I'm a new teacher and I begin my new position next week. I'm nervous about jumping in with only 3 months of school left. I will be teaching 8th grade social studies. I have had the Wong's "First Days of School" for about a year now, and I had big plans for the beginning of the school year. However, now it will just be my first days of school and not the students'. Any tips or advice?
I also started mid-year (end of October) as a first year teacher. You have to go in there and treat it like the first week of school. Tell the students that you and Ms._________ may do some things the same, but that you are different people, so you do some things differently. It made me cringe each time I heard, "But Ms. T does this." But eventually after responding a few times that I wasn't Ms. T, you stop hearing it so often. The first few days will be the same as you would normally start the year. You practice routines, you talk about the behavior management system, you practice everything a million times! The biggest thing is that you need to be sure you know what you want from them so that you can share these expectations. Start these out right away! It is much harder to go back and change the rules and routines after things have started... it just causes a lot of confusion for the students. You will probably have material that you have to make-up, but your principal should understand this is much more important.... and you will make it up when you can. Also, use your team members! Mine save my life! I have a fantastic team, and we have two LTS starting due to maternity leave. Yesterday I had a talk with a few students about how they need to respect their sub as much as they respect their teacher... she is their teacher right now. Ask them if they are willing to take on any kids that you are having difficulty with. It's not that you can't handle them, but sometimes you just need that mental break from them (and they need it from you!). Everyone has those one or two children in their class that knows how to push their buttons! But I can't emphasize it enough... use your team and any other support the school offers! At first it may be hard to ask for help, but if you are offered help, TAKE IT!
Thanks for the advice UVAgrl! I'm hoping the teacher I am replacing will be a huge help in this transition process. I am lucky to have Monday and Tuesday as "shadowing" days while she will still be there. Wed. will be orientation with the district and on Thursday it will be just me. I'm thinking Thurs. & Fri. will be all about the expectations and procedures I want in the classroom. It's awesome you have a great supporting team. When I student-taught I had an amazing team, in addition to my mentor teacher, who were willing to help with anything. I hope the team I am now joining will be just as supportive.
Go in with a STRONG behavior plan. When I started grading based on behavior, then 1/2 of my issues were resolved. Incentives only work for some kids. Be organized. I have binders for behavior, grades, and LPs. I separate them according to class and grade level. I started midyear too. I didn't think of this until after I started: the reason why I got this job was because no one else wanted it. There has to be a reason. The reason why no one wanted my job is because there are daily behavior issues. All I can say is be prepared and expect little to no help. I've been on my own. It is good and bad. I don't have someone always up in my face, but when I need help I can't get it. Teaching is wonderful. I learn so much from my students; how they learn, where they come from, and there interests.
And check out Power Teaching so you have something concrete in your back pocket in case you need to pull in a management plan quickly.
Good luck! I took over midyear teaching 7th grade math and it was VERY difficult. I had taught for 10 years prior to this, in elementary, and thought it would be great to do something different. Coming in midyear was tough though. I am not saying this to scare you, but definitely be ready for whatever comes your way. Be firm, have the routines ready to go, and be ready to have an experience of your life!!! Keep us updated!!!
What about if the kids don't care. I am now in this situation. I am taking over a maternity leave for 7th grade math. Basically I went in today letting them know my expectations. For two of the 6 classes I was actually able to get through my introduction and expectations. The other 4 classes could have cared less and were not only rude and disrespectful they were extremely defiant. I don't want to be the teacher they all hate but I feel they have left me no choice. I over-heard a group in the hall say they hated me. They decided their goal was to get me to quit by Friday. I wouldn't dream of quitting and could really use some suggestions. Right now I have a stack of partially filled out office referrals sitting on my desk for tomorrow. I would love to avoid this scare tactic but almost feel like I have no choice.
MissWendy- Bless your heart, I would trash the office refferals and start fresh tomorrow. I would strongly suggest Power Teaching - they are still going to be defiant, but atleast you could start winning some of them over. Watch some videos, check out the ebooks, and you could easily get started tomorrow!
Today went really well. I am lucky because today and tomorrow are "shadowing" days and I got to observe and meet with the teacher I'm replacing. She really seems to have everything together and really wants this to be a smooth transition. She has her classes soooo organized that I think it's not going to be that difficult to continue right where she left off. The kids are in a routine and the classroom is run and managed very well. I hope it goes just as smoothly for me. Today was still information overload. I still have not processed all that I was told/shown/introduced to. I have tomorrow with the teacher, and then on Thursday it's all me. Miss Wendy, I hate that your day went so badly. I would try and talk to your team and get as much advice and help as possible. I'm very lucky to have so many nice people willing to help me. The staff seemed very positive and offered to assist me with anything I needed.
Miss Wendy, Your situation sounds similar to the one I was in when I took over the 7th grade class midyear. Unfortunately, the kids had been through a number of subs and just didn't seem to care. I really worked hard to create lessons that would be engaging to them. Unfortunately I did have to use the write up tactic with them, but once I did, they knew I meant business and things were better. Don't be afraid to call parents, that made a big difference even with 7th graders. Even they do not like to disappoint their parents, well most of them anyways, lol! I also had the support of my team, without them, I don't know that I would have made it through that semester. I learned a lot about myself though and in the end it made me a stronger teacher. I am back in elementary now and loving it!
