What an exciting time for you!!

We all get nervous as we start at the beginning of the year. It is a special but overwhelming time of your career. Here are my tips...

1) Have a letter to the parents on the desk. Next to the letter have a snaplock bag which parents put extra stationery items into (have a note on it with the details and the child's name - things I put in are their spare red and lead pencils, erasers, textas etc and then we gradually bring these out as the year goes on).
Have permanent markers floating around for those parents who haven't labelled their items. IF the children are required to bring in art supplies or tissues to pool as a class, designate areas of your classroom for them to go to. This means you wont be asked about stationery in your first minutes with the class and will eliminate frustration - it was definitely the most memorable/hardest part of my first day out ever.

During the day, just have fun. Read a story to the kids, make time to tell them about you, and definitely take a writing sample. I usually read a story/talk about me and do news then class rules with games up until recess. Before recess we walk around our recess area so no=one is confused. Between recess and lunch we do holiday news and writing. In the afternoon I always do some kind of artwork involving the kids names and display it around the class so they have some ownership.

Just before you go home, do a reflection on 'what have we done today' (I do this most days actually!) so that when the parents ask "what did you do today" the answer is not 'nothing' - they will actually remember.

Some other things to consider - think about how you are going to teach the kids the rules, e.g. when is it ok to go to the toilet, do they need to ask (a good one is that they put their hand up with a thumbs up sign so you know when they need to go) how to share (are they allowed to swap pencils) how to line up... etc etc. I find that if I think these things through clearly, it goes smoothly for me and I make sure I am doing everything I can to help them find the start of the year easier.

I wouldn't worry about doing any diagnostic assessments until the late first week or early second. LEt the kids settle in, get to know each other and then worry about assessing. If something isn't working - it happens to all of us, just abandon the activity and switch to something else.

All the best!

PS - a good idea is to write a welcome note in each child's diary. If you won't have time on the first day, write it onto a sticky label and then stick it into the diary. I think a hand written note is impressive to the parents on day 1.

Hello,
I am also a new teacher in 2011 at a school in New South Wales. I would just like to thank you all for your ideas and suggestions, its great to read everyone's perspectives.
Kind Regards,
Melanie

Good Luck Jess,You have so many mentors here.

Start everyday from day one with daily writing. Use dotted thirds books. Talk about writing and introduce a rule a week onto a big chart.

From day 1 chn copy date on top line and draw a picture under it. Go to each child and write one sentence about their picture. They write over the top of your writing left to right.Read it with them. You model it in a big book to whole class.

Use helpers, make sure they can spell and print. Chn can practice underneath. Chant common sightwords each day so chn can print them into their sentence on their own.

Chn then write in sentence starter chosen from a chart. Chn then learn to use a Have-A-Go Pad for words they want to spell on their own. You will be amazed. Be consistent and persistent with rules and standards.

Chn use an eraser, no scribbling. Expand the rules as you teach them more, insist on this practice in all other activities.

Rules:
Write on the line.
Make a space.
Don't forget tails.
Use your Have-a-go pad.
Start with a capital.
End with a fullstop.

Add more as you go. Chn reflect individually on what rule they'll focus on today. Use this foundation for writing about special days, their news, recounts, etc.

Don't miss a day. Have a Grab bag of ideas. Reading, writing and spelling is all covered in this very special lesson! Have fun.

Hi Jess,
Along with everyone elses fantastic comments, see if you can have a Welcome to Year 1 letter ready to hand out to the parents on the first day with some general information.
For example when your parent/teacher information night will be; most schools have these within the first 3 weeks. Also your routine and expectations for when the children arrive each day, as well as some general information about your intended program this term.
The letter doesn't need to be too long, but I found that if I have this ready within the first 2-3 days of school starting, then the parents don't keep asking you the same questions.
Good luck and congratulations on your new career!

Thankyou everyone for all of your posts! It is great to start creating a checklist of everything that needs to be done/remembered... it will certainly add to my confidence on the first day!

Hi Jess,
I agree with everything that people have written so far. I will be starting for my 35th year and I still get the buzz and excitement of setting up my room and meeting new students and parents.

I have found always be over prepared!!!!!
On the first morning have games and activities out for the chn to do with their parents. Put up a sign to let parents know to keep the chn's books in their bags or put into a tidy tray.

