First Day of School : The Preparation Tips For Teacher

The Preparation Tips For Teacher

A.       Getting Personal Relationships

Well, if I remember taking on a plane, the most thrilling moment will not happen when I was on a plane. It also did not happen when the plane is about to land. I guess you know it, it happens when the plane is about to take off. So it does happen when the new school year or maybe the first day at school is about to come.  The kids are very enthusiast to meet new friends, new teachers, new challenge in higher grade and new hopes too. 

One big question is how do we support, maintain and keep their hopes, their spirit and their enthusiasm high? What will we do for about a year to come? are we going to waste their time in a year as it goes by without any deep impression?

The answers for the questions above are merely simple. TRUE?.. I bet you will give an answer like these “we will spend more time and get closer with the pupils, teach them”, and for the final answer “of course Not!” those are very good and representative answers.  

How do you do all the answer? Will you give a deep impression to your kids by the end of the school year? Will you treat them as ordinary kids and similar to last year class? That will be my next simple questions.

image resource: whatsupwithred.blogspot.com

 

To begin with, I usually count time and day in a year. A year is merely simple in number. ONE is the smallest number, isn’t it true? but when we break the “ONE” into something else, it means … you would better check this out!!!!

There are 12 months or 52 weeks in our calendar but we effectively teach them for about 10 to 11 months or similar to 40 to 45 weeks a year of  teaching. If one week we have 5 days for schooling, so 5 x 6 hours per day = 30 hours of lesson in a week. 30 hours times 45 weeks equals 1.350 hours in a year. 1.350 hours times 60 minutes equal to 81.000 minutes a year.

I like the figure of 1,350 hours and 81,000 minutes!!! They are BIG NUMBERS, aren’t they? What would you have done, finished, and accomplished in those time duration? A WHOLE LOT THINGS!!!

Furthermore, it is the times that we allocate, spend, and gather with our kids. Apparently, it is bigger and longer than the time our pupils spend out with their mom and dad. What would you feel when I waste your time for just a normal activities?... what would you do for them?

I am not a super or a great teacher, but by the school year is over, they always ask me these questions: “

“Would you teach us again in the next grade?” “Please…!!!” or “what will we do for the next year Mister J?”. Well, I guess I have touched their heart and left impression to my beloved kids.

Right then, these are what I have done for them not just in a day only but in a year. The secret is THE FISRT DAY of SCHOOL!!! You’d better arrange and plan your first day WELL-ORGANIZED! I wouldn’t talk about lesson plan or teaching materials because you know it well more than I do. but I would like to share some ideas how to organize and planned the first day at school.

1.         DON’T TEACH THEM!

I would not agree for teaching my kids on the first day of new academic year. Yet I wouldn’t agree to waste their time doing something freely like chit-chatting with their new friends, walking around the school or playing unnecessary games. Why I don’t want to teach them? They are not yet READY. They just want to have fun like they do on their holiday. So I would tell them directly “OK CLASS, I WOULD NOT TEACH you today! Today we will have NO LESSON. We will just TALK OVER on something. And, to be honest, I need your help. Does anybody want to help me and talk over with me?...” 

2.         NAME TAG!

Well, it is hard done by to remember all the new kids with their entire full name and nickname too. I think it would rather sound ridiculous when teacher could not mention the name of their kids correctly. So to overcome this problem, I ask the class and we made a name tag that we could put on each kid’s table.  

 This is the way I did; I give everyone a small piece of paper, Fold a construction paper into four parts. cut the construction paper as the folding lines. You will get four pieces of small papers. Fold the small pieces into two parts. You don’t have to cut for this part.  Ask your kids to write their name on one side/part of the small construction paper. Make sure their name is big enough, bold enough and it is easy to be read from a distance. They can decorate their name afterward. Finally, place the name tag on the table. it would be seen as a tent or triangular from one side. 

Tell the kids, they should save their name after school and ask them to put their name on their table during the first week of school. This name tag will also help other teachers who teach them. Believe me, they will feel honored, having self prestige as though important people shown on TV with their name tag on their table.

3.         SHOW THEM AROUND Your class.

This is also important. I tell the kids that the stationary and teaching stuff are not always belong to me. They also have a right to use them properly. I show the cabinet filing management to them. I show them class facilities like drinking bottle shelf, class administration cabinet, the cabinet for keeping their on progress project, reading corner, and the most important the rules after using the stuff.

 

 I think this will help them grow their sense of class belonging, the art of filing order and of course, introduce them to follow some rules in society.

4.         SHARE YOUR IDEAS & ACTIVITIES

Teaching is not merely transferring something from the book. Most of the kids would expect more than this. They can learn by reading the books at home or learn from other media. So after you read and learn your syllabus, you should come up with some ideas, creativity, and activities to your kids. it could be considered as long term project or additional fun activity. you ask every kids what their hopes in this grade. I elicit those on white board and I with the entire class decide which ideas are possible and not possible to accomplish.

My kids usually love to make a mind map so I would tell them my hope that all mind maps must be very unique and full of artistic sense. I ask them to use more colorful pen, more paper, more image and etc.

Other ideas, we would like to make a campaign and doing presentation to all classes at school, we would make a drama for school performance; I told them it is hard thing to do… I tell them some difficulties and the also way how they can do and achieve those ideas. I give the ideas to them! Amazingly, they agree and they love the challenge before them.    

5.         HOPE AND PRAY! – TIME CAPSULE!

I already discuss about this aspect on this blog. If you want to know more about this you may search and open the post about TIME capsule.. happy reading.

The next part will discuss about how to prepare managing the classroom for the whole year…

Wait for the next post…