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As I am sure many teachers are, I am making preparations for the
upcoming school year. I have registered for my district’s summer staff
development institute the second week of August, picked out the presentations I
need to attend, and have added them to my calendar. One of the sessions is a
double session, and will cover how best to use the new math textbooks the
county purchased near the end of last year. They were the first new math
textbooks in twelve years.
To improve communication with parents, our school will be using
the Remind.com app to keep in touch with parents and students this year. I had
the app on my laptop last year. Now I have added it to my tablet and my phone.
At our Open House we are going to try to get as many parents as possible to
sign up for remind. Hopefully, they are used to it as several of the Sixth
Grade teachers used the app last year. If you are a teacher and interested in
checking out this app, you can find it by following this link. http://rmd.me/b?rid=114218 Remind.com
is free to use.
Another app that I started using last year is Planbookedu. This
app is an online lesson planning application. I fell in love with Planbookedu
within a week of trying it out. The basic app is free but I highly recommend
paying the $25 per year for the premium package. It is well worth the money.
You can visit this site: http://www.planbookedu.com/ to check out
the app and learn what the premium version offers that is not available with
the basic service.
I have already entered a tentative plan for my first day of
school. The plan is tentative because I have no idea as yet what additional instructions
or requirements may come from on high.
The first day’s lessons consist of handing out and explaining
forms and paperwork, going over the District Code of Conduct, covering the
material in the District Student Handbook, and familiarization with specific 7th
Grade Team procedures, hallway rules, our discipline plan, and my class rules.
I like to keep my class rules simple.
Be On Time!
Be Prepared!
Be Respectful!
Be On Task!
Each rule covers an array of behaviors. Let’s take them one at a
time.
“Be On Time!” Rule One does not mean simply showing up for
school or class on time. It also covers being on time with your work. This
includes finishing class assignments in the time allowed, and getting your
homework done and turned in when it is due. It also means bringing back forms
and papers parents are supposed to sign when they are due.
“Be Prepared!” Rule Two covers bringing your materials to class,
such as notebooks, paper, and pencils. It also means students should come to
class prepared to pay attention to the lesson and learn the material. Further,
students need to be prepared to leave whatever drama they are involved at home
or outside the classroom as it has no place inside the classroom.
“Be Respectful!” Rule Three tells students to be respectful
towards all the adults at the school - both faculty and support staff, towards
all other students – whether they personally like them or not, toward school
property – they need to understand school property is only on loan to them and
they need to take care of it, and towards themselves in their manner of speech,
dress, and how they do their work.
“Be On Task!” Rule Four reminds students that their only job in
my classroom is to learn the math concepts I am there to teach them. Being on
task means you are paying attention to the lesson, working on your assignment,
studying the material, or completing assigned activities or projects. If you
are talking without permission, getting out of your seat, eating or chewing gum
in class (which is against District Board policy), distracting other students,
or engaging in any other activity that I, as the adult in the room, feel is
inappropriate, you are not on task and therefore are breaking Rule Four.
There will be consequences for breaking class, hallway, school,
or district rules ranging from a verbal warning, to calling parents, to lunch
detention, a visit to the time-out room, a letter home to parents, and, finally,
an office referral if the student does not change their behavior.
We may seem to have a lot of rules, but when you have seven
teachers trying to maintain a safe and orderly environment that is conducive to
learning and two hundred 11-, 12-, and 13-year-olds, many of whom would rather
be anywhere but at school and doing anything but learning math. In a class of
thirty students, it only takes a few who refuse to behave to disrupt and
distract the entire class.
But I digress. My focus now is on preparing myself by studying
the new math curriculum, getting as many of my resources in place as I
realistically can, and doing what planning I can do with what information I
have.
It does seem as though summer has flown by. While I have enjoyed
the opportunity to sleep late, spend my days writing for this blog and working
on my next book, and spending quality time with my Schnauzer, I must admit I am
looking forward to the start of school.
As always, I remain,
The Exhausted Educator
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