You’ve got a job – how to get to the end of the first week of term
At its best, teaching is one of the greatest, most rewarding jobs there is, but there will be times during your induction period where it feels like a case of surviving each and every day - none more so than during the first week of the first term that you’re teaching.
Assuming that you’ve been appointed to a position beginning in September, how should you go about managing the period between being appointed by a school (maybe as early as February or March, especially if you’ve done your teaching practice at the school) and getting through to the end of the first week of September?
After appointment
All sorts of emotions will go through your head in the period between being appointed and starting as an ECT – elation at being chosen ahead of everybody else for the position, anticipation for lessons you could do with students, apprehension that you’ll forget everything you’ve learned about behaviour management or another topic etc.
- Don’t spend your summer planning all those fantastic lessons that you are going to teach your class. You might think you’re saving time, but anything you do now will likely end up being unused; until you meet classes and get to know them a bit, you won’t understand their needs or know their interests – plus your teaching is likely to be governed by the systems already in place at the school.
- Try to visit the school during this time – you will have been given the ‘grand tour’ on your interview day, and probably met a few people, but you won’t remember any of this, due to being nervous.
Spend some time looking at your classroom, arrange to meet those who will support you during your induction and ask whether there is any useful planning you could do.
- Enjoy a holiday (of any sort) before you start – some time where you can switch off and not think about schools, pupils, assessment, planning and everything else that comes with being a teacher.
Your two first days
You will effectively have two ‘first days’ – your first INSET day, without the added pressure of pupils, and the first day of term, when everyone will be on-site.
The INSET day
This may feel quite ‘full-on’ – everyone else will seemingly be huddled together in the staff room, happily talking about all of the fun things they have done during the Summer holiday; you – on the other hand – will only know a couple of people…
- Don’t overdress – dress casually or, if you don’t feel happy doing this, ‘smart casual’.
- Try to participate in discussions, be they formal or friendly, but don’t have an opinion about everything…
- Be prepared for meetings – there’s likely to be a full staff meeting at some stage and possibly a departmental or Key Stage meeting as well.
- Start collecting resources – this is the perfect time to do this:
- a planner (if your school uses them)
- timetable(s) and class list(s)
- details of children with additional needs
- Schemes of Work and/or syllabuses
- textbooks
- display materials
- exercise books
- Try to collect everything now, so that you are ready for the start of term
- Don’t get too organised too quickly – the first week of term doesn’t run smoothly; simply keep everything you get given together in a folder, to deal with later.
- Spend some time preparing your classroom – if you are lucky enough to have your own classroom, you should spend a little time putting your ‘stamp’ on it by putting up a welcome notice with your name on it, for example.
- Get to know your territory – spend some time getting to know the building and where things are:
- the school office
- Head’s office
- the offices of senior staff
- the assembly hall
- staff toilets
The first day of term
So, the first day of term’s arrived, and you feel awful – nauseous, dry mouth etc…
Don’t worry – even the most experienced teachers find the first day difficult – but how do you cope?
- You’ve got the ‘X Factor’ – no-one knows you yet; pupils may work out you’re inexperienced but unless you directly say that, or give that impression, they don’t know for certain.
Exploit that mystery – if you’re asked, ‘Are you a new teacher?’, reply with ‘I’m new to this school’.
- All teachers have a chance at the start of the year to prove themselves to any class, while pupils work you out and try to find your limits – start out by being as ‘hard’ as possible; you can always relax later, but you can’t rein them back in…
- You’re a teacher, not a friend or parent - pupils will expect formality from you, so set your expectations and boundaries now.
- Wait until you have silence and attention from everyone before speaking.
- Relax and don’t rush – easier said than done, but don’t worry if there are pauses as you consider your next move.
- Ask ‘Who wants a job?’ whenever you have anything to give out or take in – there will always be someone willing to help.
- Get pupils to stand behind their chairs and wait to be dismissed at the end of a lesson – it’ll give you the opportunity to give last-minute information or instructions before they leave you.
The first week
When the end of the first week comes, you will feel more comfortable and a little more like a teacher – you will have encountered most, if not all, of your pupils and starting to know what makes memorable pupils ‘tick’.
You’ll also understand your timetable, and its nuances, a bit better now.
- Get an overview of the ‘shape’ of both each individual day and the week as a whole – are mornings ‘input intense’? Do you have all of your most behaviourally challenging classes on the same day, or do you have a day with well-behaved classes all the way?
- Once you have this overview, plan accordingly – don’t plan days where you talk all day, for example.
- Try to achieve a balance in your marking load as well – don’t set work that needs in-depth marking across all of your classes at the same time.
Hopefully, you’re now at the end of Week One and are still standing – well done, you…
