10 Essential Teaching Tips Before Starting a New Semester

NEW BEGINNINGS AKA a New Semester

It’s that time of year again… the start of something new… a new semester! Woohoo ! I remember when I first started teaching high school students and I would always dread this time of year… I typically am a person who hates change and saying goodbye to students whom I have formed such a strong connection with over 5 months hits hard. It took at least 5 years of teaching to start to see this transition time in a more positive light. A new semester can also mean celebrating :

• • • New students
    • New opportunities for students to fall in love with your subject
    • Having a clean slate with new students
    • New courses

TO-DO LISTS

With the beginning of a new semester, one of the ways that you can keep yourself sane during this exciting transition is to create TO DO lists to keep yourself on track and ready to take on the new semester with confidence. After many years of teaching, here are some of my top to-do list items when starting a new semester :

 

1. 1. Print off and go through all the class lists for new courses. It is important to know what you are teaching but more importantly WHO you are teaching. Using these class lists, I always :

       

       Identify any students that have Individual Education Plans (IEPs) and find out their accommodations and modifications. You should later follow up with these students and their parents the first week of class. I cannot stress the importance of this enough – you NEED to find ways that these students can succeed and parents appreciate when you make the effort and show that you care

       

       Print and read any Plans of Care. This is SO important because they contain individualized information on a student with a prevalent medical condition. It is essential that you support these students and promote their safety and well-being. I always check up with these students privately during the first week of school and go over their Plan of Care with them individually so that we are on the same page and know the appropriate plan of action if something comes up in the new semester

       

       Identify any students who are ELL learners. If you do have ELL learners, you should also get in contact with their ELL monitor in order to gain a sense of who they are as a learner and the supports that they will need to succeed

       

       Potentially look up students’ records if necessary. You can make sure your students have the necessary prerequistes for the course and review their academic history and any concerns if necessary. 

 

2. Establish routines that you want to do with your students throughout the new semester. I tend to switch these routines up depending on the grades of my students and the days of the week. Establishing routines will help your students calm down, increase their student confidence, and create a smooth transition between activities. If you want some ideas for your French classes, I have a Routine bundle in my TPT shop. It’s one of my must-have resources for intermediate French students. Check it out HERE.

 

3. Establish a seating arrangement for students. I always have a seating arrangement for my intermediate students. This is essential for my classroom management and sanity as a French teacher. I normally have an alphabetical seating arrangement for the first week of my classes and once I learn more about my students after the first week, I will switch it up the following week. The seating arrangement will then get printed off and put in all of my supply folders

 

4. Print off attendance sheets of the students in each of your classes. These sheets come in handy for recording absences along with participation, observations, anecdotal notes, and more.

 

5. Establish your course syllabus and print it off for each student. I include the course description, objectives, expectations of learning, assessments, units of study, course policies, and my contact information. I also include a section at the bottom for parents to sign off that they have read the course syllabus and a phone number or email address that I can reach them. I have learned over the years that the parental contact information in the school system is not always accurate or available, so this is a must!

 

6. Think about how you want to arrange the desks in the room and have them ready to go for the first day of class. Do you want students sitting in groups, pairs, clusters, rows, individually etc. Each sitting arrangement has its own advantages and disadvantages so choose an arrangement that goes with your teaching style!

 

7. Set up the digital platform that you will be using for the course (Google Classroom, D2L, Canvas, etc.). I always manually add all of my students to the online platform and include a pre-course Google Form that I encourage them to fill out before coming to class (ex. Their name, preferred pronouns, name pronunciation, learning style, what they want to review, etc.). This gives me an idea of my students prior to meeting them in person.

 

8. Outline any course expectations and rules that you need students to know on the first day of school. You want to set the tone and be clear, specific, and precise. Don’t go overboard and keep it simple!

 

9. Print out emergency procedures and read them over (ex. Fire drill, tornado drill, hold and secure, etc.) so that you can prepare students in case one of these incidents were to happen

 

10. Have a copy of emergency substitute plans ready to go just in case. Find a teaching partner and let them know where they are in case of an emergency

 

ADDITIONAL HACKS

Some additional hacks that you may find helpful: Print a washroom sign-in and out sheet. This can help keep students accountable when leaving the class and it can also be used for your records if something were to happen. Here is a FREE copy of mine that you are free to use!

 

I hope that you found these tips useful in your planning! All the best in your new semester! Remember a positive mindset brings positive things.

 

Cheers.