A brand new K teacher needs your help:  I will be starting my first year of teaching in Kindergarten, and I’m lost. I don’t know how to even start the school year. What things do you do the first couple of days?
When do you start doing centers? What do you do for classroom management?

You want to review rules and expectaions using scenarios and modeling a lot. Many call them teachable moments.

Get the book “The First Six Weeks of School”. It helps me sooo much every year.

Jamie

You MUST read The First Six Weeks of school! This is one of my favorites and I reread parts every year!

Lorna

I always tell new teachers that the first few weeks are procedures, procedures, procedures. You can’t assume the kids know how to do the things you expect. I don’t do centers at the beginning until we’ve learned other routines. Then I teach them how to do centers. Take it slow!!

Lisa

Make it fun.  Demonstrate everything! It’s very exhausting, but remember it’s new for you and the students and the quicker you start a routine the better. Good luck!

Susan

Lean on your teammates! They’ll “carry” you. The first couple of days are basically about procedures, procedures, procedures. A very typical first day are activities all around The Kissing Hand and Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten. If you Google it, you’ll find many ideas. Also name activities. Deanna Jump and Mrs Wills Kindergarten have many good Back-to-School units, as do many other teachers on TpT.

Jamie

 Remember: model, model, model, practice, practice, practice. You must model every expectation and they must have time to model and practice. Every expectation including how to pack up cubby, how to push in chair, how to walk to the rug, how to sit on rug, how to take care of supplies, books… Introduce one new item each day. The easiest is crayons and paper. When I introduce my classroom library, I introduce only a few book boxes at a time. The library doesn’t “open” until all boxes have been introduced and the kids have shown they know how to take care of books. Take it slow! You won’t regret it.

Becky

Getting to know each other and the school. Read Pete the Cat and search for him on campus. Teachers pay teachers has a great unit for that. The Kissing Hand book and unit are great too.

Jessica

 I play a game so everyone can learn each other’s name, talk about rules and expectations and show them what to do. For example if you’re going to be lining up to go somewhere (to the bathroom, outside, etc) you can say “this is how we get in line, when you hear this song you do this and stand like this (model it and practice what to do a couple of times). I don’t start centers the first week of school…If you’re going to have centers, what I like to do is first take them around to each center and talk about how to use the center and what the materials are and how to properly use them. Then you can eventually have kids practice what to do after you model it (ex: how to choose a book from the library shelf, turning the pages nicely and sitting quietly , and returning the book back to the shelf , instead of just letting it sit on the floor). Basically a lot of modeling and practice, and you can always have limited centers with a few materials and gradually build up to having them in full swing. You might find this book helpful:

Classroom Routines That Really Work for Pre-K and Kindergarten: Dozens of Other Routines That Set the Stage for Children’s Literacy & Help Them Feel At Home in the Classroom

Terrie

Don’t rush into “teaching curriculum” too soon. Laying a good foundation for behavior and procedures will pay off in the long run. Over plan short, fun activities. Lots of dancing and singing (Jack Hartman and Dr. Jean are must have CD’s) I always do a one up then one down activity. Their attention span will be very short so don’t expect them to sit for long. Name games are a fun thing to start the year with too. If you haven’t checked out Teachers Pay Teachers yet you should. Tons of ideas–some free others very reasonable. Have FUN

Missy

 Have faith in yourself! Respect, authority, compassion, humor, knowledge of child development, patience…these will carry you! First day story: “Have You Filled a Bucket Today?” by Carol McCloud. This is a message that will be important to you and your kids all year!

Amanda

First, breathe and remember you were hired for this position because others believe in you! Get the First Six Weeks of School (very easy read). The first weeks should focus on procedures, rules, modeling, team/community building. Remember, you can’t do everything, so focus on what’s most important (The First 6 Weeks will help with that). Good luck! It is one of the most rewarding school years!

