The Sanity-Saving School Year Starter Kit is a free, three-day email series meant to help rookie teachers cut through the overwhelm and focus on the things that will best help you prepare for your first day of teaching. It’s set up as an all-in-one-place, intuitive reference that helps you find exactly what you need to get started and ignore the rest for now.
The emails include links to website posts on a variety of topics, including:
- How to assign seats on the first day of class (even if your class roster is not completely final)
- A trick for memorizing students’ names as quickly as possible
- Questions to ask your mentor teacher(s)
- First-day-of-school forms, handouts and surveys
- A first-day shopping list
- What to put into your first-day lesson plans (and what to leave out)
- Some insight into those weird nightmares you’ve been having about showing up to school in your bathrobe.
You’ll also receive a Cliff’s Notes version of my keynote speeches at new-teacher orientation events, which explains why it’s helpful to think of your first day of teaching like running an airport. I’ve given this speech to rookie teachers around the country, and even shared it with teachers working abroad who’ve reached out to request it.
You can sign up for the School Year Starter Kit here or use the form below. Best of luck to you as you prepare for your first day.