These can be sorted by you and the chn later and teaches the chn what the books are to be used for. I have specially labelled boxes for different subjects and put coloured dots on books so chn can easily recognise where to put their books away.

I start with establishing class rules and expectations and invite the chn to discuss what they want to learn during the year. I also get straight into maths, writing, SOSE and other areas.

I test spelling, handwriting and maths and collect samples during the first week to compare for later assessment. Have a folio for each child.
There are so many things to have ready but above all enjoy your children and be preapred for a very busy but rewarding year.

Hi Jess,
Congratulations on your first appointment, I fully endorse what the other teachers have suggested for you for the first few days. My other advice to you is to be kind to yourself. Don't expect to have everything ready for the first day. I would suggest, though, that you have as much of your planning done as possible and don't forget to include in that some provision for what children already know about a topic. This may mean some sort of informal discussion about a topic or a formal test based on what you have planned. I would also suggest that you spend a couple of days at school before the year officially starts. This will give you uninterrupted time to organise your classroom. Have a look at the children's booklist and see what items you want to collect. At my school, for example, the children are asked to bring a box of tissues and handwash. I collect these and hand them out during the year as needed. My other suggestion is to find someone at the school who has been there a while to befriend. This person can help you to locate school based resources and also help you with school policies,etc.
Hope these few things help Jess. Best of luck with your new career.

Even after many years of teaching I find myself wondering about how to start each year! I also have the children make covers for their books. Great art tasks and an easy way to fill the afternoons when the chn are likely to be tired.

I spend a lot of time discussing rules and consequences (positive and negative) I also talk about WHY we have a particular rule. EG: We don't swing on our chair because we might fall off and hurt ourselves.

For the first week or so I don't actually program rigidly. I make a list of possible tasks, games, stories, ideas, assessments etc and cross them off as we work our way through them. That way I can judge the mood of the kids and decide what to do.

Always over-prepare and have plenty of spare tasks that you can pull out if a lesson doesn't take as long as you would like or doesn't go to plan. You can always use the tasks later in the term or put them in a folder for relief teachers.
Good luck!

Congratulations! It will seem so overwhelming at first but you'll get used to it. Your smile will get stuck on your face for the day as you meet and greet.
Have the children's name tags written and laminated with a safety pin all set out for them to identify and wear. Have one for you too. To give them routine each morning for the first week or two, print off dotted name cards(laminate) for them to trace over with a marker when they come in. This is a good refresher and you get to know who can write their name and who can't.

They should know their first name from Prep so you could up the ante and include their surname.
Have a few simple songs ready to teach such as Five Little Ducks as these are good settling songs from one activity to the next.

An echo song such as My Highland Goat is good as you sing then they echo what they hear. An important rule for you is... have fun. Children respond well to a sense of humour so when things seem to be falling apart do something fun or silly like sing a silly song together.

Congratulations, It is very exciting and even though it was many years ago I can remember it!

My suggestions would be on the first day to set out some games/activities for the kids to do for the first half an hour or so. Make sure you have some bells or something that makes a noise to get their attention. Then sit them down and have a chat for a while, do the roll and any other admin stuff your school wants.

I always get the kids to talk and draw about their holidays( in yr 1 they are still keen to do it!) Do it on paper, this then gives you an idea of their writing ability etc. Go out for a game.

As a class, we make our own alphabet frieze each year, I give each child half an A4 piece of paper and go through the alphabet and they choose a letter to draw. Then stick on the letter and laminate.

I also make bookcovers for each book, using a variety of art styles ie scribble drawings, crayon and paint wash. I also make an identity web, draw or use publisher make a circle in the middle and draw lines out- in each section you do a different aspect of the child- my family, my favourite food, I am good at, My favourite tv shows, I like. Use one of the k-3 concept books to make for reading. Hope these ideas help, enjoy your first day.

Jess...have a few get-to-know-me things ready for the first day. Here are some other pointers:

*Make sure you know where you are storing any collected items like extra glues etc.
*Have name badges ready and try to have them memorised by day two or three.
*Be clear in your rules and convey these quite strongly in the first few days so they know the boundaries and they are clear.
*Start as you wish to finish. There is no point doing mindless tasks, get stuck into the learning or at least the assessing to find out what the kids know and where to go from there....do NOT plan too much because it is a waste until you know the kids!!!!

Good luck...I remember my first class and clearly remember day 1. You have a job because you deserve it so don't let your inexperience show...teaching is a performance every day...