Are you a new or “new-ish” 5th grade teacher? The 5th Grade Teacher’s First Day Survival Guide is just for you!
It happens to all of us every summer…
Happily steering your cart down the aisle at Target, you glimpse the signage.
Any attempt to avert your eyes is fruitless.
“No, not YET!” you say to yourself.
Shiny new school supplies line the sparkling clean Target aisles.
Before you know it, you’ll be pulling into the school parking lot at 7:15, preparing to greet students an hour later.
As you toss a package of pre-sharpened Ticonderogas into the cart, dread turns to excitement.
You can feel it in your bones – your best year yet is on its way!
Always remember that the goal of the first day of school is to acclimate students to your classroom AND to show them that you care about them.
You’ll have plenty of time to dive into academics after the first day of school.
This quote by Michael Linsin sums up my thoughts perfectly:
Even though the first day of school is not here quite yet, there’s plenty to be done to create a successful start.
Your head is swimming with thoughts and ideas.
Take a deep breath.
Make a plan – a coherent to-do list that, once complete, will have you sitting pretty and prepared, ready at your classroom door.
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Manage Your Calendar
Whether you’re brand new to teaching or have several years under your belt, just know that your first week back will be filled with meetings.
It’s true that new teachers have a significant amount of scheduled training but those who’ve been teaching a while still have plenty on their plates prior to the first student day.
Knowing this, it is critical that you check and double-check your schedule for training classings, meetings, etc.
You don’t want to make a bad impression by being late or missing an appointment.
These meetings will cover everything from curriculum to policies and procedures.
You may leave each meeting with a binder or written guide. Keep these items handy!
If information is online, bookmark important links to save time in the future.
Being aware of your schedule also frees you up to arrange the rest of your day for maximum productivity.
Meeting with colleagues, organizing your classroom, and going over curriculum are all important ways to spend your ‘unscheduled’ time.
Arrange & Organize Your Classroom
One of the most important things to consider while preparing your classroom is your seating arrangement.
The physical set-up of the classroom can greatly impact student focus, motivation, and engagement, all of which directly influence achievement.
When moving desks and shelves, your first concern should always be student safety.
Can the students easily move around the classroom?
When seated at your desk, are there any blind spots?
Everyone must be able to see the board – consider vision and/or hearing difficulties.
After confirming a safe arrangement, you will need to plan for maximum engagement and participation. This means that best friends cannot be seated near each other.
Because you don’t know much about your students socially prior to their arrival, you’ll just have to do your best in making an initial plan.
Just know that your set-up will change multiple times before school begins and also throughout the year.
Consider how you and your students will organize and store classroom supplies.
During back-to-school night, you will likely be inundated with pencils, glue sticks, and the like.
Will each student keep his/her own items, or will you store things centrally?
Students will share tissues, sanitizer, and disinfecting wipes, but will want to use their own folders, pencils, and etc.
To give students some ownership in their new classroom, let them help you put supplies away on the first day of school. Show them where the tissues go, where you keep the hand sanitizer, and etc.
Learn more about organizing your classroom in this blog post: Dear First-Time 5th Grade Teacher
Learn Your Content
What will you be doing with your students all day?
Delivering content.
Depending upon whether or not you departmentalize, you could be teaching reading, writing, math, science, and social studies.
Now is the time to dig into those textbooks, websites, and scope-and-sequence guides.
Don’t expect to know the curriculum backward and forward, as you’ll spend lots of time with your team going over things.
You should, however, thoroughly know what you’ll be covering the first few weeks of school.
Talk to your team about questions and clarifications.
What about differentiation?
Do you have students with IEPs?
Are some of your students high-ability learners?
Is small-group instruction a requirement in your building for both reading and math?
These are all key questions to ask.
If you’d like to find out how I teach 5th grade social studies, visit this link to learn more about my process, pacing, and sequence.
Need more information about teaching 5th grade writing? Click here to find out how I teach an entire year of writing to my fifth graders.
Prepare for the first day of school!
Make a point to discuss with your grade-level team what first-day plans will look like.
Are there assemblies?
What about recess?
Once those parents leave, it will be you and your students, together, all day. Be sure to over-plan.
Personally, I like to create a schedule of activities on the board for the first day of school so that I don’t forget anything important!
Remember to set some time aside for ice-breakers and get-to-know-you activities, like this one: Welcome to 5th Grade – Fabulously Fun Activities for the First Week of School
Be sure to prepare the pages that you will use with students. I recommend stacking your class sets of papers in the order in which you will use them with students. This will give you easy, stress-free access to your handouts/activities.
You want to make a great impression on day one, and part of that is being clear in communicating your expectations – especially for behavior.
I definitely recommend planning your classroom procedures ahead of time and teaching them at the very beginning of the year.
Making a great first day will set the tone for your ‘best year yet’!
To keep this blog post for later, simply save this image to your teacher Pinterest board!
Consistency is one of the most important pieces of any classroom management plan. Click on the image below to receive a free video lesson on consistency for teachers:
