Highlights from We're New Here
The last four weeks we have had a discussion group for new teachers called We’re New Here. During this time we talked about all kinds of things – classroom décor, open house, curriculum, planning, management, relationship building, and more.
Each week there were a few key takeaways that we found to be very helpful. Some you may have heard of, and others may be new to you, too. I shared five ideas we talked about a few weeks ago, and here I share five more.
- Velcro dots are amazing. Name tags are easily moveable, book tubs can be relabeled, student work on the display board can be replaced simply.
- Contact paper or peel and stick wallpaper works great to add a facelift to cupboards, tables, and doors.
- It’s okay to have empty space on your walls. To anchor student learning to what is posted in the room, it needs to be posted with them. Therefore, at the beginning of the year it is more about creating the space for anchor charts and student work to go once the year starts.
- If possible, design the classroom library so book covers are face out. This is more inviting for students and ends up helping to keep your library tidy.
- And, one of my favorites was this site that shared Dollar Store Teacher Hacks.
Again, these are just some of the things we talked about. The list of topics, questions to discuss, and ideas to share continues to grow each week as we learn more about our schools, classroom, students, and from our colleagues.
If you are a new teacher and find these useful, consider joining us for our next meet up on Tuesday, Sept. 5 at 7 pm CST. It can be so helpful to have a group that is going through a similar experience to collaborate with, so come to share or come to listen!
