1 00:00:04,480 --> 00:00:10,119 Welcome to the Teachers Need Teachers podcast, where we help new and beginning teachers 2 00:00:10,199 --> 00:00:16,000 navigate through those crazy first years of teaching so you can maintain your sanity and 3 00:00:16,399 --> 00:00:27,480 personal life. Here's your host, him Lapree. Welcome to the Teachers Need 4 00:00:27,480 --> 00:00:32,200 Teachers podcast, the podcast for teachers who don't want to just survive teaching but 5 00:00:32,320 --> 00:00:36,039 actually thrived. You've just been hired to teach at a new school. This 6 00:00:36,159 --> 00:00:39,200 is definitely an exciting time, but I'm sure that there are a lot of 7 00:00:39,240 --> 00:00:43,119 things that are on your mind that you need to plan for and prepare before 8 00:00:43,159 --> 00:00:46,840 that first day of school. But where do you start. In this episode, 9 00:00:46,880 --> 00:00:51,320 I'm sharing six essential questions that you must ask and seek out answers to 10 00:00:51,520 --> 00:00:56,479 the moment you accept the job, shake hands and sign that contract. Taking 11 00:00:56,520 --> 00:01:00,399 care of these six areas will definitely make you feel more prepared. Hair to 12 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:03,560 greet those students as they walk in your door, and be sure to stay 13 00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:06,959 until the end for the bonus tip that you definitely want to keep in the 14 00:01:06,959 --> 00:01:10,680 back of your mind until you meet your colleagues. Now, these tips are 15 00:01:10,840 --> 00:01:14,719 in order of importance, just because it makes sense to start out with the 16 00:01:14,760 --> 00:01:18,959 first one, which is to find out who are the support staff. So 17 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:23,920 this include the principal secretary who is going to become your new best friend, 18 00:01:23,040 --> 00:01:27,519 the attendance people, the people that sit up the front office, that great 19 00:01:27,640 --> 00:01:34,079 parents, counselors definitely, custodians, and any other support staff that anyone else 20 00:01:34,120 --> 00:01:38,079 feels is important for you to know. A lot of times these staff are 21 00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:44,959 definitely underappreciated because they work in the office and they're not teachers or administrators, 22 00:01:44,959 --> 00:01:49,400 but they definitely make the school run and make the school run smoothly. At 23 00:01:49,400 --> 00:01:52,879 this point, I have taught at four different schools, and in each school 24 00:01:52,920 --> 00:01:56,799 I made a point of getting to know and kind of buttering up and kissing 25 00:01:56,879 --> 00:02:00,120 up to the principal secretary because they're going to be the one who have the 26 00:02:00,239 --> 00:02:05,680 most information. They know exactly what's going on, They know the principal schedule, 27 00:02:05,760 --> 00:02:08,280 they know what you need to know so that you can be successful at 28 00:02:08,280 --> 00:02:12,800 the school. And whenever you have just these little questions like how do I 29 00:02:12,879 --> 00:02:15,800 do this, how do I put in a purchase order? Things like that, 30 00:02:15,960 --> 00:02:19,039 they're going to be the person that you want to definitely go to now, 31 00:02:19,080 --> 00:02:22,080 even if you're not super nice to the principal secretary. They're not going 32 00:02:22,120 --> 00:02:24,080 to retaliate against you. But if you want them to help you in a 33 00:02:24,080 --> 00:02:29,439 timely manner, or maybe your emergency is your emergency and you want it to 34 00:02:29,479 --> 00:02:32,879 be their emergency, they're more likely to help you if you are genuinely nice 35 00:02:32,919 --> 00:02:37,120 to them. But if you're demanding at all, or if you come off 36 00:02:37,159 --> 00:02:40,159 as above them, just be prepared for a rough time. The same thing 37 00:02:40,199 --> 00:02:46,199 goes with the custodians. They are greatly underappreciated considering what they do and also 38 00:02:46,599 --> 00:02:50,879 what they know about the school. So if a student throws up in your 39 00:02:50,919 --> 00:02:53,639 classroom where if you need something moved, or there's like some huge bug or 40 00:02:53,680 --> 00:02:58,199 infestation and you want them to take care of it in a timely manner, 41 00:02:58,280 --> 00:03:00,719 then you definitely want to be nice to your stodions, and especially if you 42 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:05,039 have one that's assigned to your area, you might want to think about being 43 00:03:05,120 --> 00:03:08,039 extranized to them and knowing them on a first name basis. So the next 44 00:03:08,120 --> 00:03:12,879 question that you need to answer is what is your teaching assignment? So this 45 00:03:12,960 --> 00:03:16,360 includes what grade are you teaching, what subjects are you responsible for teaching? 