First Year Teachers and Organization Ideas

For first year teachers ... here are some tips for organization to help you through those first weeks!

1. Review the teacher handbook carefully. Make note of your questions. Take those questions to your administrator or department chair.


2. Find out what supplies are provided by your school. Is there a copy code? Do you have a limit on copies? Will the school provide dry erase markers (or chalk!)? Are there any chart paper pads available? What about paper, pencils, graph paper, pens, rulers?


3. Does your school have math manipulatives?  Algebra tiles? Algebra blocks? Rulers?
   
   Protractors? Polyhedron? Cuisenaire Rods? Pattern Blocks? If not these, what math supplies are available?


4. What technology will be in your classroom? Who do you contact when the tech has a glitch? 


5. Review the student handbook carefully as you build your personal discipline plan.  Ask your teammates how they handle specific disruptions in class. Find out how your school responds to students' use of phones.  Here is a collection of posts on classroom management.


6. As you decorate your room, think about the traffic pattern in your room. Where do students enter? Can they pick up handouts, calculator and such on the way into the room? Where will students turn in work? How will you distribute graded work?


7. Decide how students will find their seats on the first day. If you let them choose their seats, will you build a seating chart from their choices? Having a seating chart can help you learn their names. If students are sitting in groups, consider asking each group to take a group selfie and email it to you. That way you can create a visual seating chart to help with learning names. Put your seating charts in page protectors. You can write directly on the seating charts.


8. Keep a clipboard for recording information during class easily. Print out roll sheets each week to record attendance, track homework completion, students bringing supplies, etc. If you teach in high school, students assigned to your class will change during the first 2 weeks. Printing a roll sheet weekly helps you keep track of changes.


9. Collect information from you students. You can simply give them each an index card to ask for their names, home telephone numbers, extracurricular activities, and any special accommodations they might have. Or if you have access to technology create a simple Google Form - that way all of the information is in a spreadsheet - easy to access.


10. Create a form to collect information from parents. How do they want to be contacted - phone, text, email? Ask parents to share specific information about their children. Put the parent form on Google Forms as well. Post the form on your website, send it out by email, send the link home with students. If your school's management system doesn't have an automatic way to email parents, create a parent email group for each class.


11. During the first weeks, outline your lesson plan with estimated time values. Plan one or two extra activities. Avoid "free" time - teach bell to bell. Train students to wait until you dismiss the class to leave their seats.


12. Consider putting an outline of your lesson in slides. That way you can project the day's agenda, warm up, instructions for the day easily. You can also upload the slides to your website or email them out for students who were absent.


13. Determine before the first week how you want students to organize their work. Do you prefer a
    
    certain heading on papers? Will they keep a 3-ring notebook? What will go in it?  Will they keep a composition notebook? Will they create a table of contents? Will you use tape or glue to add pre-printed notes?


14. Organize your files on Google Drive in folders by unit. As you finish a unit, put all of the handouts, materials, instructions in a 3-ring binder. Create a binder for each unit - even if you have electronic copies. Use the hard-copy to mark up for next year. Highlight errors, instructions that need rewriting, and make notes of changes you want to make.


15. Take time at the end of each day to breathe and reflect. Keep a notebook of thoughts. You don't have to write a lot, or write elegantly. Just make notes. What will you celebrate? What needs tweaking? Make note of curious or crazy student talk. Make note of the math errors you saw that day. How can you build in a review of those topics over the next few weeks?

I hope this list will help you think through the first weeks. Often we teach as we were taught. So as you are planning your classroom organization think about those teachers you had in which class ran smoothly. You'll soon develop your own organizational style!

Organization - What worked for me

I don't feel like I have any great ideas for organization but I'm going to share what I have done that works for me.

1.  Weekly Class Roll Sheet: I printed out a class roll for each week for my clipboard.  I took attendance and made notes there. When I assigned homework, I marked it on this sheet if students had it in class. When I checked notebooks, I recorded it here as well.  If I needed to make a note about a question, a discipline issue, anything at all, I used this weekly class record sheet.

