Creating rules and guidelines for yourself to follow as a new teacher is difficult because all students are different and have different needs. There are so many different aspects of teaching and being a new teacher (location and ages) and it might make things challenging. Being a new teacher means learning and adjusting. Each classroom will be diverse, and rules will have to be adjusted to fit your students as you will work with different grade levels. New teachers should have a guideline and some goals they want to accomplish and take that route, but other than that they should be prepared to roll with the punches.

To continue, the first focus teachers should try and accomplish is getting to learn the names of all of their students. Some ways this can be accomplished is through name tags, name signs, name games, and icebreakers. Icebreakers are always a good way to get to know your students and they’re fun. The first couple of weeks makes or break student-teacher relationships, it is like impressions. Your first impression with your student is how they will perceive you for the rest of the semester. Rules and procedures are important for managing a classroom because it sets guidelines for students to know what is expected of them. Students should have some kind of input on the rules to feel as if contributed and were part of the process.

Personally, I love icebreakers because I think they’re fun. I think that icebreakers could be used at the beginning of each semester, but it could also be incorporated throughout the semester. One of my favorite thing to do throughout lessons is activities. As a teacher you have to make learning fun, if not you will lose students. Another thing I would incorporate in my classroom is greeting students every morning when they walk into the classroom. This is another way to get to know your students. I have recently watched a video where the teacher chose a different student each day and allowed that student to be the “greeter.” She had a chart of options and each student that walks in would pick how they would like to be greeted. The different types of greetings included waving, hugging, handshake, high five and fist bump. I really loved this idea and cannot wait to hopefully use it in my classroom.

Furthermore, some of the expectations that students should be made aware of should include following instructions, respecting their teacher as well as their fellow classmates, paying attention to the teacher, and keeping a positive environment. Some of the rules that should be enforced is turning off (or silencing) electronics, using polite language and no cheating/plagiarize work. Rules should be geared towards young adults unless working with elementary school students. Using relevant topics and contemporary ways to regulate rules in the classroom could be really effective. It will engage and interest students more than plain and boring ways to regulate the classroom.

In a classroom we went to observe recently, one of the teachers had a wall of indirect rules represented through memes. I really liked this wall because it was funny and relevant. Memes are popular for students of all ages. I would love to have a wall like this in my future classroom where every month I update it and put up new memes. Introducing these memes and a structured set of guidelines to the class during the first week of classes will be an effective way to start each semester. Pinterest is a great resource for creativity. I have found a lot of things on Pinterest I would love to use in my future classroom. I have learned from Pinterest as well as other teachers different methods of teaching and establishing guidelines. This is what the first couple of years will consist of, learning from others and adjusting.

Lastly, getting student’s attention can be tough. Engaging and keeping your student’s attention can be even harder. When there are over 20 individuals in a classroom and only one teacher, the odds of one person trying to get the attention of 20 students is slim to none. This goes hand in hand with building that relationship with your students as well as establishing those rules and guidelines. There are many ways to build rapport between students and teachers. Some of the ones I want to focus on include calling my students by name, creating and using relevant topics and examples, keeping a light and positive classroom, heading into class early and leaving class later. I think it will also be interesting to learn a fun fact about my student whether it be an interest, hobby or aspirations.

Getting students attention can sometimes be difficult. I have noticed that as a substitute, the student’s like to take advantage and it is difficult to get their attention. I have only had to raise my voice twice in the classroom before and that has been with a fourth-grade class and a sixth-grade class. I am not a fan of yelling, but sometimes I feel that it must happen. There are definitely ways to get around yelling. I am sure over the years, you build more strategies throughout your career. I think I do a great job of building rapport with students. Even if I am a substitute for the day, I try to incorporate this into the day. Lastly, to collect data, I could use sites like SurveyMonkey or even Kahoot.

To conclude, I believe the first couple of years of teaching are going to be the toughest. As a new teacher, I will have to learn what works for me and what benefits my students. I think it will take a while to learn and adjust to this, but it is possible. There are many fears I have but I think after teaching for a couple of years it will start to come naturally. I will use my strategies beginning the first day of classes. It is important to start off with what is expected. I believe that collecting data from your students is important. I would use exit slips and surveys to collect information. I would collect data maybe once a week, just my first year. In the next couple of year, maybe twice a month.