1st Year Teaching: Planning

Planning----Suck it up. You have to do it. Do not worry; it will not take away from your lifeline. You want the answer to 70% of the educator’s battle, read here.

Being a first year is hard work; you have to start from scratch. However once it is over, life gets easier. Why? Planning and Education create a solid foundation for your future career.

As a first year teacher, planning is the last thing you want to do. I know. The year is over, and I remember feeling like I put all of my energy into my classroom—especially at the beginning. Then, people kept putting more and more and more and more…and more responsibility on my shoulders (Note: I did not say they asked my permission to do so, nor did I say it was just administration). Luckily, I remembered what I had learned in my first year and a half. Planning is key.

Thus, I took it upon myself to work outside of the classroom almost entirely on planning leaving grading, etc. to be dealt with while at school. To take this a step further, after my initial 3 month sit down session to really set a course for my classroom, the tweaks were easy enough from then on still leaving me with maybe an hour to two hours worth of work on the weekends. It is true; we as teachers work roughly 10-12 hours a day regularly. However, the better you get at planning the closer to a 10 hour day it gets.

Note, I am not telling you to fight your time you have to put in. At this point in time, everyone is. It will pay off in the long run if you hang in there. We are up against some tough times, but God is good.

Things you want to plan:

A. Classroom Management

- Procedures (70% of Classroom Management)

--Do not put this off. Procedures, consistency, and follow-through will save your life. Trust me.

-Discipline

--This is a necessary form of tough love sometimes. While we want all of our students to grow and learn, there are times where students will fight you every step of the way unless you stop them.

B. Grading

-What to grade

--Tests, Quizzes, Homework, Classwork, Participation, Projects, etc.

-How to grade

--Rubrics, Point System, Percent System, A- B- C and Not Yet System, Curve, etc.

--Notebook Checks where students store all their work for one swift grade check

--Bellwork Checks; Student Grading; Homework Checking System

C. Typical Lesson Plan Format

--A Coverall Lesson Plan that reflects a systematic lesson giving students consistency that may not always be found at home

--A lesson that touches on many different elements of the Standard Course of Study so as to keep it fresh but also to keep from losing students interest because you chose to do a 90 minute PowerPoint

D. Pacing Guide

--A guide for how you plan to cover all of the required material for the year

--Check with colleagues to find out about any Projects or Papers that you are required to take care of throughout the year to put into this Pacing Guide (You will almost necessarily get a Wild Turkey in the middle of the year or 7, depending on your planning)

E. Syllabus

--You must be careful to let “your Yes be Yes and your No be No”

--Don’t be afraid to stay flexible, but also, if you have a plan set in stone that you will not waiver from regardless, include it; be leery of being too inflexible because you might just break

F. Make-Up Work Policies

--How many times can a student make up missed work or failed work

--How much work are you willing to grade and re-grade; this is time consuming

--Is it done outside of class, in detention, in Saturday School, etc.

G. Unit Plans

--Create as many Units as you can; Create as many lessons as you can

-- Gather as many resources as you can

--Create as many PowerPoints, worksheets, bookwork, project ideas, paper ideas, computer lab time, connections with the community as you can

--Gather as many short films, sound clips, etc. as possible

--Create as many games as you can

--Back-Up Lesson Ideas are great last-minute fillers

K. Sub-Plans

--This could be key to your future

--Detailed down to locking the windows and cleaning the room, leaving a note, taking attendance, etc.

N. Alternative Assignments

--Great for students who may disagree with your personal ideals; equal work but less offensive to them

--Great for trouble students; Equal work, but more boring

O. Absent Policy

--How will you take role

--How will absent students get their work from you

If you cannot see it yet, PLANNING is KEY. There are bound to be things not mentioned above; feel free to comment with ideas.

Planning---- You just received the answer to 70% of the educator’s battle. Do not worry; it will not take away from your lifeline. Good planning adds to your lifeline I have heard it said that those who “sweat during peace times, will bleed less during the battle”. You can and will get this done. Suck it up, and make your life easier.