Back-to-School Confidence - For Teachers!

Teachers know how important it is to start the school year off right, so we want to offer these terrific tips to give you that extra boost of confidence, inspiration, and strength to start your best school year yet! We hope these ideas will encourage you to draw on your inner passion for educating children. Please share your own helpful hints and back-to-school wisdom with our teaching community in the comments section below. 

Make a seating chart - and don't be afraid to change it! No matter what grade level you are teaching, make a seating chart for the first day of school. This will not only help you establish organization and order in your classroom, but it will also help you to learn the names, faces, and personalities of your new students. First-day-of-school seating charts are often completely guesswork, so don't be afraid to change your seating chart after the first few days. Observe who the quiet students are, who might be the talkers, and who may have any special needs, such as trouble seeing the board. It's your seating arrangement - make the most of it! 

Start each day as a clean slate The first days of school are likely to be a little hectic and tiresome as you and your students get used to new faces, a new schedule, and a new academic year. There will be hiccups along the way and adjustments that will need to be made. Remember to start each day as a clean slate. No matter how the previous day turned out, today is a new day. Give yourself and your students a fresh start. There are endless opportunities in this new day. Seize them!

Expect great things from each student It's true that each of your students will have his or her own strengths and weaknesses. While it may be easy to see the potential in our brightest students, make sure you expect great things from every one of your students. Every child has amazing capabilities within him or her. Every one of your students needs you to believe in him or her. We really do live up to the potential others see in us. 

Let your students see you are human! It is unrealistic to expect that you will be the ideal teacher every moment of every school day. Just like your students, you are learning and growing in this environment, and you will make plenty of mistakes. When you make a mistake or you are having an "off" day, don't be afraid to admit it to your students, when appropriate. Your students will grow to respect and trust you more when they understand we are all far from perfect!

Be the teacher you want your students to remember All of us can tell stories of teachers in our school days that made us cringe - and still do! Hopefully, we can also remember the teachers that made a powerful difference in our young lives. You have the opportunity to choose the kind of teacher you want to be. It's a new school year. It is your chance to embrace the outstanding qualities of your best teachers and build on them. It's your time to adopt the qualities you wish you would have seen in your other teachers. When your students look back on their school days as adults, make this the year that shines the brightest in their memory! Do you have feedback, comments, or suggestions to share with other teachers about how to be confident, inspired, and motivated in the classroom? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below. Need back-to-school printables and classroom resources? Check out the Super Teacher Worksheets back to school page!