2.  Materials Distribution: I had a table in the front of my room near the door ... students picked up whiteboards, markers, and any other tools we are using for the day as they entered.  Any handouts that went with the lesson were on the table for students to retrieve. This simplified getting materials to students. At the end of the day, I moved left over handouts to a hanging paper pocket file. Absent students know to go to the pocket file for missed handouts.

3.  Agenda: I created a slide for the agenda each day.  It was projected as students entered so they knew what we were going to do, and what they needed to work on for the warm-up.  I kept those slides, posted them on my website. That way, if students were absent they could review the agenda slide as well.  Parents could also see the slides.

4.  Unit/Lesson Website: I created a class website for our lessons.  Each unit had a link to a set of pages on the website.  All handouts were linked there, notes, homework, homework solutions, and more were on the website.  Parents and students could access the website any time to see what we were working on. I used Google Sites and put all handouts in Google Drive to make it all easy.

5.  PLC/Planning: I worked on a PLC - about 7 of use taught the same course.  We planned together - and typically we planned the whole unit before it began.  I liked that.  I could build the website pages; send the handouts I needed to our district print shop; and put together any other special items I might need.

6.  Class Files: I kept a file box for each class period, a file for each student.  On days when I returned tests, students reviewed their tests, and filed them. When students came after school for test corrections and retakes, they retrieved their graded tests from the file and picked up a correction handout. I had an "inbox" near my desk for completed corrections and retests.

Mission #6: My Response - Yes! and No!

In Mission #6 in the Explore MTBoS series, the question asked caught my attention ... is this too much of a good thing?  My answer ... YES!!! and NO!!!  I find myself caught up in the web called the MTBoS!  

Honestly ... there is a part of me that preferred just hooking up in the MSSunFun and the Made4Math  weekly postings.  Any other ideas I needed I caught through my feedly blog list.

I love reading about the lessons everyone is teaching.  I love the sharing of ideas.  

The Twittering is really a lot ... I can't keep up with that although I do enjoy checking in daily to see what is being discussed.  A couple of times this week I thought about letting that account go ... but then I wanted to tweet to ask for ideas!  It's easier to get responses from tweets than in blogs!  I wish that were not so ...

The weekly "chats" and the Global Math meetings are awesome ... but really ... I have to have time to get other things done!  So I usually choose to catch the recordings ... that way I can listen/read to as much or as little as I need.

So yes ... it is too much of a good thing ... and no ... I need it all!  So I'm learning to let go of keeping up with every idea ... and instead, listening in, asking for help with my specific topics. 

But organizing the ideas ... that's a tough one.  I'm trying two methods ...

During the summer when I had a little more time than I do now, I blogged a "round-up" series where I made note of the cool ideas I was finding online (1, 2, 3, 4, 5).  Just this weekend I went back through those blogs and found one idea I need in my next unit plan.  So finding a way to keep track of all the good ideas is essential!

I have a virtual filing cabinet - multiple drawers - A1, A2, Great math sites!!  I taught Algebra 1 last year; I organized a list of links for that course based on our curriculum.  This year I'm teaching Algebra 2.  As I finish a unit I am going back through to note the links that helped.  I do have a tendency to save too many links ... only because when I teach one or both of these again I may need slightly different materials.  I am a hoarder of ideas!  I like the filing cabinet method the best for organizing.

I hope others will talk about their organizational methods ... love to learn new tricks!

Symbaloo ... woohoo!

I had the opportunity to attend professional development training on the new platform our district is using for teacher websites.  We used TeacherWeb last year; this year we will use SharpSchool.  The training was fine, and I have a head start on creating my website for the coming year.

But more importantly, the instructor shared a website called Symbaloo with us!  Oh my!  It is a way to organize favorite websites for a topic using visual buttons.  So I played with it ... organizing online interactive games, textbook videos, and more around our introductory unit on functions.  I know it still needs work making the buttons prettier ... but it sure is useful already!  I think my students will appreciate the ease at which they can choose online activities!





