It doesn’t take long as a classroom teacher to realize that it’s way smarter to have emergency lesson plans for substitute teachers ready before school starts.

When your sub binder is full of ready-to-go sub plans, you can head back to bed (or head out the door) with peace of mind knowing your students will be productive in your absence.

In this post, I’ll explain how to build meaningful, emergency substitute plans that don’t just feel like busy work. (I’ve broken these lesson plans down into “year-round” and “seasonal” categories.)

All of these are designed for high school students. But you can easily adapt most for middle school students or even younger students when needed.

The worst thing about feeling terrible is how much work it is to take a day off as a teacher. I can’t tell you how many times I went to work feeling crummy because it sounded like less work than submitting sub plans.

But I want better for you! So it’s a good idea to have at least one of these emergency plans sitting ready in your classroom.

Setting Up for Substitute Success: The Sub Binder

Before diving into lesson ideas, let’s talk about preparation. 

Even the best emergency plans won’t work if your guest teacher can’t find them or doesn’t know what to do. The most important thing you can do is create a substitute binder (sometimes called a sub tub or sub folder) that has easy access to everything a substitute needs.

My school actually required these. We had to have them done by the second week of school. We also had to submit links to important online learning spaces like our Google Classroom. If your school has a similar system, follow their directions.

Inside your sub binder, include a seating chart, a daily schedule, and clear notes about classroom routines. (This might have to be updated every quarter or semester, depending on your class schedule.)

If you work with special education teachers, add specific instructions for students with accommodations or other special needs. 

Sub Binder Tips

If you’re leaving worksheets in your binder, don’t forget to include answer keys. Substitutes will try and help your students while you’re away. Make sure they have the tools to keep your kids on track!

Another tip? Avoid technology-heavy plans. If you can, avoid leaving a YouTube video or Google Doc link.

Sometimes leaving a digital lesson is the easiest way to go. I understand it can be unavoidable. But every link or digital document is an opportunity for a problem. How many times have you had issues playing a YouTube video? Your sub will run into the same issues. But he or she won’t have the same know-how to get the class back on track.

Sticking to paper-based plans saves a lot of stress. Make enough student packets ahead of time, so you don’t need to worry about last-minute copies.

Finally, remember to leave more work than you think is necessary. The most important thing is that your substitute never runs out of things to do with students. If there’s extra time, having backup educational activities like word searches, short brain breaks, or quick discussion questions ensures that students stay on task.

Year-Round Emergency Lesson Plans For High School English

If you only have space in your binder for a few activities, make sure they work year-round and with any unit!

I’ll share some ideas that you can use at any time of the school year!

The Best Emergency Lesson Plan

Many times, you’ll need a sub at the last minute. But sometimes, you’ll know in advance when you’re going to be gone–a vacation, a doctor’s appointment, etc. 

If you can plan your absence, that’s obviously ideal. For these days, I always tried to leave my students work to continue on. This would be a project we had started, and I had reviewed and shown examples of. Or a worksheet reviewing a lesson I had taught the day before. Maybe an essay we were in the middle of writing. 

In my experience, work time on something students were already comfortable with was always the best lesson plan. 

Missing work days are great, too.

If my classes had lots of missing work, I would print off a list of missing assignments for each student. The sub could then pass these out and supervise while students got caught up.

Students who didn’t need the time could do extra credit or work on missing work for another class. (Sometimes, I would print off a list of missing work for a colleague for the sub to pass out, too!).

Don’t Forget Materials

Make sure to leave necessary materials–handouts with important information, markers for poster projects, etc.

Basically, if you have a heads up about your absence, make the most of the time and avoid having a sub introduce new material.

Also, be realistic when you’re leaving sub plans. Unless your students are very responsible or motivated, some kids just won’t do work when you’re not there.

Don’t leave anything for students to do that absolutely must be done–because it probably won’t be. Your sub is also not a miracle worker. They won’t have the same relationships with the students that you do, so don’t expect them to get the same amount of work out of your students. 

Your goal should be to leave enough work to keep students engaged in their ELA skills. The sub’s goal is to make sure everyone is safe. 

Reading-Based Emergency Lesson Plans

One of the easiest categories of emergency lesson plans for substitute teachers is reading. 

Reading activities work across many subject areas—not just language arts—and require minimal prep for both you and your substitute teacher.

Now, unless your classes are full of strong, motivated readers, I don’t recommend having them continue a class novel without you.

So many students just won’t do the reading. When you come back, your schedule will be all over the place because some students will have done it while others didn’t. 

But you could have students review what they’ve read. Maybe you have them answer comprehension questions, analyze characters, or write a summary.

If it’s late enough in the year that students have read a few books or had lots of time for independent reading, I recommend this Instagram-inspired Activity!

Students choose a book they’ve read and then create (draw) a faux Instagram post for it. This resource includes an example, so the sub can show students exactly what their final product should look like.

Best of all, this activity works with any piece of literature! It’s a perfect emergency lesson to keep copies of in your sub binder. (And hanging them up makes for a great bulletin board, too!)

You could also leave an article for students to read that’s not required for your current novel unit, but which would enrich their understanding. For example, if you’re reading a holocaust novel, you could leave students a nonfiction article about WWII to read. If you’re reading a historical novel, have students take notes on an article about the time period. 

This way, students who do the activity will benefit, but students who slack off won’t be too behind when you come back to the classroom.

Writing-Based Emergency Lesson Plans

When you can’t be there, writing is another reliable category for sub work. Writing assignments require little explanation from the regular teacher, but can fill an entire class period. They also give students a chance to stretch their creativity while still practicing skills.

If you’re studying a type of writing, offer students a way to review.

For example, you can have students complete this CER Review Worksheet to review claim, evidence, and reasoning writing. Or, use this Label the Essay Worksheet if students have just learned the five-paragraph essay format.

If your students are working on poetry, try giving them a Poem of the Week activity.

These activities consist of two parts: in the first, students read and analyze a poem. In the second, they write their own poem using the one they just read as a mentor text. The worksheets include all of the necessary directions and the resource includes answer keys for subs. 

For a graphic novel unit, you could add some enrichment by having students complete these fill-in-the-blank comic book pages.

This resource includes three different pages with blanked-out speech bubbles. Students try to make a cohesive story by filling in the bubbles with text that makes sense. This quick activity doesn’t take too much time, so pair it with another activity or leave it as enrichment for early finishers. (My Fill-in-the-blank Comic Book Activity is free right here!)

Grammar-Based Emergency Lesson Plans

Grammar often gets overlooked when building emergency substitute plans, but it’s one of the most useful tools in your sub binder.

Unlike some projects, grammar worksheets are straightforward and require minimal explanation. They’re perfect for a guest teacher who may not have a language arts background.

I keep a variety of grammar review worksheets in my sub tub. Because they include answer keys and detailed instructions, they are easy for a substitute to pass out and collect. They also work as independent practice, in small groups, or even as a timed challenge at the end of a class period.

If you want some high-quality grammar review worksheets that will be perfect regardless of the time of year, grab my Seasonal Grammar Review Worksheets here. Keep a few of these ready to go at all times, and save yourself hours of last-minute sub prep.

Some teachers worry grammar feels like busy work, but with the right student packets, it can be a strong form of reinforcement. 

Seasonal Emergency Lesson Plans

While reading, writing, and grammar activities can work any time of year, sometimes it’s helpful to tie your emergency substitute plans to the season. This makes assignments feel timely and relevant, which helps prevent the dreaded “Why are we doing this?” chorus that subs often hear.

Back-to-School Plans

At the beginning of the year, it’s especially important to have emergency plans in place. Falling ill during the first week or two of school is especially stressful. You don’t know your students that well, classroom routines haven’t been established, and students aren’t in the middle of any big projects.

