Ease Stress by Being Prepared

As a new teacher your life is already stressful. You are entering a new job, setting up a new classroom, dealing with new procedures, completing a ton of paperwork, and having to relate to many new people over the course of a day. Unfortunately this stress will not end anytime soon. For the first several months you'll find yourself running from task to task trying to keep up with everything that is required from you. There will be more forms to complete, papers to grade, parents to contact, lessons to plan, and then of course you are teaching all day long as well.

One of the best ways you can lower the amount of stress you deal with on a daily basis is to be prepared. Some of this preparation requires organization. If you are having trouble getting yourself organized, you might want to read my earlier column on "Getting Organized in the Midst of Chaos" for a few strategies to help. Preparation is absolutely the key to being a successful teacher. The more thought and effort you put into your lessons and your job, the better you will be. You will also be less stressed out during the year.

The first thing you want to do is begin some routines. The first routine is lesson planning. Choose a day of the week and make a firm appointment to write lesson plans on that day. Take into account faculty meetings and other events that you have going on in your personal and work life when determining this day. For me Wednesday was the best day for planning. It gave me enough time to get materials copied and shore up any unknown details before turning them in to the Principal on Friday. By having lesson plans and materials completely finished before Friday you are giving yourself a little time over the weekend to relax. Don't allow friends or even colleagues to sway you from completing your planning day. Just remember that whatever you don't complete at school or during the week must be done at home on the weekend.

As soon as you plan your lessons, go ahead and gather all of the materials you will need for the week. If you have handouts, go ahead and make the copies. Get the books or magazine resources you need from the library and set up any Power Point presentations or video clips you plan to use. If you need to sign up for the computer lab or need help from another colleague, contact them immediately. Don't wait to the last minute. Put requests in writing and follow-up with an email.

Now you may be worried that you'll have a ton of papers all over your classroom. This is where organization comes into play again. I create folders for each class for each day of the week. For elementary teachers this is as easy as one manila folder per day. You might want to color code them and label them with a marker. Place all handouts and materials for the day in its special folder. Put your lesson plans on top of the materials inside the folder. Place larger materials in a special area in your room and be sure to mark it clearly.

Secondary teachers will want to organize differently. I would suggest either a plastic crate or a filing drawer. Have one hanging file folder for each day. Then, inside the hanging file folder place one manila folder for each class you teach. You might color code the folders according to class period so that they don't get mixed up. Again, place all copies & other materials in this folder and put your lesson plans in the front. What you'll find is that you are no longer running around trying to find the handouts or materials for each lesson. Everything is all together in one location. Additionally, if you have an emergency or an unscheduled meeting comes up, everything a substitute or relief teacher will need is in each clearly marked folder, including the lesson plans. You won't need to worry about gathering everything and getting it organized before leaving the classroom. You won't need to stress over writing out plans for a substitute while you are deathly ill.

The last routine you want to develop is setting up your classroom, Power Point, or overhead before you leave for the day. If you are teaching elementary school, go ahead and set up your white board (or blackboard) with your focus assignment, agenda, objectives, homework, and any other information students need. Do this as soon as your students leave the room at the end of the day. Get out the folder for the next day and place it on your desk, podium, or overhead so that you are ready to begin. Review your plans and double-check that you have all of your materials in the folder. Now do whatever else needs to be done after school. By making this a daily routine you are ensuring that your classroom is ready to go no matter what. If you get sick, have a flat tire, or have an early meeting that goes on too long, the students will be able to enter the classroom and get started without you. The substitute or relief teacher will have all they need right at their fingertips and you will not have to stress out over not being there.

Secondary teachers will want to set up their "board" information either in Power Point or on a transparency. Type out the information listed above either in a Word Document or as a Power Point presentation for each class. You'll need one transparency or Power Point per prep you teach. Get the first period one ready as soon as the students walk out the door and have it on the overhead or computer. Be sure to leave instructions in bold to turn on the overhead or computer (just in case you cannot be in the classroom). Have your daily folder ready on your desk, podium, or overhead along with whatever materials are needed for the first class.

