Teegan - Everything a New Elementary School Teacher REALLY Needs to Know (But Didn’t Learn in College), By Otis Kriegel

 Everything a New Elementary School Teacher REALLY Needs to Know (But Didn’t Learn in College), By Otis Kriegel

I found Otis Kriegel’s book “Everything a New Elementary School Teacher REALLY Needs to Know (But Didn’t Learn in College)” very helpful. This book gives many helpful tips on everything that is probably common sense for teachers who have had their own classroom for years, but new teachers have not yet had a chance to experience. These include tips on classroom set up, how to write a proper note home, and so much more. I am going to focus on the parts of the book I found most useful, however there is helpful information on almost every page.

When I first started reading this book, what I appreciated the most was how easy it was to read. This book was written in a way that helps its readers understand its information. I have found that in many textbooks the author uses such convoluted language that it is almost impossible to read. This book is written in a way that flows, has pictures to give you a visual representation of anything described, and is simply nice to read. The book is set up linearly through time. It starts before the beginning of the school year and goes through the steps you need to take to get your class running smoothly.

Room Design and Traffic Patterns

The set-up of your classroom is very important. Kriegel explains its importance by telling a story in which he cannot see some of his students due to the classroom set-up. This may not seem to be incredibly important at first; however, this class is going to be your second home. You want to set it up in a way that is comfortable, easy to move in, and you have to be able to see everything that happens in it. Kriegel suggests starting by knowing how many students you will have. You can get the appropriate amount of desks and start rearranging them to fit your needs. Next you should decide how you want to group the children, “I like clusters because it helps kids naturally learn from each other, not just me, and they can easily work together in groups or independently.” Naming the clusters after words from the unit you are teaching can be fun and help the students learn. 

This image shows 2 different ways to set up a class, depending on the location of the door. The arrows show traffic flow. There must be enough room between tables and other obstacles so that you do not have to struggle to get to any area of the classroom.

Kriegel’s idea of a teacher’s desk may be different than most. He started with a typical desk but soon realized it was simply taking up room. He switched to a small desk and a few cabinets which store the papers he will need. “It’s your choice whether to have a teacher’s desk, so think about how you’ll use it,” I think this was an important piece of information to share. I always thought teachers needed to have a desk, but now I can see how much space it takes up and how much clutter most teachers’ desks contain.

            Another important part of the set-up of the classroom is the coat area. When setting up your classroom you need to consider what the children will be bringing. Is it a full day class and the students will have lunch bags? Is it a harsh climate and the children will have lots of outdoor clothing, (assuming we are still living in Winnipeg and the surrounding area, that will be a “yes”).

 

This image shows one way to set-up your coat rack if the students need places for their lunch kits. This particular set-up may be a problem if the students’ clothing would often be wet from rain or melting snow dripping on lunches that may be in paper bags.

The classroom library is a topic of stress for many beginning teachers. When starting out, the classroom library is often very limited. Kriegel suggests asking other teachers if they have books they may be able to spare or seeing if there is extra money in the budget which can be used for books. Setting up your library may not be as daunting as acquiring one, yet it still requires some thought, particularly how you will encourage students to select books of an appropriate reading level. Kriegel also suggests introducing books slowly so that your students will not be overwhelmed with choices at reading time. Swapping books out will also keep reading time fun and exciting. 

This image shows leveled books in bins so that students can easily choose books of the appropriate level. Having subject bins let students easily choose a book of a particular subject of a project.

 One last side note Kriegel makes about preparing for the upcoming school year is that you should always have an extra set of clothes. The students are often sent with extra pants or shirts in case of an accident, and since you are working side-by-side with them, why shouldn’t you be similarly prepared, “spare clothes save you from embarrassment, discomfort, and having to spend the afternoon wet or dirty.” Simply put them in a box or bag so they will stay clean in the closet and replace them when needed. 

            Learning Your School’s Culture

The second section in Kriegel’s book is about the culture of the school. I found that this contained more information which we already learned, but I did find a few helpful hints to share. The first is about letting your students and other people in the school know where you are so they can easily find you if necessary. At first I thought that this was a little bit over the top, but after reading his example where he had taken the students outside and even the principal had gotten involved when trying to find them, I found that it might be very useful.

 This image of the door is an easy way to show everyone where your class is. A class schedule would also be posted near the door, but this allows for changes in schedule and it will help the students keep track of their day as well. This also does not require anyone to know the exact time to locate the class, as they would with a class schedule.

 The second piece of information I found in this chapter was really just a side-note, however I think it is very helpful. This hint pertains to bulletin boards, “try covering your bulletin board with fabric instead of paper. It won’t tear so you don’t need to replace it for every new assignment.” This simple time saver is actually very helpful; I am surprised more people do not do this.

Communicating with Families

I think this section is overlooked at university. Working and communicating effectively with the families of your students is very important and I feel that we could take an entire class on how to do this. Kriegel has examples of letters and I think that if these were sent home by every teacher, it would make their lives much easier.  

 

These images are rather self-explanatory. They depict a note that would go home on the first day of school. These notes are written in a direct, formal way, with nothing that can be misinterpreted. Everything is explained under a bold heading so that parents can find information quickly and easily. The writing style is not rude, yet not overly familiar. I think this is a great example of a letter that can be used year after year with only minimal changes required.

The next note which I found helpful is the note for parent-teacher interviews. Kriegel put this note in his book to show a great way to let parents have some input over their time, yet it restricts them to a 20 minute meeting during the times you want. Kriegel also includes some tips about scheduling interviews. He suggests scheduling meetings that may run over time before school so that there is a specific end time which must be kept. He also suggests making the last interview a fun one so that you can leave on a good note. 

This image shows a note that gives the parents information about the meetings they may need, without making it too long. It requests that parents keep to the time they are given without sounding rude.

The books ends with a list of resources used to write the book and other books from the same publisher. These books also seem to be about early years and they may also be helpful to have.

 I enjoyed this book a lot, and I really do not have very many critiques. However, what I would have liked this book to include is more information about later parts of the year. This book is all about the first few weeks and it does include a lot of helpful information, I would just like to know more about what might happen later in the year. Another thing I would like in the book is more examples about other ways to run your class. These all seem to be ways to run your class like the author, although that makes sense because he wrote it, if your views do not match up with his this would not be a very useful book. I am lucky and would like to run my classroom in a similar way to him, so I feel that this book is very useful to me.