Amy

Yep, I concur – LOTS of lessons on procedures. You’ll feel like you’ve done nothing but talk at them the first few days, but it’s a must. And have a behavior management system ready to use! I plan for lots of fun name activities and try to make sure they have something to take home from school on day one. Be enthusiastic and fun and you’ll keep them right where you need them to be. Best wishes to you!

Susan

 Don’t forget to teach unpacking upon arrival procedures, and bathroom, snack time, lunchroom procedures… Recess rules too! Can’t do it all in one day! The first day, students usually can’t wait to go to play centers. I let them do play centers near the end of the day. They need time to interact with each other and start bonding. You want to create a classroom family in order to nurture that sense of belonging.

Kathrene

 When we say teach procedures do you know what we mean? Basically explain carefully, as you illustrate the steps on a white board. Model the good way to do it, then a bad way, then the good way. have a couple of children model also. Then have a child or small group do it. As they are doing it you verbalize all the things they are doing that you want them to be doing, this teacher talk is important. Thus you have addressed visual, auditory, and kinetic learning of each procedure.

Melissa

 The best info for how to start centers comes from the Debbie Diller books. She has one on Literacy Workstations and one for math stations as well. Focus a lot on procedures. Talk about how you want them to do everything they do for at least the first month.

At my school, we have three full weeks and then our county fair happens and we are out for a week. Those first three weeks are basically just routine and procedure! Some say act like they know nothing, but that’s because most of them really don’t know how to do anything (procedure wise). They have to be taught how to stand in a line and stay in their seats, how to go to lunch, recess rules, how to play with each other, having a time frame… I always forget what it’s like at the beginning! It can be overwhelming but they learn quickly!

Yes!! Establish routines and expectations! You must teach them everything!! They are a blank slate—you are starting at the very beginning. Start with colors, recognizing names, letters, and numbers/counting, school themes, families. You will have a blast but be exhausted at first. You will love it!!

Aimee

 Read The First Days of School by Harry K. Wong – it really helped me!

I agree with Deann. You are only beginning the process. You need to remember they are just pre-schoolers when you first meet them. Your job is to teach them all about kindergarten. Where is everything? How do things run? Make a list of what a new person to your classroom needs to know and then use the first weeks to teach that over and over and over again. Role play and model. Talk about behavior expectations and working together. I highly recommend Pinterest for some great ideas. Whole Brain Teaching is wonderful. This will be my 23rd year teaching kinder and every year is new and exciting. Enjoy!

 Move s-l-o-w-lllll-yyyyyyy. My students usually draw a first day of school picture. The rest of the time is spent getting to know the routines, and getting familiar with centers etc.

All of these are good ideas. You need to teach them how to color… How to cut… How to use glue. I never did centers early it was free time. Time to play. ( you have to teach them how to clean up too!!!). Lots of walls around the building to practice walking in line. Have songs ready to sing and dance to so you can get the wiggles out. And remember… You will be doing good if you get done 1/4 of what you thought you would!

Pre-assemble many little books of paper, covers from wallpaper, or scraps, and a stapler. Have them handy in the writing center. Have many word cards available for writing. Have a set of 45 (1-9) or 55 (1-10) identical items available so in Math, you show them how to place a number one card, and put one thing below it, a 2 card and two items, etc all the way to ten. This way you can easily assess who can do it, if they are right or left handed, who knows to recognize their numbers, and who has focus, or stamina to go to ten. Have them work alone or in pairs to complete the task.

Sing, sing, sing, and have a lot of little poems and songs to pull out of your pocket, when ever you can. They will respond to these. Read a lot of stories, whenever you can so that you can gather them together, assess who has the ability to listen, who fidgets, who has interest and who does not.

Have a gluing and cutting exercise, with scraps, free form so that you can see who can cut, who cannot, and how they use glue.

Each time you look at them, look at them with love, and patience. It will get you much farther than sternness or fear. If anger and punishment worked, we’d all be fixed for life, but alas, it does not. One little boy in my class that needed a lot of attention and sought it through naughty behavior, So I said his name tenderly at least 20 times a day. Another child asked ” why do you keep saying Jonathan’s name?” I said “because he’s new here, and I want him to know I care about him, I love him and I’m here to support him.” Both he and Jonathan accepted that, and Jonathan stopped acting out so much, right after that.