By having all of this ready to go before you leave the classroom each day you are ensuring that your classroom can continue to run smoothly whether you are there or not. It relieves stress on your part because you will not have to worry about writing up last minute plans while you are sick or worry about your students having their assignments ready to begin if you are late for any reason. Get in the habit of preparing your classroom for the next day as soon as your students leave. This makes certain that it will get done before you are distracted by all of your other duties.

The first year of teaching is very stressful. However, by putting in place some very simple habits, you can reduce some of that stress. Being prepared is not only helpful for you, but for your students and any guest or relief teachers that may be working in your classroom. It shows your principal that you are a professional and that you are efficient in getting your job done. It shows parents that you are on top of your job so that they can feel secure in knowing their child is in your class. Best of all, by taking a little time throughout the week to prepare, it gives you some time for yourself.

Reprinted from Emma McDonald's column at Education World.

Managing the Parent Teacher Relationship

There is one thing every teacher dreads more than changes in district policy, new standardized tests, and additional responsibilities required by the state – the angry parent. Nothing can ruin a day faster than being called to the principal's office to face a disgruntled, frustrated, or demanding parent. Managing the parent-teacher relationship can be a challenge for everyone. What can we, as teachers, do to develop a relationship with parents and minimize the angry encounters throughout the school year? The key is being proactive by informing and interacting with parents in a positive manner.

Informing

Keeping parents informed from the beginning of school is your first move towards managing the parent-teacher relationship. Most of the confrontations between parents and teachers result from a lack of communication from school to home. Gone are the days when parents sent their children off to school and trusted completely that the school and teachers would take care of everything. Today's parents want to know what their children are doing in the classroom and how it is being done. We live in an information age and that is exactly what our parents expect from us – information.

You can start by providing the basic facts to parents about your classroom expectations for student behavior and work product. Parents of elementary students will also want to know their child's daily schedule. Send home information about your classroom management and discipline strategies so there are no misunderstandings about what is expected and the consequences for making poor choices. Teachers should also send home the grading policy. If you or your school has a website, consider posting the more important details of your classroom policies here and refer parents to view it as needed.

It is also important to keep parents informed throughout the school year as well. A bi-monthly or monthly newsletter is a great way to let students and parents know about upcoming events, units, and due dates. You can also use the newsletter to explain commonly used acronyms, skills taught, or learning strategies used in the classroom. Again, this kind of information soothes those over-anxious parents who want to know what is happening with their child during school hours. The newsletter is also a great way to celebrate birthdays and offer a thank-you to volunteers and chaperones. If you and your parents have access to email, consider emailing your newsletter and other information. This will make sure the parent receives the information.

Lastly, make sure you send home notices when students are missing two assignments or have received two low grades. By sending home this information after the second instance, you are providing the parent and child more time to turn in missing assignments or to improve grades. Waiting until the last minute puts a strain on you, the student, and the parent. Just like with our health, early detection is the key to resolving a problem before it becomes a major issue. When receiving bad news in a progress report or near the end of the grading period, parent frustration will, more than likely, be aimed at you. However, when notified early, parents will put the heat on their child to improve grades and get assignments turned in. Otherwise, they cannot reprimand their children and support you in your efforts.

Interacting

Unlike informing, which is a one-way type of communication, interacting requires two people. Because there are two (or more) people involved, interactions are influenced by many factors. Some of these include cultural backgrounds, level of education, emotions, and personal agendas. As the teacher you approach all interactions with parents from one point of view. The parent will be coming to you with a completely different point of view. The levels at which these factors meet and are in harmony often determine the success of the interaction. So then, how can you create more positive interactions with parents?

First, initiate contact with the parent. Don't wait to be called. Take some time during the first several weeks of school to briefly call and talk with each parent. For secondary teachers this may seem overwhelming, but it can be handled by calling ten parents a night. You may even prioritize and call the parents of those students who exhibit signs of behavior and/or academic issues first. This will ensure that your first phone call is a positive one. Spread the rest of the phone calls out over the first month or two.

Begin your call by introducing yourself and offering a positive comment about the student. Next, ask the parents if there is any information they would like to share with regards to their child. This information could be very helpful to you in managing the behavior or encouraging the student to higher performance levels in your class. Remember, the parents know their children far better than you do at this point. If you are already noticing a potential problem, gently mention it and ask for suggestions from the parent in handling the situation. Next, encourage parents to ask you any questions they have at this point in the year. Near the end of the conversation, let the parent know the best times to contact you and offer your school number or email.

This type of phone call near the beginning of the school year will go a long way towards developing a positive relationship between you and the parent, especially if the child is one who will be a constant challenge in the classroom. Now the parent knows who you are and has experienced your interest in their child. They will be more likely to call or email you calmly with a concern rather than storming up to the school in a rage.

Second, be aware of cultural differences when interacting with parents. Should you address the father first or the mother when conferencing with both? Is it acceptable to call a parent by first name or will they consider it insulting? These little details can sometimes make the difference between parents who are willing to work with you and those who are not. Also, be aware of how your cultural background influences the way you interact with others. You may be more casual in your conversations which could be interpreted by other cultures as uncaring or flippant. Having a basic understanding of the different cultures within your school will help you better prepare for parent interactions.

Getting Organized in the Midst of Chaos

Here you are with school in full swing, students, parents and colleagues coming at you from all sides, and you feel that you are in total chaos. Oh yes, some of it is planned, but what with every new piece of paperwork, documentation, and request thrown your way, you have no idea what to do with it all. Do you find yourself staring at all those piles of papers on your desk wondering what to do with them all? It isn't easy getting organized, especially when there is so very little time. Below are a few tips that I hope you will find helpful. They are not designed to be a quick fix, but rather to help you take baby steps in getting yourself a bit more organized than maybe you are right now.

"Baby steps" is a concept I learned from someone called the Fly Lady. She is an organization guru and has quite a following. She recommends two things that I in turn will recommend to you. The first is using a timer. When you are faced with an enormous pile of mail, memos, and forms with only 30 or 45 minutes of conference time, use a timer. Once you have checked your box and returned to your classroom (for those of you not kicked out during that class period), set your timer for 10 minutes. I like setting it for 10 minutes because it doesn't take up too much of my time. Try to get whatever you can organized during that 10 minutes. When the timer goes off, stop. You won't have gotten everything accomplished during that time, but you will have made a start. If you spend 10 minutes a day working like this, before long you'll be on top of that paperwork and have organized files.

The second piece of advice is to work forwards before working back. Once you've set that timer for 10 minutes, start with whatever mail, memos, and forms you found in your box today. Get those either filed, thrown-away, or completed and ready to return. If you have any time left, start working at the top of that pile on your desk. This way the paperwork does not continue to pile up on you. You can respond in a timely manner and stay current with your mail, communications, and other necessary forms.

Every piece of paper on your desk should have a home whether it is the trash can, a 3-ring binder, a file folder, a tray, or to be returned to someone else. I don't know if you are the kind of person that likes to hang on to magazines or not. I am. I just love catalogs and all those lovely things I might buy one day. What I started doing to keep the catalogs from piling up is to pull out the pages and the order form from each catalog that interests me. I punch holes in them and place them in a binder. I like the binder because I can then tab each particular catalog rather than stuffing them all in one folder. When I have the time (and money) to order, then I can go to that binder and find what I need. However, if you do not have a home for this kind of mail, it can very easily pile up on you and become overwhelming.

For those of you without the flexibility of having your classroom or office space available during your planning period, make a commitment to stay after school for at least thirty minutes. Set your timer for 10 minutes at a time and go from there. Even when faced with papers that need to be graded, you can use the 10 minute strategy to start working your way through those piles. Also, remember that not everything must be graded with the same intensity. Sometimes a simple check or minus will work.

