3. Have been reading "teacher books" so far I've read "The First Year Teacher's Survival Guide" and "The Teacher's Guide to Success" (I really recomend that second one! The author is a friend of a friend and she said that she wrote this book because she felt that there weren't a lot of great books out there that were easy to read and apply to real life.) I am starting "The First Day's of School" next!
While you are waiting... Congrats! Don't worry... you will have at least one other newbie that is in the same boat as you are. Plug yourself into the school website. Focus on the mission and curriculum for your school. Yes, plug into those state benchmarks. In fact, start typing them out! You may have to place one on every activity that is posted in and out of your class. Exhibit A. State Goal 1A Read with understanding and fluency. Name two or more characters from a story. Design a bulletin board, have children draw pictures, and make sure you have sentence strips that cover the benchmarks. Ask if you can come in early, to work on your room. Other teachers do this! Get a fan, (no staff means no air!!), your CD player, (do not wear headphones, or earpiece... a stranger will walk up and scare the crap out of you!) Many principals and secretaries are there 10-12 months. They will be happy to see another face. Do some schmoozing.. Get the layout of your new home. Decide which bulletin boards will be children's work, your parent board, school announcements/emergency info. Stock up on cleaning supplies. You can't wait for the custodian forever. You must have windex, lysol, formula 409, and plenty of rags or handwipes! And a flyswatter!!! You won't find them after Labor day! Get some labels and as soon as you get your roster, start addressing them. You will need labels for letters home! Will save you hours from hand writing all that stuff. Start on your sub folder or as one poster calls it, a sub tub! Make your emergency bag for school. In case of lockdown, fire or flood... you may be there awhile. Do you have change of clothes, extra glasses, medication (child proof lock), lunch for 3 days (instant soup, fruit cups, granola bars, some microwave food) and water for at least a week? Two umbrellas, and a change of clothes for an emergency parent/superintendent meeting when you look and feel like a mess? A list of all your emergency contacts, so you will make the secretary happy! is that enough for now??...
Oh Missy--big hugs! Well, the good thing is that there is a bunch of info on here about LA! I'm also 4th grade, except I'm all subjects. I'll help if I can--don't know that I have much to offer, since I'm in the same boat, but at least we can float ideas! It will be good! It will be good! It will be good! Repeat as necessary. Get chocolate when all else fails!
If we are locked down for 3 days, I'm crawling out the window! If we get locked down for a week, I'm going to need to be locked down permanently--as in straight jacket!
oh no 4th... we are mandated reporters.. and some other mess they called it... basically means we are wardens for the state! If something happens at the school, they will NOT let us out! If you sneak out a window, FBI/State Police/Homeland Security will grab you and throw you back in!! We are in charge of those little buggers who we just sent down to the principal's office! Now we are stuck with them for God knows how long!!! They figure you are safer inside than trying to get out... and besides, you can't pick up your own kids, because they will be on lockdown too! Now when somebody is attacking a school, they will lock them all in the same town! :unsure: I'm not making this up.. our school had to do a disaster drill for the entire day!
We had one for almost the entire day this year. It was wild. The kids were out of whack for about 3 days afterwards. All because some kid at the high school (our schools are all built by one another) pulled a knife and cut himself. Turns out, he didn't want to take a test. :huh: It just cracked me up when you said food for 3 days and water for a week. :lol:
Yes, another school had an actually emergency kit, in a red bag, hung by the door. We had to check it monthly for fresh supplies. Another job had a plastic garbage can filled with emergency kits for each child. So I put one in there too. And I have one in my car, and one in my desk/cabinet...that is when I have a job. with floods, fires, earthquakes and snow storms, you never know...out of 180 days... one might catch you at school.
I get nervous, too! This will be my second year (but I'm switching grades), so i still consider myself new! I started making a weekly outline on what I will cover for each of the subject areas for every week. For example, the first week is introductions, procedures, etc. (it's only 3 days long) The second week in math I will do lessons 1.1-1.3 and then have a game day/reteach, etc. Also, if you have the curriculum for your subjects start going through and seeing what other materials you can bring in to make it more lively. For example, we use Houghton-Mifflin, so I went on the eduplace website for HM and found tons of resources to build up the students knowledge before reading. It's so fun getting ahead and REALLY takes some pressure off. GOOD LUCK!
Wow MPK I need to get busy now! =) Thanks, I didn't even think about cleaning supplies and that sort of thing. They definitely are a necessity. I also didn't think about the emergency kit, I'll have to look into that as well. I am supposed to be receiving some info in the mail this week, and then I plan on calling to see when I get my list and when I can come and organize my classroom. We are moving out of our corporate housing and into our new rental place which is right down the street from the school. It is going to be a straight shot for me!! I could probably ride my bike there or something... Save on some gas!
ACK! I'm getting scared because I can't get someone from this school that MAY have hired me to call me back to tell me what to do next. This is what happens when the person who says okay then goes on vacation. I left a message with HR, but I may have to wait until next Monday to get an answer.
Yes, think of your class as your home away from home. Make it comfortable, and make it yours... I think there is another thread out there like that... wait, I'll be back...
It's great to know that so many other people are in the same boat as me. I turned in an application on Thursday, interviewed Friday morning (with the superintendent because the principal was out) and signed the contract right after the interview. Yesterday, I met with the principal and saw my room. There is nothing in it and I am not sure what will be moved into it other than desks for me and students and some computers. I know that I am fourth grade resource room and that I have fourteen students but I don't know anything else. I have no idea where to start as far as scheduling, etc, so I decided to focus on procedures, classroom management, and decorating my class. I have been furiously scanning this forum for ideas and am even losing sleep.:woot: I guess it will all come together eventually.
yeah, I spent the night here once... and left the oven on! I couldn't find the thread... anybody else seen it? It's called, "What is the strangest thing you have in your desk, locker ( or something like that) at school?"
I'm in the same boat as MomtoCav...I'm taking my first cooperating teacher's room. She taught in the same school, same classroom for her entire career...straight out of college. She asked them to put me in her room so that I could get all her stuff...now I have to go through it all. The principal even volunteered to help throw some things out. I'm excited, but at the same time, I just feel overwhelmed. One of the other 2nd grade teachers emailed me a sample lesson plan and I got a huge headache. I will admit I've made progress with planning, but still have a LOOOOONG way to go. And I haven't even tackled the classroom yet.....:unsure:
