My first day

[sometimeophelia]

It was horrible... I feel so overwhelmed right now. They put 4 special needs kids in my last period class and I have no clue what to have them do... none.. I'll figure something out but the teacher asked me this afternoon what I was going to have them do and I don't know... I just dont' know

Comments

[irish_heart]

Okay. First thing tomorrow. Go over the rules again. When they complain, say well you didn't seem to get it the first time so we will continue to go over the rules until you can get them. Do not back down. If a student doesn't follow your rules, then follow your consquences. But don't do it in front of the whole class. Things will can get messy. Ususally did for me. Make sure the parents have to sign your rules and procedures. That way when they call or come in to complain about how little Johnny was missed treated by you, you can say this is what he did and this is action I had to take. You even signed the paper saying you know that. I would also call every parent and introduce yourself to them. This will be a big pain in the butt. But it can help in the long run when a student is not doing well academically or is miss behaving. Assign the seats. This your classroom not theirs. I would also change them though when you see problems. With a class of 26 you will have students that do not get a long with others. Also chaning thier seats on a somewhat regular basis has them on their toes. They will also know that if they don't like thier seat it will eventually change. You might also want to rearrange your desks/tables in a way that will keep students from talking accross the room. Also the reason why classrooms do not have carpets in them is becuase of allergies.
Another thing that will help, is prayer. I prayed everyday during our moment of silence. There were days when I didn't think I could handle being a teacher any more. But God helped me through it. It was definitely his strenght that got me through last year. I do not know anything about your school or district. But I would start asking for help right away. And hopefully you will get the help you need. I didn't, but am praying that you do.
You are going to have good days and bad days. I sure did. There were times that my day was going great except one block. Sometimes one class is not going to go well, but others will. In the spring I though the same course. I would have 1 block that would do horrible, 1 that did okay, and then 1 that would be great. And they would change throught out the semster.
Also your first day is over. Don't let how bad it went cause you to have another bad day. I know it seems hard and it was hard for me to do at times. But you have to let it go. And worry about today and not what happened yesterday. SO it didn't go as you planed, okay, find things to improve on. And continue to do things that worked.

If you need any more advise or would like to spew your thoughts know that I am here for you. I have been there. And I so know what it feels like. Still not sure if I want to try again. But you are not me and will hopefully will get what you needed, when I didn't.
Love ya,
Brandy