Again, if you keep working at it 10 minutes at a time, before you know it that pile will start shrinking to nothing. Everything will have a home where you can easily find it. Also, once those paperwork piles are gone, take what is left of the 10 minutes and start making specific homes for the other areas in your classroom. Make no mistake; this is a process and not a quick fix. Sure, you can spend 6 or 7 hours one day after school going through it all, but that kind of behavior quickly leads to burn-out. You are so tired of going through paperwork that you let it pile up again and before you know it you have another evening of doing nothing but sorting through papers. Just take it one step at a time, 10 minutes a day, and watch those paperwork piles fade away!

Written by Emma McDonald, reprinted from her column on Education World.

To view the original, go to http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/columnists/mcdonald/mcdonald003.shtml

Tips for Getting Parents Involved

• Encourage parents to read with their children each night
  
• Request/require parent signatures on homework assignments
  
• Send home a fun parent/child assignment for them to do together
  
• Offer ideas for ways parents can reinforce concepts or skills at home or while doing daily tasks
  
• Ask for help in specific areas and at specific times such as reading with one child, stuffing Thursday folders, or putting up a bulletin board
  
• When you need help, send home a notice, email, or announcement in your newsletter
  
• Call parents when you have a specific need
  
• Use your parent volunteers
  
• Ask parents to send a list of their hobbies and talents. You may find a great guest speaker or demonstrator for a unit (ex: making tortillas during a unit on early Texas Mission life)
  
• When parents volunteer, send regular thank you notes
  
• When making the first phone call home, list activities, events, and tasks you need help to complete. Ask the parent if he/she could help with any one of the tasks listed. Make sure to write it down and note the phone number for follow-up.
  
• Send home a pledge for parents to complete and sign committing to at least one activity, event, etc. to do with the school or class during the year.
  

Sparking the Minds of Students

Getting students excited about their learning is absolutely the best way to have fun every day as a teacher. When your students are fired up about being in your class they bring with them their unbridled enthusiasm and energy. That energy and enthusiasm is then pumped into to you and it begins a positive cycle between you and your students and learning. So what are some ways you can spark the minds of your students and get them excited about learning?

First of all, you need to feel passionate about what you are teaching. If you find your subject matter boring and unworthy of your attention, then you won't be able to inspire your students to be excited about it. If you've lost the passion for what you teach, you need to take some time to reconnect with the reason why you started teaching. Remind yourself of the spark that first entered you and filled you with excitement about your subject area. I've always loved writing. It is something I've been doing since the 2^nd grade. I can remember going over to a friend's house and writing story after story while she drew the pictures to go along with them. Teaching writing was not necessarily my first choice, but when I finally decided that was what I wanted to do I became thoroughly excited about inspiring my students to let loose the muse and communicate their thoughts on paper. What was your experience?

If you find yourself teaching something not your first choice, what can you do to become passionate about it? One way is to watch movies, read books, and find interesting facts about that subject area or topic. Actively search for something that will spark your interest and passion so that you can pass it along to students. I, for one, am not an avid mathematician. It is not my forte at all. However, I found myself suddenly having to teach math and needing my students excited about it. I do love puzzles and I connected solving math equations to solving puzzles. Suddenly math seemed like an endless set of mysteries to be solved rather than just skill and drill. When the topic or subject area is not your favorite, it is up to you to find a way to make it intriguing for both yourself and your students.

Secondly, find a way to make the students active in their learning. Passive learning, including listening to lectures and doggedly copying down notes or reading silently and answering worksheet questions is boring. Do we need some of that type of learning? Yes. Do we need that type of learning all the time? No. Look at your lessons and ask yourself, what can I do to get my students actively involved? Break them into groups and assign each one a section of the chapter. Have them become experts on that information and present it to the rest of the class as a skit, on a poster, through a poem or story, or possibly in a Power Point presentation. Create scavenger hunts for students to locate information or have them create their own scavenger hunts and swap papers. Get students moving around the classroom. Create mysteries that require math or science to solve the problem. Give students sleuthing tools so they feel like detectives as they solve these mysteries.

