1. Essential Basics Preparing New Hires for the First Days of School

2. The First Days of School
“What you do on the first days of school will determine your success or failure for the rest of the school year. You will either win or lose your class on the first days of school.”
“Effective teachers spend the first two weeks teaching students to be in control of their own learning.”
“Student achievement at the end of the year is directly related to the degree to which the teacher establishes good control of the classroom procedures in the very first week of the school year.
--Harry K. Wong and Rosemary T. Wong

3. Effective Teachers
People who do things right are efficient. People who do things right over and over again, consistently, are effective.
The three characteristics of an Effective Teacher:
Has positive expectations for student success.
Is an extremely good classroom manager.
Knows how to design lessons for student mastery.

4. Independent Task
Look over the handout with Harry Wong’s 3 Characteristics of Effective Teachers. Highlight any of the subheadings/descriptors that you feel are vital to establish during the first days of school.

5. Gut Check Is it vital for you to be ready with:
Positive expectations and a
Plan for classroom management and
Purposeful, student-centered lessons
for the first days of school?
Why?

6. What They Said. . .
“The effective teachers spent time organizing and structuring their classrooms so the students knew what to do to succeed.” –Douglas Brooks
“I like coming to this school because everyone knows what to DO. No one yells at us and we can get on with learning.” --an at-promise student
“The beginning teacher must perform the full complement of duties while learning those duties.” –Harry & Rosemary Wong

7. How do we do it? Effective teachers script their first days of school.
The entire purpose of today is
to help you with that script
to help you feel ready to establish expectations, management and lessons during those first days that you can consistently follow through with and build upon on all the remaining days of school
to ultimately result in high levels of learning for your students, because you had effective first days of school

8. Mentoring is the answer
“What will really prepare you for teaching is if your district has an organized new teacher induction program. Induction is a structured two- year (or longer) program that will train and support you as you become an effective teacher.”
Mentoring is the answer

9. Essential Basics Disclosure document/welcome letter
Meet the Faculty/Team
Professionalism
Site Protocols/Procedures
Physical environment/Classroom Setup
Management
Big 8 Engagement Strategies
First 10 Days of School
Lesson Planning
Curriculum Maps

10. Effective Characteristic #1
Positive Expectations
Based on the research which demonstrates that the learner will produce what the teacher expects the learner to produce. . . the “self-fulfilling prophesy.”
Table Task:
Which of the Essential Basics relate to Positive Expectations?

11. Effective Characteristic #2
Classroom Management
The most important factor governing student learning is Classroom Management.
Effective teachers teach classroom management procedures that create consistency
Table Task:
Which of the Essential Basics relate to Classroom Management?

12. Effective Characteristic #3
Lesson Mastery
Table Task:
Which of the Essential Basics relate to Lesson Mastery?

13. Basic Essentials & Wong’s Big Three
Has positive expectations for student success.
Physical environment/Classroom Setup
First 10 Days of School
Disclosure document/welcome letter
Meet the Faculty/Team
Professionalism
Is an extremely good classroom manager.
Site Protocols
Classroom Management
Big 8 Engagement Strategies
Knows how to design lessons for student mastery.
Lesson Planning
Curriculum Maps

14. Our Goals for Essential Basics Training:
We promise to give you information (Basic Essentials), support and opportunities to create/solidify your First Days of School script.
We ask that you do your very best to relate the information/tasks we give you to the very real responsibility of determining success with your students this school year.