Assignments like a Life Map work perfectly here. 

Students can create a visual representation of important events, people, and dreams for their future. This doubles as an icebreaker if a guest teacher has to step in on the first day or early in the year.

Another great option for the first week of the school year is to have students put together a World Literature Passport.

This requires more paper than a single worksheet, but students assemble their own reading “passport.” As students read during the year, they can record and map out all of the global voices they encounter.

As a sub plan, you can have students assemble their passports for the year and fill out the page with their personal information and “photo.”

Lastly, if you have to miss a day during the first week of the year, you could have students write an “I Am” poem.

It’s a fill-in-the-blank style poem, so no teaching is required. Complete your own “I Am” poem as an example and a way for students to get to know you; then, have them complete their own.

Get your “I Am” Poem activity for free below!

Fall Plans

In October, creative writing shines. The two-sentence horror story is a classic because it’s short, accessible, and fun. Students can share theirs aloud or post them on a classroom wall. 

You can grab a free worksheet for this activity right here.

In November, gratitude writing or letters of thanks to school staff make excellent sub activities. Not only do they keep students busy, but they also create meaningful connections within the school community.

(If you know you’re going to be out, you can use this Letter Writing and Envelope Addressing Lesson. Teach the lesson the day before you’re out and have students write the actual letter while you’re gone.)

If your students desperately need grammar review, you can grab some Fall Grammar Review Worksheets that fit the season while reviewing grammar essentials. 

Winter Plans

Winter can be tricky since illnesses spike and sick days pile up. Having multiple emergency substitute plans ready for this season is a lifesaver.

Reflective writing works especially well: have students set goals for the next school year, think about challenges they’ve overcome, or write about traditions their families celebrate. 

For a quick writing activity, grab this “Nicholas Was…” Christmas Creative Writing Activity and have students write their own 100-word story. This is the perfect way to fill up those short class periods after holiday assemblies.

These Winter Grammar Review Worksheets will make grammar feel a little more festive. They’re especially useful on those days when students might be absent, too!

When Valentine’s Day rolls around, you can leave students a romantic poem to analyze (like “To My Dear and Loving Husband”) or even have them write an ode to something they love themselves!

Spring Plans

By spring, students are often restless, which means your emergency lesson plans need to hold their attention.

If your classes are reasonably responsible, you can let your sub take them outside to do some creative writing. Sitting outside while writing some nature-inspired haikus is a perfect activity for a spring day. 

Since spring is also testing season, grammar worksheets double as review and filler when a substitute is covering multiple classes in a single day. You can get Spring-themed Grammar Review Worksheets right here. 

End-of-the-Year Plans

The last days of school perfect for reflection. You might ask students to write letters with advice for younger students, reflect on the hard work they’ve done, or brainstorm goals for the summer.

If your students are seniors, have them create a Goal Map for their plans beyond high school. 

Why You Need Emergency Lesson Plans

School districts often emphasize the importance of long-term sub plans for planned absences, but it’s the unexpected sub days that catch teachers off guard. Even if you’re a veteran teacher, writing sub plans in the middle of the night while you’re sick is exhausting. Having a fun substitute packet or two stored in your sub binder is the best insurance you can give yourself.

The truth is, the most important thing isn’t whether your students move forward in the curriculum that day. It’s that they are safe, engaged, and practicing meaningful skills in your absence. With these emergency lesson plans for substitute teachers, you’ll have exactly that—plans that provide structure, keep students learning, and allow you to rest or recover without guilt.

The post Easy Emergency Lesson Plans for Substitute Teachers You Can Reuse Every Year appeared first on It's Lit Teaching.

As a fellow educator who made every mistake possible during that tough first year, I’m here to share some of the best tips, effective teaching strategies, and high-quality resources to help you succeed in your own classroom.

This post is packed with essential tips for new teachers and first-year teachers alike. From lesson planning to positive reinforcement, from your first day of school to the end of the year, this guide will help you build a positive classroom culture that supports student learning—and your mental health.

Are you a first-year English teacher looking for tips, freebies, and resources to get set up for the new year? Check out my FREE Lit Teacher Series!

Tips for New Teachers #1. Take a Deep Breath—You’ve Got This

The first week can feel like you’re being thrown into the deep end. But the very first thing to remember?

Take a deep breath.

You won’t master everything in a day, but showing up with a positive attitude and the right strategies will help you survive those biggest challenges.

Still not sure what to focus on? Check out the 5 must-haves for new English teachers.

Tips for New Teachers #2. The Most Important Thing: Build Relationships

Seriously—strong relationships with your students, their caregivers, and your colleagues are the most important skills you’ll need. Student growth depends on mutual respect and trust, and the only way to build that is with time and intention.

Tips for New Teachers #3. Have a Backup Plan (and Then Another One)

A fire drill during your lesson? Tech not working? Your substitute teacher didn’t show? Always have a backup plan—and then a backup for that one, too.

I recommend keeping some sub-plans or simple worksheets students can use at any time in your filing cabinet.

Tips for New Teachers #4. Start with Basic Classroom Rules

Don’t overcomplicate it. Create 3–5 basic classroom rules that align with your student handbook and emphasize good behavior, mutual respect, and a positive learning environment.

My Lit Teacher email sequence helps you nail down a classroom management plan. Sign up for free!

Tips for New Teachers #5. Lesson Planning: Less is More

You don’t need to plan out every second of the school year. Focus on the beginning of the year and create flexible plans. Good lesson plans consider the needs of your students, their interests, and your own teaching style.

Need a time-saving tip? Use a high-quality resource from a trusted, experienced teacher (hint: Teachers Pay Teachers is your new best friend).

Planning your first novel study?​ Here’s my strategy for planning novel studies quickly!

Tips for New Teachers #6. The First Day of School Matters More Than You Think

What you do on day one sets the tone. Greet students at the door, introduce yourself, share something personal, and jump into a fun, low-stakes activity. The first day of school should be welcoming, structured, and engaging.

If you need some inspiration for day one activities, check out these back-to-school activities.

Tips for New Teachers #7. Create a Daily Schedule You Can Stick To

Map out your daily schedule in a way that gives you enough time to plan, assess, and reflect. Include time for professional development, grading student work, and—yes—self-care.

And if you need a daily routine for your class, steal my lesson plan format!

Tips for New Teachers #8. Classroom Management Strategies Are Everything

Great classroom teachers don’t have perfect students—they have strong classroom management strategies. Be consistent. Be fair. Use positive reinforcement more than punishment.

Not sure where to start with classroom management?​ Check out this blog post for the classroom management strategies you didn’t learn in college!

Tips for New Teachers #9. Don’t Be Afraid to Make Mistakes

You will have a bad day. You might cry after school. (We all have.) What matters is how you bounce back next time. Learn from it and grow.

If you need some more advice about struggling during your first year, check out this post.

Tips for New Teachers #10. Use Positive Language

Instead of “Don’t talk,” try “Let’s focus on the speaker.” Creating a positive learning experience starts with the way we talk to our high school students.

Tips for New Teachers #11. Stay in Communication with Students’ Parents and Caregivers

Effective communication with students’ parents (or caregivers) is one of the best practices you can build. Don’t wait until there’s a problem—reach out early and often.

You’ll learn quickly that documentation is important. Log every email and phone call to parents. If there’s a problem down the road, you can prove that you did everything in your power to address it early.

Tips for New Teachers #12. Keep a Running To-Do List

There’s always so much time and so little to do! (Just kidding—it’s the opposite.) A running to-do list keeps your mind clear and your goals focused.