Pose questions that challenge students to think through the answers or research information to solve the puzzle. This can be done in any subject area. Allow students to cut, color, draw, and create products as part of the learning process. Many elementary teachers use these types of learning tools, but unfortunately many middle school and high school teachers seem to feel that it is beneath them and their students to do more than lecture, read, and complete pre-printed handouts. This is so sad because our middle and high school students love to be read to, color, cut, and create. They simply need to do so at a higher level than our elementary students. They have more experiences and bigger ideas to add to the creative process, and as such can come up with fantastic products that enhance both their excitement and learning. For instance, creating collages from modern day pictures in magazines to represent/explain a historical event or historical figure requires students to synthesize information.

Being passionate about your subject area communicates fascination and energy to students. They soak up that energy and return it back to you double-fold. Getting students actively involved in their learning gives them the opportunity to put themselves into the equation. Both of these strategies will work together to spark the minds of your students. This in turn lights the fire of enthusiasm and excitement about teaching and learning in you, which then lights the fire of learning in your students. What an awesome cycle to create in our classrooms and what a lasting legacy we leave when this happens!

Reprinted with permission from Emma McDonald's column, New Teacher Advisor, on Education World. http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/columnists/mcdonald/mcdonald017.shtml

 

The Choices We Make

As teachers and parents we are concerned that our students and children are making good choices in their lives and for their future. Unfortunately so many children and teens don't recognize that they make hundreds of decisions each day which affect themselves and those around them. You may hear a child say something like, "My teacher gave me a low grade on that test," or "My mom made me stay in my room all afternoon." This shows exactly the perspective of the child who doesn't recognize that the choices he or she made dictated the consequences being faced. As the adult we understand that the choice of not studying for a test can lead to the consequence of a low grade and the choice of disobeying a parent can result in restrictions. Our children don't make these direct connections. In fact, the part of the brain that identifies consequences for actions and uses that information to plan ahead does not fully mature until the age of 25. However, we can help this part of the brain grow and develop strength by taking time to teach our children and teens to recognize the decisions or choices they make each and every day.

One way we can do this is by pointing out the choices facing the child or teen and describing the consequences (both positive and negative) for each choice. For example, when a test is scheduled for Friday we may tell the child/teen, "If you choose to study every day this week for at least fifteen minutes, you won't have to study as long or as hard on Thursday AND the information will be so familiar to you by Friday that the test should be easy. However, if you choose to wait until Thursday, you'll have to spend more time studying that night and you may not remember it all on Friday for the test. The choice is yours." Then allow the child to make the choice. As a parent and a teacher this is never easy. However, by stepping back you are accomplishing two things. First, you are empowering the child/teen which helps them develop into a mature adult. Second, you are allowing the child/teen to learn from the choices made. It is very important that you then use the results (either positive or negative) to illustrate how the choice made determined the consequences. For example, "You chose to wait until Thursday to start studying. As a result you didn't perform as well on the test. This caused you to earn a lower grade. That grade is a result of your choice."

    Testing situations are not the only choices children make. They also make choices with regards to behavior and attitudes. When you see a student or your child making a choice that will lead to a negative consequence, take the time to point this out. "You are choosing to _______ (be specific in describing the action or attitude). This choice will lead to _______ (be specific in describing the consequences)." Then offer a different choice that will lead to a more positive result. For example, "You are choosing to ignore my instructions. If you continue to choose to ignore my instructions, you will not be able to complete the assignment correctly and you will make a low grade. However, you can choose to follow my instructions and you will have a much better chance of making a higher grade." Another example might be, "You are choosing to disobey me when I asked you to clean your room. If you continue to disobey me by not cleaning your room, I will be forced to take away all electronics (TV, computer, video games) for a week. The other option is to choose to obey me and clean your room as I have asked. The sooner you complete this task, the sooner you will be able to watch your favorite show on TV."