Trust your self, and manage your class with humble confidence. Often when I need to intervene, I say something like…Oh I see you need my help here. What can I do to help you? Can I sit you somewhere else to best help you? Do you think you can do this by yourself or do you need me to help you, friend.

Good luck and remember that you are learning too. Mistakes are pathways to success.

You will do great! Don’t overwhelm your kiddos or yourself by throwing too much at them at once. Keep it simple and introduce things slowly. Even with supplies! Give them a small box of crayons and pencil to start. I wouldn’t even give out scissors until you have modeled a good bit because some of those babies will come to you not even knowing how to hold them! I also wouldn’t introduce centers the first week or so then bring them in slowly, one per day at the most. Last but not least, practice procedures until you are sick of them. It will be worth it in the long run! Best of luck!

I agree with Jennifer! You need to start slowly..you need to teach them how to sit in a chair, hold a pencil, etc. You need to introduce materials they will be using and introducing them to routines…how to walk in the hallway, bathroom expectations, etc. Spend the first week just getting to know your kids with activities like printing name and counting letters in their name; long and short names; colors; and basic writing skills. We start our school year before Labor Day but don’t start with the Reading Curriculum until after Labor Day! Good luck! Message me if you need ideas or worksheets!

mattbgomez.com

Take the children on a tour of the school; introduce them to the custodian, secretary, principal, etc.

Build relationships- make sure they feel safe and loved from the beginning

Also do a web search for ‘kindergarten Nana’.

Diane Senk is a retired Kindergarten teacher and her blog is a gold mine.

Spell their names by gluing cereal like Apple Jacks, Fruit Loops, or Cheerios onto the letters you’ve written on cardstock or construction paper. Do lots of hands-on activities like puzzles, sorting, blocks, lacing cards, etc….And talk with your fellow kindergarten teachers. You’ll be great!!

 I like high energy learning, but actually keep in mind that the first priority of the 1st day and that first week is to get them there, feed them, and get them home safely.

To do this you want to make sure you know who they are.  So do lots with names, name-tags, who took the cookies clapping game is good for that and other name games.

Let them know you care about them, will help them learn and that you know they can do the things that may seem hard at first.

Find out how they are getting home, bus numbers etc as soon as they come in and trouble shoot any discrepancies first thing, (get help if needed), then make sure they know what expectations are for them ( rules and procedures.) Then have some fun, but make sure they know you are in charge and will need to be to cause all the good things you are going to do to happen! Keep that point, as a safety issue and an educational issue for them,so they see the need. Best of luck. I love the idea of finding someone else who is already doing it….maybe even a close year round school or summer program. Also,if you’re a prayer, pray for the kids and their families, it helps.

During the first week of school we also read the book “Gingerbread Man got loose at school” (something like that)  the K teachers hide clues around the school that lead us to different parts of our school (cafeteria, office, playground, bathroom, etc) sort of like a tour of the school. follow each clue and read it to them. while you and your class are gone looking for gingerbread man, have your assistant put out gingerbread cookies on their tables for a surprise when you get back! (I think Little Debbie makes gingerbread man cookies all year long). Then they think that they’ve caught him!

Read The First Six Weeks of School…take the time to establish routines, social skills, and class rule/expectations. Also remember to fit in some play time everyday….Just have fun…it will all be ok…

 Find a teacher friend for the end of your first day. You will NEED a hug and possibly a shoulder to cry on. It does get better :0)

I always love using a stuffed animal on the first day, I give the animal a name and a personality (like a puppet). I discuss the rules of a good listener and the class rules. Then I ask the the animal if they can listen to the story. I normally respond in an animated voice of something not to do (as the puppet). Then I start the conversation with the class on proper behavior. Bring in music like Dr jean. or Greg and Steve to start building morning routines.