I love Post-its, and I’m constantly surrounded by them. Every Monday, write down your three most important tasks for the week. Then, no matter what, tackle those before Friday!

Tips for New Teachers #13. Balance Is the Key to a Healthy Work-Life Rhythm

You cannot be a great teacher if you’re burned out. Build boundaries that protect your mental health and help you find a healthy work-life balance.

Prioritize exercise, healthy meals, and rest. Plan grading and lesson planning around those three.

Here are some tools that make sticking to a healthy routine easier for teachers.

Tips for New Teachers #14. Seek Out Professional Development That Actually Helps

Not all PD is created equal. Look for professional development that speaks to your grade level, special education needs, or content area. You’ll find better ways to teach and connect with students.

Don’t discount listening to teaching podcasts or participating in educator Facebook groups. Those “mini-PD” sessions can be helpful in a pinch and keep you rolling in fresh, new ideas!

Tips for New Teachers #15. Use Open Houses and Conferences to Build Trust

That open house night is your first chance to build trust with students’ caregivers. Be prepared, be welcoming, and be honest.

My school didn’t do open houses, but we made a big deal of parent-teacher conference nights. Make sure you’re prepared to talk about each student’s strengths and weaknesses, as well as your class’s big goals for the year.

Tips for New Teachers #16. Start Small with Student Work Displays

Displaying student work builds pride and a positive classroom culture. You don’t need to wallpaper the room—just showcase one or two strong pieces at a time.

Decorating bulletin boards is more stressful than you can imagine when you’re prepping for a new school year. So just… don’t! Cover them with some pretty paper. Then, display model work throughout the year.

Tips for New Teachers #17. Learn from Veteran Teachers, But Don’t Copy Them

Veteran teachers are an incredible resource, but you don’t have to become them. Borrow what works, adapt what doesn’t, and find your own teaching style. Don’t be afraid to ask colleagues what they’ve done in difficult situations or what lesson they use to cover certain topics.

Tips for New Teachers #18. Celebrate Small Wins

Your first lesson that actually works? A student says they love your class? Celebrate it. You’re doing hard work, and it deserves to be noticed.

This is often a thankless job. You have to become your biggest cheerleader.

Tips for New Teachers #19. Figure Out What Motivates Your Students

Do they love music? Memes? Movement? The more you know about your students’ interests, the easier it is to make learning meaningful.

When in doubt, try to gamify or add movement to a lesson!

For reluctant readers, check out this post.

Tips for New Teachers #20. You Don’t Need to Be Perfect to Be Good

Good teachers aren’t perfect. They’re reflective. They’re compassionate. They show up—even on the hard days.

Prioritize good teaching and being respectful to your students. The rest will follow.

Tips for New Teachers #21. Ask for Help Before You’re Drowning

There’s no award for suffering in silence. Whether it’s a seasoned teacher, your admin, or your mentor—ask for help early.

Want a list of questions to ask a mentor teacher? Sign up for the Lit Teacher Series and get them for free!

Tips for New Teachers #22. Create Opportunities for Student Voice

Let your students choose how to show their learning once in a while. Giving them voice promotes academic success and ownership.

Whenever possible, let them choose a topic for a paper or a project. Have them vote on their favorite books. Ask them their opinion on the music you should check out over the weekend.

Students love knowing that you value their voice.

Tips for New Teachers #23. Document Everything—Just in Case

Especially during your first year, keep a record of parent communication, behavior issues, and accommodations. It’s not paranoid; it’s smart.

Tips for New Teachers #24. Reflect Often and Honestly

At the end of the year, take stock: What worked? What didn’t? What will you do differently next time?

Make a list. Then decide 2-3 big things to work on over the summer. 

When you come back in the fall, you’ll be so happy you revamped those lessons, modified those strategies, or adjusted that classroom procedure.

Tips for New Teachers #25. You’re Not Just Teaching Content—You’re Changing Lives

This isn’t just a job. You’re shaping your students’ lives every single day. It might not feel like you’re doing much on a daily basis, but I promise you, every day has a ripple effect.

Conclusion

Failures, lessons that don’t stick, and grouchy students are par for the course. If at any point during your first year of teaching you feel embarrassed, ashamed, or just like an idiot, then congratulations! You’re experiencing your first year of teaching!

But don’t worry. You’ll have successes and celebrations, too. And every failure is a chance to learn something new (just like we tell our students!).

Good luck! Your students are lucky to have you!

The post 25 Tips for New Teachers: How to Survive (and Thrive) in Your First Year of Teaching appeared first on It's Lit Teaching.

How to Work 40 Hours a Week Tip #1: Don’t Reinvent the Wheel

You’ve probably been told this, but what does it mean? Nearly everything in education has been taught before. Yet so many teachers feel the need to create all of their lessons from scratch. Why?

There are so many resources available now to find great lesson plans–and many of them are free!

One of your best resources is your own colleagues. Have a co-worker who’s taught your class before? Ask him or her for their lessons, syllabi, or ideas. 

Most teachers are happy to share with their colleagues. And knowing what’s already working and failed for students in your school can be such a time saver!

A quick Google search can also lead you to promising materials. I like to add the keyword “PDF” to any of my search terms to find ready-to-print worksheets. 

I’m usually not a fan of the lessons provided in textbooks, but they are often great jumping-off points. If you’re really drowning in work, it’s okay to use a mediocre lesson and try to improve it the following year. 

And if you still can’t find anything that works for you, try Teachers Pay Teachers.

I resisted spending money on teaching resources for so long, but when I finally gave in, a $30 unit ended up saving me hours of time and a ton of stress. Plus, the unit was so good, it gave me great ideas for how to teach and structure my own lessons in the future. 

How to Work 40 Hours a Week Tip #2: Simplify Grading

If it’s not lesson planning eating up all of your time, it’s probably grading. 

First, remember that not everything has to be graded. It’s okay to review work in class instead of correcting it. It’s also okay to give students credit for simply doing an assignment if the intention was to just provide extra practice. 

Secondly, when you really need to cut down on time grading big assessments, assign a group project. Instead of twenty individual projects, you’ll only need to grade four or five group ones. 

Your Biggest Tool, However, is Technology

Make use of today’s technology, too. I give all of my quizzes using Google Forms.

Forms can reliably grade multiple-choice and short-answer questions automatically. If an assessment doesn’t need students to write long-form to prove they’ve learned the material, then use Google Forms to give a simple, self-grading quiz or test instead.

For long-form assessments, like an essay, I turn to Google again. I’ve saved common comments so that I can provide in-depth feedback for students without wasting time writing the same one over and over. 

For example, comma splices are pretty common grammar errors in student work. I have a comment that not only labels a sentence a comma splice but explains what a comma splice is and how to fix it. If a student receives that comment, they know exactly what the mistake was and how to correct it. 

In addition to Google, I’m sure your school has some paid programs they invest in. Take time to explore these tools and use what works. 

Before you assign any assessments, have a plan in place for how and when you’ll grade them. Make sure due dates for assessments allow you time to grade without stressing. If students can submit their final product digitally, consider making that a requirement if it smoothes out your grading system. 

How to Work 40 Hours a Week Tip #3: Use Support Staff

Have some empty spaces in your calendar? Not sure how to present a lesson? Don’t teach it at all! Instead, pull in a support staff member to do it instead. 

My school’s librarian had digital citizenship classes she was required to teach. Instead of trying to jam these in last minute, I always reached out to her whenever I was taking a personal or sick day. Instead of creating a sub plan, I planned for her to come in and teach one of her required classes. It was a win-win for both of us!

Instructional coaches are also a great resource. Many miss teaching in the classroom and don’t have “guinea pigs” for all of the new instructional ideas they learn about. Reach out to your instructional coach and ask if he or she would like to teach or demonstrate a lesson using your class. 

