Setting the Stage for a Successful School Year

Those of us who have spent time in our classrooms know that teaching is a profoundly rewarding profession. We witness our students’ excitement after learning new skills and experience the joy of positively impacting young lives. Each day offers new opportunities to inspire curiosity, foster critical thinking, and create a supportive learning environment.

 

However, we also quickly realize that the challenges in our profession are equally significant. Balancing the diverse needs of students, managing classroom behavior, and staying current with educational trends is demanding. The weight of standardized assessments, lack of resources, and external pressures can create stress. Despite these hurdles, the privilege of shaping future minds and the joy of building lasting relationships with students, which makes teaching incredibly fulfilling, is what keeps us connected and valued in our profession.

 

I always found that adequate preparation is the key to a smooth start to a school year. The first few days in a secondary classroom can sometimes feel like playing musical chairs, as class loads are balanced, and students’ schedules are adjusted to accommodate their needs.  As new students are added and dropped from your class roll, establishing your class routine can be challenging.

 

Colorful posters on your walls that explain your class rules and expectations can help students become acclimated. I sent a letter home for parental signatures that included what I would like them to know about my expectations and classroom routine. I also previewed the novels and major projects I would assign. The more parents know about your class, the more they can support their children’s learning, fostering a collaborative and supportive educational environment.

 

I have a FREE Day Planner and To-Do List that you can print. It’s simple, but I hope it’s helpful.

You can download it here.

I have a great back-to-school unit that will get your new semester or school year off to a good start. Everything you need is included in this unit. Five pages of instruction for the teacher and a four-page handout packet for the students. When completed, students will have introduced each other to you and to their classmates, and you will have taken three assessment grades.

You can find it here.

I hope the coming school year is a great one for you and your students.

Thanks for reading,

Charlene

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Find Amazing Bargains in Back-to-School Sale on TpT

The annual back-to-school sale on TeachersPayTeachers.com begins next week on Tuesday, August 3rd. You will have two days to save up to 25% on thousands of resources that you can purchase, download, and use immediately. 

Be sure to enter the code BTS21 when you check out. Many sellers are pricing their resources at 20% off and if you enter the code, TpT will take off another 5%.

Busy teachers will especially enjoy the back-to-school activities that are printable, and many resources also provide a link to a product in Google Drive™ or offer the opportunity to work in Easel by TpT™.

Here's a link with more information on how to use Easel by TpT™. 

I have spent much of my summer making 50 of my resources available to use in Easel. If you wish to see which of them have been converted to Easel, click here. 

If you have already purchased a resource that has been converted to Easel, please go to the "my purchases" tab in your TpT dashboard and download it again.

Here's a great opportunity to enter an amazing contest sponsored by Victoria Leon and The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs Marketing Cooperative. You can win a $100 TpT Gift Certificate. Click here to enter the Rafflecopter giveaway.

One of my goals for the coming school year is to write a blog post and an email each month to help you teach a grammar, writing, or creative writing lesson to your students. If you have any special requests about concepts you would like to see me spotlight, please tell me in the comments below or send me an email at charlenetess@yahoo.com. I would love to help you in any way I can. 

You may find these two back-to-school lessons helpful. 

This back-to-school unit will get your new semester or school year off to a good start. Everything you need is included in this unit. Five pages of instruction for the teacher and a four-page handout packet for the students. 

When completed, students will have introduced each other to you and to their classmates, and you will have taken three assessment grades.

The twenty back-to-school-themed sentences in this exercise all begin with the subject and the verb.

Good writers vary their sentence patterns by sometimes placing phrases or clauses at the beginning of their sentences. 

In this exercise, students will rewrite sentences by varying the sentence patterns.

I hope the 2021-2022 school year is a happy and healthy one for you, your family, and your students.

Best,

Charlene

Back to School 2018

Teachers' minds are probably whirling around right about now. Preparing for the beginning of a school year is a daunting task. It should get easier with time, but somehow it doesn't. Every year there are so many changes and so many new requirements, not to mention the exciting but challenging task of getting to know a whole new group of students. For a secondary teacher, that could mean learning well over a hundred names. It makes me tired just thinking about it.

The digital age has helped teachers in many ways, but we still have to input all the data, and let's face it, many tasks still require paper and pen. In secondary schools, the first few days are chaotic because while counselors balance the classes, teachers must enroll students in their classes one day, only to find that they drop out the next.

Often, classes are interrupted by class meetings, fire drills, preparing books lists, recording locker numbers and bus assignments, just to name a few.

I suggest setting three major goals to achieve during the first few days of school:

1) Get organized (Class rosters, seating charts, student information sheets, add and drop forms, book lists, bus routes, etc.)

2) Get to know your students.

3) Set the tone for your class.

How can you accomplish these three goals in just a few days? It's not as hard as you think. Use my activities to introduce students to you and to one another and hone their writing and oral presentation skills at the same time. 

I have a unit that might help. One of the first things I tried to do as a secondary ELA teacher, was to access the writing and speaking abilities of my new students. I developed a back-to-school unit to get the new semester or school year off to a good start. Everything you need is included in this unit. Five pages of instruction for the teacher and a four-page handout packet for the students. 

When completed, students will have introduced each other to you and to their classmates, and you will have taken three assessment grades.

This lesson is aligned with: CCSS.ELA - Literacy.CCRA.L.1 and CCSS.ELA - Literacy.CCRA.L.2   

This assignment can be easily adjusted to meet any challenges you encounter such as unexpected class meetings, fire drills, and so forth. This is a fun and interesting way to begin a new year of school. I used it every year with my students, and we all enjoyed getting to know each other.

As a bonus, students can work independently and in small groups while you attend to the paperwork that accompanies the beginning of a new semester or school year.

I hope this helps you and your students to get the 2018 school year off to a great start. If you would like to try this unit, click here.

You will find several FREE resources in my TeachersPayTeachers Store. Come on over and take a look!

I hope your new school year is the best one yet! 

Thanks for reading,

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Getting to Know Your Students

Here's a blog post from the past that is especially appropriate for the next few weeks.

The first few days of school are crazy busy. In secondary schools, much of the time is spent dealing with students being added or dropped from your class as students’ schedules are adjusted and class loads are balanced.

The paperwork piles up, and yet you meet a room full of new students every hour or so. How do you prepare for these first few important days?

Getting to Know You Activities for the First Few Days of School is a series of activities that introduced my students to one another and to me, and provided a sample of their writing and their oral presentation skills. You can use these activities to make the first few days of your school year informative and productive.

I also hope you will take a look at my best selling product on TeachersPayTeachers.com. My eBook Simple Steps to Sentence Sense has been used in schools throughout the U.S. and is several countries overseas since 1996. It has been tested on thousands of students and they enjoy learning grammar and usage the way I present it. Click on the testamonials tab above to see what teachers are saying about my series of books.

The good news is that both of these products will be on sale at 28% off during the Back to School Sale on TpT August 3rd and 4th. Enter the code: BTS2015 at checkout.

Thanks to Brian Wiltgen (Wise Guys) for creating the links below to other top secondary teachers who are participating in the sale.

I hope your first days of school are fantastic!

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