Another way we can help children understand the importance of the choices they make each day is to point out both positive and negative results of choices made by ourselves and others. Every moment is a teachable moment. When at the market, watching TV or a movie, or listening to the news, take time to talk to your child about the things you see and hear. What choices did people make? What were the results or consequences of those choices? Ask the child whether he or she thinks the choice was worth the consequence. Is that something they would want to happen to them? What kind of choice would they have made in that same situation? Then share the choice you would have made if it had been you. This type of discussion models good thinking and decision-making skills. Additionally, talking about these kinds of situations with children and teens offers them a chance to learn from the behavior, attitudes, and choices of others without walking down the same perilous path. Also, don't just focus on the negative. Take some time to point out good choices that are being made and the positive results of those as well.

Taking time to identify the different choices facing a child during the day, whether at home or at school, offers a valuable teaching tool to parents and teachers. It provides an opportunity to show how each decision we make is followed by a consequence of some sort, either positive or negative. It opens up discussion about how choices can lead us down different paths in life. It also helps develop the part of the brain that uses forethought, thinking through a situation before acting on it. This is a vital skill that will help your child and your students lead a successful life.

Laying the Groundwork

The first day of school is absolutely one of the most important days of the year. It is the day when you set the tone for your classroom. We all want to have a smoothly running classroom, but it is difficult when you don't know where to start. You may be feeling that you are groping around half blindfolded with only bits and pieces of information rather than the whole. What you need is a vision of what you want your classroom to look like as a positive learning environment. Then take that vision and use the first day of school to lay the groundwork towards making the vision become a reality. How?

First, before school starts, take some time to sit down and brainstorm all of your expectations. This includes how you want students to behave towards you and each other, how you want the day-to-day activities and transitions to be performed, and how you want your classroom to feel. Within each of these categories, think about different scenarios from your own days as a student and plan out how you would deal with each one. Some questions you might ask yourself include how will students enter the classroom, leave the classroom, turn in homework, work in team situations, work as individuals? Picture in your head what you would like to see happening and then write it down as a statement.

When you've mapped out this information, create a poster of basic classroom expectations for everyone to follow. Your poster won't include every single expectation you have, but the ones that guide student behavior. You'll also want to create some procedures posters for various activities during the day such as entering and leaving the classroom. Write them in a very basic step-by-step method with no more than five steps in each. Post these where all students can easily read them. Once you have a clear idea of how you expect students to behave and what you expect them to do from the moment they enter the classroom until the moment they leave the classroom, then you are prepared to explain these expectations to your students.

Now we lay the groundwork. When planning out your first day of school, be sure to alternate between fun ice-breaker and get-to-know activities, which build a positive classroom community, and discussing your expectations and procedures. You need a mixture of both through the first several days as students can only absorb so much information at once. By alternating fun activities with the practical and serious you give students time to internalize the information. When transitioning from a fun activity into another lesson of expectations or procedures, be sure to review previous information before moving on to the new. For example, you might ask students to show you the quiet signal and explain what it means before moving forward to discuss your classroom procedures.

When discussing your classroom expectations and procedures with students, be sure to speak slowly, get eye contact with each student one-on-one, and pause significantly after each expectation. This reinforces the impression that the information is important and also gives students time to listen, understand, and internalize what you are saying. You also want to practice procedures, such as the quiet signal, entering the classroom, and leaving the classroom, with your students. Continue to practice these throughout the next two weeks. By practicing your procedures and expectations with students during the first day and weeks of school, you are laying the groundwork for your vision and building good habits that will last all year long.

Reprinted with permission from Emma McDonald "New Teacher Advisor" column on Education World. http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/columnists/mcdonald/mcdonald.shtml