If you have a special education teacher or other support person in your classroom, you could invite him or her to take a more active role in your classroom. 

Maybe they’d like to lead a station when your class does rotations. Perhaps they can take some grading off of your plate or plan a few of your upcoming lessons. 

Education teachers are just as trained and educated as every other teacher, but they’re often relegated to a support role. Let them take the lead one day while you provide support instead!

How to Work 40 Hours a Week Tip #4: Set Boundaries Around Your Work Time

Lastly, the real trick to sticking to a 40-hour work week is time management. This means using all of your allotted work time to, well, work. 

No gossiping in the main office. No hemming and hawing about what you should work on during your prep time. 

Know your priorities every day and work on them every spare minute. 

I go into more detail about how to use (and protect!) every precious minute of your work day in this post. 

If you want to leave the building at quitting time, you need to be mindful of how you structure your day and what extras you say “yes” to. 

Conclusion

You might not be able to work a 40-hour week every week of the school year. Some weeks will be tough, afterschool meetings will be called, and late papers will be turned in–ruining your perfectly planned grading window. 

But if you commit to and follow these tips, I guarantee you will be walking out of your building on time more and more. Build on your progress every year and you just might achieve some of that elusive work-life balance we hear so much about. 

The post Teachers, Here’s How to Work 40 Hours a Week appeared first on It's Lit Teaching.

Ditch the Back-to-School Stress Tip #1: Set Boundaries Around Your Time

This is important not just during the beginning of the school year, but throughout it: set boundaries around your time. 

The beginning of the year can be full of lots of useless meetings, well-intentioned colleagues who want to hear all about your summer, and committees looking for new volunteers. These can be time sucks during the part of the year when you need every minute.

If you need time to plan or prep your classroom, do everything to protect the precious work time you have. This might mean keeping the lots off in your room, so no one knows you’re there. It could mean saying no to lunch with coworkers in order to finish those bulletin boards. 

Whatever you do, protect the time you do have to get ready for the year–because there’s already just never enough time. 

You can read this post for some in-depth ideas for keeping your time boundaries sacred. 

Ditch the Back-to-School Stress Tip #2: Say “No” to Extra Responsibilities

Piggybacking off of the previous tip, learn to get comfortable saying “no” to extra requests–especially ones that don’t come with any extra pay. 

If you’re already stressing about the new year, do you need to add volunteer coaching? Or heading a new book study? Do you even want to participate in your principal’s new pet project committee?

Remember that “no” can be a complete sentence–and get comfortable saying it.

Ditch the Back-to-School Stress Tip #3: Know Your Classroom Rules, Expectations, and Non-negotiables

Nothing adds stress like unruly students. While you can’t control your future students’ behaviors, you can try to get ahead and mitigate some of their negative actions. 

Check out this post to get started creating your own classroom management plan. 

But don’t wait until the last minute–you may need to gather some resources to create streamlined classroom protocols or to get some feedback from your colleagues. 

Even knowing simple procedures–like how your students will pass in work or what offenses result in students heading straight to the dean’s office–will help you respond to your students in the moment. 

Clearly communicating your expectations and the consequences of not meeting them during the first week will also help your students’ anxiety. Give them and yourself every chance at success this year by planning for it!

Ditch the Back-to-School Stress Tip #4: Plan The First Unit

You don’t need to start the year with a lesson plan for every calendar day. However, knowing what you’ll be teaching–and how you’ll be teaching it–during the first few weeks can really take some pressure off of you.

If you are teaching a novel study first, I highly recommend this post on planning a novel study quickly. 

Use this post if you want to create a grammar unit for the semester or this post if you’re teaching Creative Writing. 

Regardless of your first focus, plan the unit before stressing about the next one.

Ditch the Back-to-School Stress Tip #5: Make All of Your First-Week Copies

Once you know what you’ll be teaching, go ahead and make your copies for the whole first week. Don’t forget to make some copies of a few backup activities as well. 

If you need some ideas for the first week of school, check out this post. 

Walking into your classroom on the first day knowing you don’t have to rush to the copier–and fight every other staff member to use it–will make that first week so much smoother. 

Ditch the Back-to-School Stress Tip #6: Plan Something to Look Forward To

Lastly, there’s probably no way to eliminate all of your back-to-school stress. So make sure you have something fun to look forward to once you survive the back-to-school blues. 

I always tried to have a vacation scheduled when I was in the classroom. This gave me something to dream about and look forward to on the hard days. 

You don’t have to plan a whole vacation though. It could be drinks with coworkers or friends on the weekend. Maybe it’s a concert you’re looking forward to in a few months. 

Just make sure that you have something on the calendar to get you through the hard days. 

Conclusion

While you probably can’t get rid of all of your back-to-school stress, you can help reduce it with some simple planning. 

Make sure you have a plan for your lessons, your classroom management, and your life outside of school. The more prepared you are, the less your heart will race during those first few days. 

And remember, once you get past the initial beginning, you’ll get to know your students and the stress will get better!

The post Teachers, Here’s How to Ditch the Back-to-School Stress appeared first on It's Lit Teaching.

In this post, I will share first-year English teacher must-haves, so you can prepare (without wasting money or time on unnecessary materials!).

Not sure what else you need? Check out these preparations you need to make for any class you’re teaching for the first time.

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links that earn me a small commission, at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products that I personally use and love, or think my readers will find useful.

Before You Buy A Single Supply

I’m going to present a list of materials and supplies that you’ll no doubt find incredibly helpful to have during your first year of teaching. 

But that doesn’t mean you should run out and buy them all!

You do not (and should not!) spend all of your own money on teaching supplies. In fact, I encourage you to spend as little as possible. Some purchases may be unavoidable, but spending hundreds of dollars your first year sets a bad precedent–and establishes bad habits. 

Instead, first, ask your school to provide the school supplies you need. Ask what they provide. Some schools provide a lot while others provide a little. You may have to fill out a request to get anything.

Some schools even have a fund for every teacher to use to get supplies–you’ll want to know about this before you go shopping with your own money!

You can even ask your new colleagues. Veteran teachers only have so much closet space. They probably have old classroom posters, books, furniture, or games that they’ve upgraded and now need to get rid of. 

Once you’ve exhausted your school’s resources, try social media. Lots of your friends will be happy to donate funds or supplies to a teacher just starting out. It might feel a little awkward, but remember–people are really giving to your students, not you. 

Lastly, where you can get thrifty. First, literally–check thrift stores for classroom books or decor. 

Then, watch for back-to-school sales, places with teacher discounts, and even yard sales. Remember to price compare with online sites like Amazon, and that buying some things in bulk can save you a ton over the years. 

As a first-year teacher, you’re making the least amount of money but have the most to acquire. If you can don’t have to spend your money, don’t!

First-Year English Teacher Must-haves #1: The Lit Teacher Series

Before you can begin worrying about the supplies you’ll need, it’s best to get a big picture of your curriculum, teaching practices, and daily procedures. 

That’s where The Lit Teacher Series comes in. 

It’s my completely FREE 7-day email series designed to help English teachers get ready for their first year. Each day, you’ll receive an email with advice, a freebie, and a small task to help you prep. Each day focuses on a different topic, like what to discuss with your mentor teacher and classroom management plan tips.

Going through the tasks presented in each email will give you a better idea of what you’ll need to tailor your classroom to your teaching style.

Get it here and get a jump start on everything you need in your first year!

First-Year English Teacher Must-haves #2: A Curriculum

You might be walking into a school district in which every day is already prescribed for you. Some districts have really strict curriculums–down to exactly what lesson you’ll need to teach each day. 