46 00:03:16,439 --> 00:03:21,159 Because even if the elementary, especially as you get into the higher grades in 47 00:03:21,280 --> 00:03:25,479 elementary sometimes you're a specialist and somebody else takes care of other subjects. So 48 00:03:25,639 --> 00:03:30,840 exactly what are you responsible to teach? Do you have a planning period and 49 00:03:30,879 --> 00:03:35,719 if so, when is that? And also do you have any supervision requirements 50 00:03:35,840 --> 00:03:39,240 or duties? So maybe on certain weeks or certain days you have lunch supervision, 51 00:03:39,479 --> 00:03:44,800 or maybe recess supervision or nutrition bake supervision, something like that. So 52 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:49,960 definitely find out what is your teaching assignment and fully find out what that entails. 53 00:03:50,199 --> 00:03:53,639 This could also be asking do you have to teach with a co teacher 54 00:03:53,680 --> 00:03:57,039 and if so, who is that code teacher? Or do you have students 55 00:03:57,159 --> 00:04:00,280 with IEPs in your classroom and what kind of support are they getting from the 56 00:04:00,319 --> 00:04:03,919 school versus what you're supposed to provide. Also, you can find out if 57 00:04:03,960 --> 00:04:08,479 you can take a look at those IEPs ahead of time so that you can 58 00:04:08,560 --> 00:04:11,960 kind of get a sense of what to expect in your classroom. The next 59 00:04:12,039 --> 00:04:15,120 question that you want to answer is where's your classroom? So you definitely want 60 00:04:15,160 --> 00:04:19,160 to start planning out how you're going to lay out your classroom. Every teacher 61 00:04:19,279 --> 00:04:23,959 is different unless there's a certain requirement by your school, but pretty much. 62 00:04:24,040 --> 00:04:27,240 You have a lot of flexibility in terms of how your classroom is laid out, 63 00:04:27,279 --> 00:04:29,920 and you want to plan that ahead of time. I'm sure you're also 64 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:34,560 really excited to plan out decorations or posters or educational materials that you're going to 65 00:04:34,600 --> 00:04:39,040 be putting on the walls. Of course, I don't recommend spending too much 66 00:04:39,079 --> 00:04:42,160 money on this. I would also try to find out if maybe the previous 67 00:04:42,199 --> 00:04:46,639 teacher left any materials, or you could also wait and see until the school 68 00:04:46,680 --> 00:04:49,879 year starts to see if any other teachers have materials that they're not using anymore, 69 00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:55,399 and you can use those if you're coming from absolutely nothing. New teachers 70 00:04:55,439 --> 00:04:59,160 sometimes spend way too much money on deckoring their classroom in the beginning of the 71 00:04:59,160 --> 00:05:01,279 school year when I don't really have that much money, or maybe you don't 72 00:05:01,319 --> 00:05:04,199 even have your first paycheck yet. So I would kind of hold off on 73 00:05:04,279 --> 00:05:08,120 that and see what kind of free materials you can use at first, and 74 00:05:08,160 --> 00:05:11,879 then you can start investing in your own later on. Something else really important 75 00:05:11,920 --> 00:05:15,120 in terms of your classroom is also finding out where the nearest staff bathroom is. 76 00:05:15,199 --> 00:05:18,360 A lot of times you only have near minutes to run there and use 77 00:05:18,399 --> 00:05:23,480 it. Between classes or during a break, so definitely find out the best 78 00:05:23,560 --> 00:05:28,000 route to the closest staff bathroom to your classroom. The fourth essential question to 79 00:05:28,079 --> 00:05:31,680 ask is what are your bell schedules and school calendar? So this is definitely 80 00:05:31,720 --> 00:05:35,920 important because even if you teach at the elementary school level, there's a certain 81 00:05:35,959 --> 00:05:40,720 time when you are with your students, a certain time for recess and lunch 82 00:05:40,720 --> 00:05:44,519 and things like that. It definitely becomes important when you are in the upper 83 00:05:44,560 --> 00:05:47,160 grades when students have multiple classes and you want to know how long are your 84 00:05:47,160 --> 00:05:51,560 class periods. Do you have just one hour periods that you meet every day, 85 00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:56,040 Are you on what they call a block schedule