How do you organize approved websites for students?

Blogosphere ... Good Ideas!

As I was working on my Feedly list, I visited a number of blogs today.  I am really bad about remembering good ideas that I see around the blogosphere.  So I was delighted when I happened up the radical rational ... where she mentions reading three blogs a day.  She blogged about the three great ideas that she found today ... which sent me on my own hunt for three ideas to use next year!

One of my goals for next year is to do more with math vocabulary.  So I was delighted to find this simple self-reflection on vocabulary at Math = Love!  I remember reading about this strategy in Marzano's book on vocabulary but I didn't put it into practice this past year.  Creating a master list for each unit, rating before, in the middle and at the end of the unit will be helpful in getting students to think about their own understanding of math terms.  (And ... Sarah mentioned a book I might need to add to my summer reading list ... Styles and Strategies for Teaching High School Mathematics: 21 Techniques for Differentiating Instruction and Assessment!

I was not satisfied with my math notebooking efforts this past year.  I value keeping a well-organized notebook but doing so is not one of my skills!  I am afraid that I passed on my lack of organization to my students this past year.  So I was glad to run across Borsht with Anna's post on math notebooking in a 3-ring binder!  Our print shop will copy assignments on hole punched paper. Hole punching is so much easier than gluing and pasting!  I'm hoping that with this plan in place I can teach myself and my ninth graders how to keep each unit organized!

Last but not least, I visited Math Munch today.  Wow!  So many possibilities!  I love the numeric design project.  I had some doodlers this year that would have loved to created graphic design numbers for me!  The Math Munch folks highlighted a TED video presented by Nina Fetterman on epidemics. I can imagine using this video (or a clip of it) as I introduce exponential numbers - talking about the spread of disease!  An ongoing effort is capturing students' attention and interest.  I'm thinking there will be ways to use Math Munch next year ... maybe even "math munch Mondays!"

As you peruse the Internet this summer, how are you organizing the good ideas you find?  Please share!

Virtual Filing Cabinet ...

After reading the many ideas that Julie mentioned in her blog - topics for middle and high school teachers to share, I decided to create a Virtual Filing Cabinet of resources that fit our Texas Algebra 1 curriculum.  Eventually I want to tackle more areas of math ... and cross coordinate with the Common Core State Standards (which TX did not adopt).

Please take a moment to check out my Virtual Filing Cabinet.  I would love, love, love for you to share your favorite resources so that I can post those as well!

Organization challenge!

Having returned to the classroom after being in another position for 12 years, I am struggling with organization!  I am working on some very simple techniques:

1.  I print out a class roll for each week for my clipboard.  I take attendance and record if students bring their notebooks and their completed homework on that roll sheet.  The roll sheet and seating chart for each class are attached so that I can continue to learn all my students' names - calling on students with confidence!  I almost have all 150+ names down.  These roll sheets are perfect tool when I go to record information in my electronic gradebook!

2.  I am using a 3-ring binder for my lesson plans.  With each lesson plan I add a copy of any handouts and a printed version of any powerpoint I might use.  If I get to teach this same subject next year, I hope this notebook will be a valuable resource.  In addition all extra handouts or materials for each unit are going in a file folder pocket ... on pocket per unit.  (I have a matching electronic file folder on my computer at home & school!)

3.  I've created a lesson plan template in Excel (my fave!) that keeps me organized in my lessons.  The template has drop down boxes for the standards, for formative assessment strategies, and for differentiation plans.  I number the steps of my plan in one cell (a large cell!) so that I know exactly what I am going to do ... step by step.  Lesson Plan Format is a blank copy of my planning tool.

4.  I have a table in the front of my room near the door ... students pick up write-on/wipe-off sleeves, markers, and any other tools we are using for the day as they enter.  During those first few minutes students are picking up their materials, getting out their homework to check it, and working on the warm-up while I greet students, take attendance, and check for homework completion.  This same routine each day is an organization tool to get class started without too much hoopla!

I look forward to reading all about everyone else's organizational plans!