Other schools might have nothing to give you. In my first year, I was given absolutely no curriculum or syllabus–just told to figure it out and have fun. There wasn’t even a textbook or anthology.

Regardless of where you fall on the spectrum, lesson plans are probably stressing you out a bit.

You don’t need to have a whole year’s worth of curriculum mapped out, but knowing what texts you’ll be teaching or at least how you’re going to start the year can help. (Not sure where to start? No curriculum? Here are my recommendations for what to teach in September.)

If possible, ask about your curriculum. Find out what grades you’ll be teaching. If there’s an activity you know you want to do that requires specific supplies, add them to the list of supplies you’ll need. 

If you need your school to order books, get that request in ASAP! It takes forever for districts to approve the use of funds, even for books, and the sooner you get that order in the better. 

The first weeks of school are tough and stressful. Make sure you at least have everything you need for your first unit. Prioritize the beginning of the school year during your lesson planning. (And if you need back-to-school activities for your classroom, try these!)

(Teaching World Literature? Here are some tips for organizing your World Lit class.)

First-Year English Teacher Must-haves #3: Bulletin Board Supplies

Oddly, one of the most stressful preparations I had to make for my first year of teaching was figuring out how to decorate it. I had four blank walls and not a single poster to my name. 

Hitting a teacher store and spending a ton on posters and bulletin board borders sucked (not to mention the closest one was an hour’s drive away). There’s a better way.

If you can, get into your new classroom and measure your bulletin boards. That way, you won’t over-buy decorations.

Your school probably has those huge rolls of colored paper you can use for free, but I’m going to encourage you to skip the paper for your bulletin board. Instead, use fabric as bulletin board backing. 

This will cost a little extra upfront, but it will last all year. Never in my teaching career did I replace the backing of a bulletin board during the year because I always used fabric. 

Head to your local fabric store and check the scrap bins. You might luck out and find a scrap big enough for one or several of your bulletin boards. Otherwise, use coupons and sales to get fabric for cheap. 

You’ll also need bulletin board borders and probably some letters. Check the dollar store for cheaper options, but buying online can also be great. If your school has a Cricut or someone who cuts and laminates for you, you can also print letters at your school. 

Remember, this is your first classroom–but probably not your last. You might be asked to move classrooms at the end of the year. So don’t go buy a ton of large items that might not work in a different space!

And don’t get too attached to an idealized classroom setup. You might find that it doesn’t work for your students.

Don’t stress about what to put on your boards. You can always decorate them with student work!

First-Year English Teacher Must-haves #4: Essential Classroom Supplies

Here is a list of classroom essentials that you’ll want to make sure you have before the school year begins. I recommend hitting the Doller Tree and the Target dollar spot for finding some of these items on the cheap.

1. Post-its: trust me, you can never have enough
2. Pencils and Pens: even if your school provides some, you’ll be shocked by how quickly your students go through these; take whatever your school gives you and then buy more
3. Paper Clips: I don’t think I have to explain this one
4. Binder Clips: super helpful for keeping stacks of papers organized
5. Good pens in multiple colors: don’t let the students touch these and keep them for grading
6. Manila Folders: you’ll need these to stay organized; use them to keep papers in your filing cabinet or even as student folders in classroom bins
7. Organizational Supplies: At the least, I recommend having a “turn-it in” bin, a pencil holder, enough stackable trays so you have one for each class, and a drawer organizer for your desk drawer
8. An Electric Pencil Sharpener: if you have a mechanical pencil sharpener in your room, I promise your students won’t understand how to operate it, it will break, you will have pencil shavings everywhere, and lots of class time will be wasted sharpening pencils
9. Clipboard: make sure you have at least one for yourself (handy for taking attendance outside during fire drills), but work towards building a class set so your students can work outside on nice days or write while moving around the room
10. Chalk or Expo Markers and eraser: make sure you have what you need to use your chalkboard or whiteboard (if you have a chalkboard, I HIGHLY recommend chalk markers for anything you want to leave up for longer than a day)
11. Highlighters: you’ll need a few for you but if you can get enough for all of your students to use, this will open up some more activities for your students; this may be a supply your school will provide
12. Stapler and Staples: your school should provide you with one, but make sure you have at least one before school starts
13. Three-hole Punch: even if your students don’t keep binders, these come in handy from time to time; this is another supply your school should be able to give you

These basic supplies can become a major investment. Small items add up quickly! Again, don’t spend your own money unless you have to!

If you want to start building your classroom library, too, check out this post for tips on getting started frugally.

First-Year English Teacher Must-haves #5: Calendar or Lesson-planning Document

While I don’t believe that you need a minute-by-minute lesson plan for every day of the week, you’ll certainly need a space to plan your teaching calendar. 

It’s going to be very, very tempting to buy a cute and expensive teacher planner (I see you, Erin Condren!). But don’t. 

Your goal, after all, is to actually make money teaching during your first year. 

And pretty pages don’t make for better lessons. 

Instead, hit up Marshalls, TJ Maxx, or Target for a date book you like. Make sure it has lots of space to write notes for individual weekdays. 

Alternatively, you could keep your planning notes on a digital document. I used a Google Sheets spreadsheet made by a co-worker that I loved. There was a tab for each month. Each day consisted of three cells: one for the warm-up, one for the lesson, and one for the lesson closing.

A digital planner is much easier to use if you need to make a lot of changes. Plus, you can include links to lessons or videos you’ll need that day. 

You’ll find a free, basic monthly planning page as part of The Lit Teacher Series when you sign up, too. 

Conclusion

It’s tempting to rack up a ton of credit card debt prepping for your first year. But try to restrain yourself. Shake down your new school, and ask new colleagues for any supplies they’d like to get rid of. 

Focus on acquiring the basics and don’t worry about making everything “cute” right away. You can slowly upgrade supplies as you work your way through your career. Better to make an Amazon order a few weeks into the school year than to buy too much and struggle to pay your bills. 

Need more first-year teacher tips? Check out this post!

The post 5 English Teacher Must-Haves For the First Year appeared first on It's Lit Teaching.

What is Quiet Quitting?

“Quiet quitting” (despite the controversy, blame, and panic from employers) doesn’t actually have anything to do with quitting. 

Quiet quitting is simply showing up for work and doing the bare minimum you’re paid to do. It’s doing the job you’re compensated for without doing anything extra. A quietly quitting employee is still performing her job–and might have no intention of leaving it–but they’re no longer going above and beyond. 

While teaching can be a very rewarding career, it is rarely a well-compensated one. Education basically runs on unpaid teacher labor. 

How many teachers stay late after school, unpaid, to help students, grade work, or lesson plan?

In the summer, how many teachers start their work weeks before the beginning of their contract to get their classroom in tip-top shape?

How many teachers are arriving early, monitoring the cafeteria during their unpaid lunch, or attending required meetings after their contracted hours?

The answer, sadly, is most. 

Before I’m attacked, let me say this: those teachers who are going above and beyond should be praised, and also compensated for their time and dedication. 

Quiet quitting isn’t about screwing over employers or getting away with anything; it’s about refusing to give away unpaid labor. And as controversial as my opinion may be, I think the entire education system would benefit long term if more teachers did it. 

Quiet Quitting for Teachers Tip #1: Set Hard Boundaries Around Your Time

This is the absolute first action you need to take if you want to quietly quit. You need to set hard boundaries around your time. 

You don’t get to work until your contract time starts, and you don’t leave any later than when your contract time ends. If your lunch is unpaid, you don’t do a single thing except sit back, watch dumb Tik Toks, and eat your lunch during that half an hour.

