Congrats! Maybe this is your first new teaching job! Or maybe you had to switch positions or states or sites. Or maybe you aren’t new but you’re looking at new ways to help with the first week of school jitters?!  Although my experience is mostly in self contained classroom settings, I hope any SPEDUCATOR can gain something from this post- if anything, just knowledge that you are NOT ALONE! Everyone, from veteran teachers, to para-educators, to parents, are a little nervous about the new school year.

First- The DON’Ts!

YOU DON’T NEED TO KNOW EVERYTHING!

Coming into a new classroom is hard enough.  You have a pressure on you to be a team leader, a data collector, a colleague, and to know what your students and parents want.  That is so stressful! Oh wait, and you actually have to teach! However, trying to come across to new peers like you know everything and don’t need any help is a definite faux pas! You will learn more in your first few years of teaching than any college classroom could have taught you.  And you will continue to learn long past those first few years.  Keep an open mind and embrace not knowing! And that brings me too…..

YOU DON’T NEED TO HAVE EVERYTHING FINISHED!

I have been at my current site for four years. And we JUST got all of our data clipboards finished :-/ Teaching special learners requires a flexibility that some educators can’t seem to comprehend.  The minute you create a perfect schedule, you will get thrown a new student whose behaviors and pull-outs don’t fit.  Such is life.  Just as you don’t know everything going into your new position (see above), you will never have ‘everything’ finished! And that is OKAY! I honestly have never met a special educator without a to-do list a mile long.  And that shouldn’t stress you out! Having a to-do list just means “Look at all these awesome things I want to try someday!” If your classroom isn’t constantly changing, I’m betting there are some bored kiddos in it!

YOU DON’T NEED A PINTEREST WORTHY CLASSROOM!

It is SO EASY to be an inspired teacher nowadays.  Right now my instagram feed is flooded with Target Dollar Spot and Michael’s and Hobby Lobby.  And while my bank account is the real thing that is preventing me from driving to the nearest shopping complex, I will try to say it’s because I know that “MY WORTH AND EFFECTIVENESS AS A TEACHER IS NOT MEASURED BY THE COLORS ON MY WALLS OR THE $$ I SPEND!” (say it again!) And honestly, in Special Education, it can even be overstimulating for your students! I had to take down a WHOLE WALL OF DECOR because my BMT came in and told me it was wayyyy too distracting for my student with Autism who worked right below it.  If you want  a pretty wall for YOU, and it makes YOU happy, GO FOR IT! I like my classroom to be pretty but also pretty basic. But the MOST IMPORTANT things in the first few weeks are establishing your schedule and routine, learning about your students, keeping your students SAFE, and following the IEP. Pretty walls do not make that list.

DON’T BE SCARED OF PARENTS!

The first few days of a new teacher are hard for parents, and I didn’t really realize it until I had to choose a daycare for my son. I can only imagine what our special needs parents go through! “What do you mean a new teacher, they don’t KNOW him! How do I know they are GOOD? How do I know they will keep my child SAFE?”  So nerve-wracking! So if they seem a little pushy, or harsh, try to connect.  Let them know that YOU SEE THEM.  You are on the SAME TEAM!  Ask them their opinions! Ask what WORKS for them! You will be so happy with the relationships you build those first few days that it will make the rest of the school year so much easier! See THIS POST on stress free IEP’s for more on building that relationship.

And now, the DO’s!

DO BE PREPARED!

While you don’t need to have everything 100% ready, it is important to have the basics.  Set up a schedule if there isn’t one already established.  You should already know the general levels of your students.  (If not please ask your administrators or colleagues their thoughts! I am a huge advocate of allowing teachers the see IEP’s BEFORE the school year starts!)  Prepare some activities that will explore your monthly/weekly theme (check out my Back to School Theme Unit) or some basic skills tasks.  If you will be using a curriculum like Unique (see HERE for a blog post on what I use from Unique) then prep some stories or matching activities for centers.  What’s the worst that could happen? They are too hard, or too easy! Then what? Try again! It is not the end of the world!
Always learning, remember?
Prepare your para-educators on your expectations as well. Are you going to be providing Zone Coverage or Man-to-Man Defense those first few days? Who will be tackling toileting or feeding? Which also leads nicely into….

DO LISTEN TO YOUR PARA-EDUCATORS!

Chances are, your para’s have been there a while. Either in your classroom or they have been in the field longer than you. And that is OKAY! You may be younger than they are, or feel like you need to prove yourself in some way.  This is so not the case! Yes, you have the education and the degree.  This is your classroom.  But this classroom WILL NOT FUNCTION without a good TEAM.  I can honestly say the best advice I ever got was to “never tell a para to do something you aren’t willing to do yourself”.  In my experience, the first week at each site I moved to, I tried to step back and let them do things the way they had in the past.  I was THEIR Para, jumping in when they needed me. Then slowly I introduced changes, schedules, data collection, etc… as appropriate. This may work for you! You may come into a new room with all new Para’s, and that is great too! They still will have their own experiences and ideas that you should respect and listen too.  They may never fully understand all of the responsibilities and legalities you have to deal with, but that is what you are there for. They are there for the students. If you are interested in a great tool, the Para Training Manual from The Autism Helper has so much great info even experienced para’s can learn from it, and it is editable for your specific situation.

DO ASK FOR HELP!

In one instance, I moved from a functional to an academic middle school program with class periods.  And I was so LOST! What do you mean I don’t have MY students all day? I relied heavily on other special educators on my campus and my amazing SpEd director  that year. They know you don’t know everything. And I am sure that they WANT to see you succeed! A Simple “What do you think about….” can help build relationships and increase your teaching skills!  If you have a new teacher program, take advantage of it! And not just with your supervisors, try to connect with other new teachers and compare notes (and funny stories)!

DO HAVE FUN!

You may have these students for 5 years, or only just one. But you don’t have to be a perfect teacher to leave a lasting impression on your students and their families. They don’t know you were freaking out that first day or first Back to School night.  They don’t know you cried after your perfectly thought out STEM lesson got destroyed by a behavior or how you think your observation went bad… But they will remember the pictures of them enjoying their centers, or the data that goes home showing a decrease in problem behaviors, the silly dance you did for the holiday parade, or the shaving cream you accidentally dyed the table with.  Laugh often, don’t take yourself too seriously, and Enjoy every second!

What tips do you have for new Special Education Teachers?  Leave them below!