where on certain days you 86 00:05:56,079 --> 00:05:59,199 see periods one, two, three and other days four, five, six, 87 00:05:59,279 --> 00:06:01,120 something like that. Find out what the bell schedule is, especially in 88 00:06:01,199 --> 00:06:05,680 days like minimum days or just altered schedule days. Also find out what the 89 00:06:05,759 --> 00:06:10,120 school calendar is so that you know the start and end dates. You can 90 00:06:10,160 --> 00:06:13,160 start planning out when your breaks are going to be and you know in the 91 00:06:13,199 --> 00:06:15,879 back of your mind figure out what you want to do on those breaks, 92 00:06:15,920 --> 00:06:19,079 and also the end of grading period so that you can plan for when you 93 00:06:19,160 --> 00:06:23,439 have to turn in your grades for report cards. I especially like to know 94 00:06:23,600 --> 00:06:28,560 any required activities that I have to attend, such as open house or parent 95 00:06:28,639 --> 00:06:31,519 conferences or testing or anything like that. I also like to know if there's 96 00:06:31,560 --> 00:06:35,680 any school mandated professional development that I have to go to, especially as a 97 00:06:35,720 --> 00:06:40,480 new teacher at my school or a district, or just a new teacher in 98 00:06:40,519 --> 00:06:44,800 general, so that I can plan accordingly. Sometimes you can find these schedules 99 00:06:44,879 --> 00:06:48,319 on your school's website, but it wouldn't hurt to also ask your principal secretary 100 00:06:48,360 --> 00:06:51,199 if they have a copy of it that they can give you right away. 101 00:06:51,240 --> 00:06:55,839 The next essential question that you want to ask when you accept that new teaching 102 00:06:55,920 --> 00:07:00,680 job is what technology are you required to use? So this is become really 103 00:07:00,680 --> 00:07:05,120 important ever since the pandemic, when more schools have adopted using technology more in 104 00:07:05,199 --> 00:07:09,920 their teaching. So you may have actually learned how to use one type of 105 00:07:09,959 --> 00:07:14,439 grade book or learning management system, and now at this new school everyone's required 106 00:07:14,480 --> 00:07:17,000 to use something else, So it's really important to find out what that is 107 00:07:17,040 --> 00:07:20,120 ahead of time. If you're lucky, it's one that you've already played with, 108 00:07:20,199 --> 00:07:25,000 like maybe that school uses Google Classroom when you've played with that before, 109 00:07:25,160 --> 00:07:28,560 But it might be something completely new, and it will be easier for you 110 00:07:28,639 --> 00:07:31,399 if you take some time before the first day of school to play around with 111 00:07:31,439 --> 00:07:34,199 it so that you can get to know it, and that'll be one less 112 00:07:34,279 --> 00:07:39,120 thing on your plate once a school year starts rolling. I'd also find out 113 00:07:39,120 --> 00:07:43,000 how soon you can get a school email address, because in some districts like 114 00:07:43,079 --> 00:07:46,360 mine, that could take months before you can even get staff email set to 115 00:07:46,399 --> 00:07:50,199 you. I'd also find out if your school has assigned you a computer, 116 00:07:50,399 --> 00:07:55,000 so maybe you have a computer that's just for school, and maybe they have 117 00:07:55,040 --> 00:07:59,079 a computer for you that you can use at home. Every district is different. 118 00:07:59,199 --> 00:08:01,879 At my school they offer us Lenovo laptop, so you can use it 119 00:08:01,920 --> 00:08:05,439 at school and at home if you want. And of course I definitely find 120 00:08:05,439 --> 00:08:09,560 out if students have access to technology, So if you're like in my district 121 00:08:09,639 --> 00:08:13,639 where students either have an iPad or a laptop assigned to them, then you 122 00:08:13,759 --> 00:08:18,199 definitely want to know that so that you can plan your lessons accordingly. And 123 00:08:18,279 --> 00:08:22,399 while you're at it, you can also ask what technology subscriptions your school has 124 00:08:22,439 --> 00:08:26,519 paid for, so maybe they've paid for something like Paradeck or near a pot 125 00:08:26,639 --> 00:08:31,000 or scholastic scope or something like that, so then you can start planning on 126 00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:33,639 how to use those in your lessons. And finally, the last question that 127 00:08:33,679 --> 00:08:37,440 you want to ask as soon as you accept that job is when can you 128 00:08:37,480 --> 00:08:41,440 get teacher copies of the curriculum? So this is important because you want to 129 00:08:41,480 --> 00:08:45,639 know what you're going to be required to teach. I