Of course, I understand that this is easy to say and hard to implement in the teaching world. Sure, you can just not grade those papers, but what happens when students, parents, and admin are on your case to get them done?

You can skip lesson planning, but then what do you do tomorrow when you’re staring down thirty feral teenagers with nothing to do?

Make working only your contracted hours your goal and start cutting where you can. Lunch might be an easy place to start. Get rid of your lunch duties. Stop letting students hang out in your room. Shut the door, turn off your lights, and eat your dang lunch. 

Then, start cutting some more. Can you get to work ten minutes later without being a basket of anxiety or running into awful traffic? Then do it. Can you leave thirty minutes after school instead of an hour?

This will mean you get less done. (Keep reading for more tips on that.) That’s the point. 

You can get some more tips around setting boundaries around your time here. 

Quiet Quitting for Teachers Tip #2: Do Less

Quietly quitting means getting less done.

You might not be able to create stunning bulletin boards every month; you might have to leave the same one up all year.

If you assign a worksheet for homework, collect it without grading it. Or only grade the odd numbers. Or require the practice only for test makeups. 

Instead of creating engaging and interesting lessons from scratch, you can do the boring ones out of the textbook, borrow lesson plans from a colleague, or find some online.

I even recommend asking the librarian, tech teacher, or support staff to do “guest lessons.” That will take a few days of lesson planning off of your plate.

As long as you are still teaching, assessing your students’ progress, and fulfilling your professional duties, you’re doing great and you’re earning your pay. 

Now, again, this is easier said than done in the world of teaching.

How Can You Do Less?

You might have to strike a balance between perfectly quiet quitting and enjoying yourself or not getting too anxious about teaching. 

If I knew a lesson was going to be boring for my students, it stressed me out. I knew the lack of engagement would eventually lead to classroom management issues, which would in turn become more work and anxiety for me. 

So lesson planning was always a place where I did allow myself to spend some extra time or money to get right. But I didn’t have those amazing lessons every single day. 

To achieve some balance, I gave my students missing work days and used online platforms that generated scaffolded practice so some days required almost no planning.

I expected my students to turn in something almost every day. But there were many assignments that I graded based on completion only to save some time. 

I implemented independent reading because my students needed it, but also because it gave me a break from them for half an hour. 

Try to find places in your duties where you can do less without doing harm.

Angela Watson has a whole course on how to manage your time more effectively and leave the building earlier. (I’m not an affiliate, but Angela Watson, if you see this, hit me up.)

Quiet Quitting for Teachers Tip #3: Ask for Compensation

This is my absolute favorite thing to do. When you’re asked to do something extra at work, simply say, “I’d love to as long I’m fairly compensated.” 

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve annoyed admin with this one. 

As soon as someone starts talking about a new initiative or training that will require time outside of contract hours, raise your hand and ask how much you’ll be paid for those extra hours. 

“We need more teachers to supervise lunch.”

“Great! How much will I be paid for that? When will I be relieved so I can take my lunch?”

Enter conversations expecting to be paid for your time. Advocate for your colleagues to get paid for theirs as well.

The more educators start demanding extra compensation for extra duties, the better.

Quiet Quitting for Teachers Tip #4: Spend Less–Or Better Yet, Spend Nothing

Quiet quitting is about not giving more than is required. So don’t spend money on materials for your classroom.

That means using the supplies given to you by your building (if any) and cracking down hard on kids stealing pencils. 

Quiet quitting means not throwing pizza parties as a reward unless the school reimburses you.

And it also means recycling or using others’ classroom decorations. 

Make sure you’re not buying students lunch or food. If they’re hungry, make the counselors aware (ours always kept extra granola bars and fruit for students). 

Skip frilly decorations when dollar store borders will do. 

When you need something, ask admin if they will reimburse you. Use Donors Choose. Post online about your classroom’s needs and ask the community for donations. 

Again, I know this is super challenging in education. Instead of focusing on never spending any money in your classroom, pay really close attention to what you are spending it on. 

For example, I spent a lot of money on my classroom library when I was in the classroom. I always asked the school to buy me some every year and used every cheap trick in the book to get inexpensive books. But it definitely added up. 

But I was ok with it because it brought me joy and having lots of options for independent reading made class easier for me. 

Decorating my classroom, however? Not so much. I reused the same posters every single year. I never swapped out my bulletin boards during the year. And I bought the fabric I used to cover them with coupons during sales. 

Find a balance you can feel good about–and then continue trying to find ways to spend less. This is a job after all–it’s supposed to make you money, not cost you money.

Quiet Quitting for Teachers Tip #5: Work On a Way Out

For many, quiet quitting has nothing to do with wanting to leave a job. It’s instead a way to prevent burnout or advocate for better compensation for duties that go above and beyond. 

But for some, quiet quitting might be the step they take before actually quitting. 

If you’re actually thinking about leaving the profession, quietly quit while you make a backup plan. 

I quietly quit teaching before it was cool. During the last few years of my career, I knew I didn’t want to be in the classroom for much longer, so I did everything in this post. Meanwhile, I worked on building up my Teachers Pay Teachers business, explored other career options, and talked with my partner about our future plans. 

(You can read my personal quitting story here.)

If you’re quietly quitting because you want to quit for real, don’t waste that time. Start learning the skills you need to begin a second career. Build up a side hustle. Talk to friends you trust to see if there are positions open up in their companies. 

Don’t forget that, no matter how bitter you might feel, to try and leave on a positive note. Don’t let students know you’d rather not be teaching. Avoid talking about leaving with your colleagues and admin until you’ve accepted a position elsewhere. 

And remember, quiet quitting means you are still fulfilling your duties. It does not mean that you skip work or teach students nothing for months at a time. 

Conclusion

Quiet quitting is difficult in the teaching profession, but enacting a few of the ideas behind it can help your work-life balance immensely. If you’re struggling with burnout, quiet quitting might be the cure. 

And if you’re thinking about leaving teaching entirely, quit quitting is a great step to take while you explore other options. 

Even if you love your job, think about implementing some of the quiet quitting strategies. It can help you set more boundaries around your time, energy, and money. Plus, it can help advocate for more fair compensation for educators everywhere.

The post The Ultimate Guide to Quiet Quitting for Teachers appeared first on It's Lit Teaching.

(If you’re a first-year teacher who’s struggling during your first year, this post is for you.)

Mental Health Tips for Teachers #1: Beg, Borrow, Steal, or Buy Your Lesson Plans

When you’re having a bad teaching year, the first thing you need to do is to get as much off of your plate as possible. 

(Having a hard time creating boundaries around your time? Check out this post for some tips.)

The quickest way to do this is to eliminate some of your planning. 

A great lesson can take me hours to create. I need to gather the content, put together slides, make everything pretty, create an activity, think of an exit ticket, etc. It’s a lot even when you feel great. But when you’re already feeling down, this can be impossible. 

So don’t do it. 

It’s ok some years to just get by. You don’t have to be Teacher of the Year every year. Sometimes survival needs to be the goal. 

So get your lessons somewhere else. Know a teacher who already taught your class? See if she’s willing to share her plans. 

Try and salvage what you can from your school’s textbooks or canned curriculum. It might not be your students’ favorite lesson ever, but it meets the curriculum and has also already been approved by the district. (This has the added bonus of not getting you in trouble if you’re in a conservative school.)

Try to find a free unit online or in a teacher Facebook group.

And if all of that fails, buy a unit on Teacher Pay Teachers. Your mental health and hours of your time are totally worth that money. I promise. 

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Mental Health Tips for Teachers #2: Grade Less

The next best way to get some of that workload off of your desk is to grade less. You really don’t have to grade all of the work your students do!

