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.