mean, obviously, 130 00:08:45,720 --> 00:08:48,159 if you're teaching science, there's a science textbook and you want to get your 131 00:08:48,159 --> 00:08:52,120 hands on that because you're probably required to use it. Same goes with all 132 00:08:52,159 --> 00:08:56,879 of the other subjects, and so getting your hands on the teacher edition and 133 00:08:56,960 --> 00:09:01,159 even the student edition actually can be really helpful so that you know what it 134 00:09:01,200 --> 00:09:03,720 looks like when the students are looking at it. Do they have physical textbooks, 135 00:09:03,720 --> 00:09:07,360 do they have online textbooks? Do they have to take home a copy? 136 00:09:07,639 --> 00:09:11,600 You can find out the answer to these questions of course with your front 137 00:09:11,639 --> 00:09:15,399 office secretary, but you can also ask the librarian. If they're they're over 138 00:09:15,600 --> 00:09:18,039 the summer or if it's in the middle of the year, you can just 139 00:09:18,080 --> 00:09:20,320 go ahead and acquire directly. And if you're a new teacher, this is 140 00:09:20,440 --> 00:09:26,440 especially helpful because if there is a set curriculum with activities and worksheets and things 141 00:09:26,480 --> 00:09:28,679 like that. You don't have to try to come up with everything on your 142 00:09:28,679 --> 00:09:33,279 own. You can just use what's already there and just hit the ground running 143 00:09:33,320 --> 00:09:35,840 on the first week of school. Of course, when you meet your department 144 00:09:35,960 --> 00:09:39,840 or your PLC, probably the first week back of school, you can ask 145 00:09:39,879 --> 00:09:45,240 them more specifics about which particular lessons and materials that they use and have found 146 00:09:45,240 --> 00:09:48,720 successful. But at least you'll have some frame of reference for when you start 147 00:09:48,759 --> 00:09:52,639 out the school year. Now, the bonus tip is to find out what 148 00:09:52,840 --> 00:09:56,559 is the evaluation process at your school. So I wouldn't necessarily ask this right 149 00:09:56,600 --> 00:10:01,279 off the bat, because with your principal secretary Terry or any of the front 150 00:10:01,279 --> 00:10:03,960 office staff, you already ask them a lot of questions. But when the 151 00:10:05,000 --> 00:10:07,440 other teachers do come back to school and you're in meetings with them, maybe 152 00:10:07,480 --> 00:10:11,879 having lunch with them, or they're sending up their classroom and you stop by 153 00:10:11,039 --> 00:10:16,600 to introduce yourself, I would definitely ask about the evaluation process so that you 154 00:10:16,679 --> 00:10:20,039 can be prepared. Keep that in the back of your mind so that as 155 00:10:20,120 --> 00:10:24,919 your administrator comes to visit and observe you, you know what you should be 156 00:10:24,159 --> 00:10:28,279 showing them. So that you can get a positive evaluation. Of course, 157 00:10:28,320 --> 00:10:33,200 you want to collect this information from multiple sources because everyone has a different experience 158 00:10:33,240 --> 00:10:39,120 when it comes to evaluations. I know of teachers who constantly get negative evaluations 159 00:10:39,120 --> 00:10:41,679 and yet they're still there, but they're always on edge in terms of whether 160 00:10:41,799 --> 00:10:45,360 or not they're going to be let go. And then there are other times 161 00:10:45,360 --> 00:10:50,279 when administrators barely seem to pay attention or care about evaluations and they just let 162 00:10:50,320 --> 00:10:54,320 teachers slide either way. So you want to find out by collecting anecdotes from 163 00:10:54,320 --> 00:10:58,519 different people about what the evaluation process was like for them, and that way 164 00:10:58,519 --> 00:11:01,720 you can be fully prepared. So these six questions will definitely make you feel 165 00:11:01,840 --> 00:11:07,919 more prepared and definitely ready for whatever a way to this coming school year. 166 00:11:07,159 --> 00:11:11,799 I definitely hope that you found these tips helpful and I can't wait to hear 167 00:11:11,879 --> 00:11:15,600 how your first day of school goes. Be sure to email me at Kim 168 00:11:15,799 --> 00:11:18,919 at Teachers Need Teachers dot com. Also if you have any other subjects that 169 00:11:20,080 --> 00:11:22,039 you'd like me to cover in a future episode. Thanks for hanging out with 170 00:11:22,080 --> 00:11:26,720 me today, you guys, and I will see you next time. Thanks 171 00:11:26,759 --> 00:11:31,639 for listening to the Teachers Need Teachers Podcast. Love this episode, head over 172 00:11:31,679 --> 00:11:41,200 to Apple podcast or Google Play to subscribe, rate, and leave a review.