I know that when I was in the classroom, I couldn’t get my students to do anything unless they thought there was going to be a grade attached. That meant requiring notes any time I taught a lesson and even giving them exit tickets for independent reading. 

When you have to grade every activity students do, you’ll spend hours every week doing just that. 

Instead, find a system that works for you to cut down on grading. 

If you have repetitive activities (like bell ringers or exit tickets), maybe you only grade those every other time. 

If you want students to do some practice work, but don’t want to grade it, maybe grade it on completion instead of mastery. Or maybe you even just put a checkmark at the top and hand it back to students. 

When it comes to work you have to grade well–like an essay–create systems to cut down your time. For example, I saved common comments like “missing a comma here” or “fix citation” in my Google Classroom comments. Then, all I had to do was type a few letters to create a comment that was specific and helpful for my writers.

Laura Randazzo has a great video about taking care of your mental health while grading. I encourage you to watch!

You can even have students swap papers and grade one another’s work for low-stakes assignments. 

Grade what is important, but try to cut down on everything else. 

Mental Health Tips for Teachers #3: Lean on Your Teacher Friends and Community

Sometimes, the only things that get us through a difficult time are the people around us. 

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, you might be tempted to spend your whole lunch working in your room. But this might be the time when talking to your coworkers during lunch will do you the most good. 

If you’re lucky enough to have great coworkers, spend time with them. They’ll understand your struggles and any complaints you have about the current year. They might also have some solutions or resources to share. 

You don’t want this to become a time to just complain, of course. But finding a sympathetic ear from someone who truly understands can be therapeutic. 

If you don’t have colleagues you can lean on, try joining a teacher Facebook group instead. These groups are a great place to find solutions to professional problems. There are even teachers in these groups sharing lesson plans, useful websites, and teaching ideas. 

And lastly, if you need someone to talk to, there’s no shame or harm in seeking out a professional. Check your insurance plan or give HR a call–chances are therapy is even covered in your insurance.

Mental Health Tips for Teachers #4: Update Your Resume

Sometimes a bad year is just a symptom of a bigger problem. If your entire school or district has become a toxic place to work, it might be time to seek greener pastures. 

Keep your resume and cover letter updated. Discreetly ask some colleagues if they’d be willing to be a reference or to write a letter of recommendation. 

Then, see what other options are available. Who knows. The district next door might be hiring and paying better.

Or maybe you’re ready to make a switch from an in-class teacher to an instructional coach or dean. 

Sometimes, just changing your role or your building is enough to refresh yourself and bring new energy into your career. 

And if you suspect that you might need an entire career change, that’s ok too. Teachers are shamed for not wanting to be teachers forever even though tax accountants aren’t shamed for not wanting to be accountants forever. 

If you’re thinking about making a change in your career, I highly recommend checking out the work by the Teacher Career Coach. She has resources for teachers looking for a change inside or outside of the classroom.

It’s ok to want to make a drastic career change; it doesn’t make you a horrible person. 

Mental Health Tips for Teachers #5: Use Your Sick Time

Lastly, when life is stressful and overwhelming, you need to be kind to yourself. Feel free to use your sick days for mental health–not just physical health. 

Don’t feel guilty for taking a day for yourself. Resting, taking care of yourself, and doing what you can to prevent burnout means better teaching late on. It’s important. 

I know too many educators who hoard their sick time. When they finally retire or decide to leave for another district, they have more than they can use and the time goes wasted. 

Your sick days are part of your compensation package. If you’re not using them or saving them for a specific reason, then you’re effectively taking a voluntary pay cut. 

Sometimes teaching just sucks.

Take a day. Rest. Clean your house. Do something that brings you joy. It’s ok.

Conclusion

Trying to push through or teach at your very best when you’re stressed and overwhelmed is a guaranteed way to burn out. 

Trust me, you’re not going to be teaching amazing lessons if you’re working through burnout. And allowing burnout to settle in might even mean having to leave the profession altogether. 

If you want a long career–or just to survive this year–taking care of yourself needs to be your number one priority. 

The post 5 Mental Health Tips for Teachers Having a Hard Year appeared first on It's Lit Teaching.

Will my students like me? How do I make friends on staff? Will I do a good job?

In this post, I’m offering survival tips for any new English teacher.

New English Teacher Survival Tip #1: You’re Going to Need Help

There’s simply no way around it: you can’t do this alone. 

During your first year of teaching, not only are you learning how to teach on your own, but you’ll have to learn about your school and your students. 

Each school has its own culture, procedures, and expectations–learning them can take a few years! And getting to know the student population that you serve can take even longer.

So look for help anywhere you can find it. 

What If I Don’t Have a Mentor Teacher?

Hopefully, you’ve been assigned a mentor teacher who can show you the ropes. But often, mentor teachers aren’t available or they themselves are too busy or burnt out to help much. 

Try to connect with other new teachers and build a support network for each other. Ask veteran teachers in your building the important questions. For example, how do they manage to keep their students on task? Which water fountain actually has cold water?

And if you can’t find in-person help, find other resources. You can join teaching Facebook groups or listen to educator podcasts for ideas. Following other teachers on the ‘gram and expanding your network can help build a support network.  

When I started teaching, I was basically on my own. There wasn’t really a mentor-teacher program in place. Our admin was terrible. We were given no curriculum. And most of the staff was brand new, so there weren’t many veteran teachers to turn to. 

It took me years to figure out my systems, the intricacies of submitting field trip forms, and everything else teachers need to know. 

So I created the Lit Teacher Series–7 days of advice for new English teachers to help them get started. When you sign up for the series, you’ll receive an email each day. Each email focuses on a different topic, like classroom management or lesson planning. They all include tips, advice, and free resources! 

For example, in the first email, you’ll get a list of questions to ask your principal, mentor teacher, or whoever is in charge of orienting new teachers–questions I didn’t even know I needed to ask during my first year.

New English Teacher Tip #2: Office Politics Still Exist in Teaching

This is another lesson I had to learn the hard way during my first year. Even in teaching, office politics can have a big impact.

So be very careful what you say, and to whom you say it. 

Now, I don’t mean you should avoid chatting with your co-workers! Quite the opposite–your fellow teachers can be the difference between a job that’s just ok and one you love. 

But never say anything negative about a co-worker–not even to your work BFF. Don’t gossip or participate in the rumor mill. If you can’t think of anything nice to say about a colleague, say that their approach is different than yours. 

You never know how what you might say in passing can make its way through the grapevine. So don’t comment on others or their classroom. The exception to this, of course, is if you feel students are being put in danger. 

New English Teacher Tip #3: Nail Down Your Systems ASAP

When I was preparing for my first year of teaching, I spent way too much time stressing about my curriculum. Instead, I should have been thinking about my systems. 

I didn’t realize I would have to teach my students exactly how to enter a classroom. Or how to turn in their assignments. I didn’t think I’d have to show high school students how to keep their papers organized. 

And as a result, I spent more time my first year managing behaviors, tracking down lost assignments, and changing tactics than actually teaching. 

Not sure where to start?

In my Lit Teacher Series, I send out a list of procedures to think about before starting your first class. I wish I had had that list before I started teaching! You can sign up for the free first-year teaching resources here. 

This blog post about classroom management is also a great place to start. 

New English Teacher Tip #4: Create Frameworks for Everything

Just like systems, I completely took frameworks for granted my first year. Honestly, I just assumed my high school students would already know a lot that they didn’t know. 

But my assumptions were wrong, and my students had no idea what I expected from their work. This left us all frustrated. Things improved radically when I started implementing frameworks for our major activities. 

For example, my students really struggled with writing even just a paragraph. A five-paragraph essay then was torturous. When I implemented a claim, evidence, reasoning framework, however, things became a little easier. 

Having that framework allowed me to break down big writing tasks into smaller chunks. It also allowed me to introduce domain-specific vocabulary like “claim” that I could then use again and again with students throughout the semester. 

Another example might be a framework for analyzing poetry. If students know the steps you want them to follow every time they attempt to analyze a poem, they’ll become much more confident doing so. 

Think about the tasks you’ll be asking students to repeat throughout your class. Try to find systems or frameworks you can use to streamline these activities. 

New English Teacher Tip #5: Set Boundaries and Take Care of Yourself

This is the most important tip for any new English teacher because it’s the one that’s going to save your entire career: set boundaries. 

Too many new teachers jump into the career in a blaze of excitement and passion, only to quickly burn out. If you want your career to span years or even decades, you need to anticipate the overwork and overwhelm, and make a plan to avoid both. 

Protect Your Time

For example, especially in your first few years, try not to take on extra tasks. (And if these extra tasks are unpaid, then definitely avoid them!) 

Even though you love volleyball, your first year of teaching is probably not the time to become the volleyball coach. After all, you’ll be learning how to do your job, prepping lessons for the first time, and struggling to find a routine that works for you. There’s no need to add the stress of coaching on top.

Once you have some routines in place, a stockpile of lessons you can reuse, and you know you can handle more, then definitely volunteer for those extra positions. But don’t jump the gun.

Need more examples? Check out this blog post on setting up boundaries around your time.

Protect Your Energy

Another trap I’ve seen new teachers fall into is letting students get too close. You want to maintain professional, respectful relationships with your students–and no more. 

It’s great if a student feels comfortable confiding in you about a bully, but you really don’t want them coming to you to gossip about their sex life. Don’t let students hang out in your room during lunches. Never let yourself be alone with a student in your room with the door closed. 

Set boundaries with your students and stay firm. An example might be something like “I don’t add students on social media.” Another great one is “I don’t drive students home.”

As soon as you do one thing, students will expect it. It’s much easier if you set your boundaries from the beginning and maintain them. After all, this not only helps protect you but often your students.

Protect Your Money

I know it’s tempting to try and become the “favorite” teacher by buying snacks or covering lost lunch money, but it only leaves you broke and students dependent on your help. Instead, learn how you can help them without overextending yourself. 

Maybe the guidance office has a stash of emergency snacks for hungry students. Or maybe there is a small budget somewhere for pizza parties after standardized testing. Ask around and find out how you can help students without pulling out your own wallet. 

Also, don’t feel like you need to compete with the teachers around you. Ms. Zimmerman might have a beautifully decorated classroom, but it took her years to slowly build up her decor. You don’t have to create a Pinterest-worthy classroom in one year–or ever.

Protect your time, your energy, and your own finances–even if it means feeling like the bad guy occasionally. If you’re burnt out, exhausted, and broke, you can’t possibly be the teacher your students need, so take care of yourself first. 

Conclusion

Your first year of teaching is going to be amazing, but that won’t mean there won’t be a few tough times ahead. In fact, I talk about how teaching gets better after the first year here. 

Don’t waste your time focusing on things like having the prettiest classroom or making every single lesson into a fun activity. Instead, focus on the basics like getting your classroom systems in place and understanding your school’s and district’s protocols. 

If you need some help preparing for your first year, sign up for my Lit Teacher Series. In seven days, I share everything I wish I had known before my first year. I also include some great freebies, too!

The post How to Survive as a New English Teacher appeared first on It's Lit Teaching.

Ideally, we’d all be able to pop into our colleagues’ classrooms and see how they do it, but this is often impossible. Instead, I thought I would share my own lesson plan structure for the curious!

My Class Setup

My daily “flow” was the same every day, regardless of what I was teaching. In an alternative, Title I school, I think this was key for keeping expectations high and behaviors in check. It also led to less student anxiety because they always knew what to expect from me. 

For the sake of providing some context, it’s important to note that my school was on a block schedule. This meant that there were four ninety-minute class periods throughout the day. (Teachers taught three and had one ninety-minute prep. Why don’t more schools do this?!)

So my lesson plan structure is built around a ninety-minute window with my high school English students. However, I think this general structure can be easily adapted to different class lengths. 

Lesson Plan Structure: Warm-up

Every one of my classes began with a warm-up. These were almost always grammar because I believe that to truly teach mechanics, you must review them every single day. 

(Not interested in grammar warm-ups? How about a Poem of the Week? With these activities, students analyze a different piece of a poem each day to review their understanding of literary terms!)

On Monday, students would walk into the classroom and pick up their warm-up worksheets on the way in. This double-sided worksheet would have their grammar warm-ups for Monday through Friday. Each day, they would complete that day’s task, and then they would turn in the whole sheet on Friday. 

The expectation was that they would complete warm-ups for days that they were absent on their own. If they knew they were going to be absent on Friday, I let them try the warm-up and turn in the worksheet early if they wanted. 

These warm-ups would be very simple to complete–probably three to five minutes for students who had paid attention in class. 

Implementing Warm-ups In Practice

After the bell rang, I would walk into class and go over the warm-up directions in case any students were confused or hadn’t taken the time to read the directions. If there are any literary terms or content we had gone over recently, I also take some time to review that term. 

For example, my usual script might go something like this: “Ok, readers and writers! On today’s warm-up, you’re being asked to underline independent clauses. Do you guys remember what an independent clause is?”

Depending on how awake or knowledgeable my students were that day, we would define the term together. If students seemed confused, I might do the first one with them as an example.

Then I would give them another two or three minutes to complete the warm-up as I took attendance or checked some email.

My classroom was equipped with a document camera that I used to project the warm-up to the class. After the given amount of time had passed, I would project the daily warm-up and go over it with my students. 

Depending on my students, their anxiety/understanding, and the amount of time the warm-up was taking, I usually did a mix of students sharing their answers and me coaching them through finding them. 

By the end of the warm-up, students paying attention should have either confirmed their answer was correct or corrected anything they got wrong. At the end of the week, their warm-ups should be easy points for them, which motivated many students to do them in the first place. 

Picking a Warm-up

So what should your warm-up activity be?

I chose to use the Grammar Warm-ups with my senior students because they needed the extra practice. Our district-wide assessments for seniors were grammar-heavy. I also knew that whether students were heading to the military, work, or college, they were going to need basic grammar skills after leaving high school.

But maybe your students need reinforcement elsewhere? I recommend choosing warm-ups based on the skill you most want your students to improve.

For my Creative Writing class, that meant analyzing and reading poetry every day with my Poem of the Week Warm-ups.

But if you believe your students just need to write more often, you could have them journal every day. (Try these Journal Prompts!)

And if your students just need to up their reading volume, you can always start with five to ten minutes of independent reading daily.

Classroom Management Tip

After the bell rang and I walked into the classroom, I always took a moment to see who was on task. Those who had met expectations–begun their warm-ups–always got vocal praise from me. 

“Jim, thanks for working on that warm-up right away.”

“Maggie, I’m so excited to see a pencil on your desk today. You look ready to learn!”

“Holy cow, Carmen! You’re almost done?! I thought today’s warm-up was really going to stump you guys!”

It might seem a little elementary, but compliments for simple achievements accomplish two things. 

First, it’s an easy way to sprinkle more positive reinforcement into your classroom. When students are challenging, it’s hard to find time to reward behavior instead of just calling out the bad stuff. Building time into my day intentionally to praise students meant my positive to negative reinforcement ratio was more positive. 

Secondly, this was a subtle way to point out to the other students that they were not meeting expectations. Often, students will realize their neighbor just earned a compliment and then scramble to get their own worksheet or pencil. 

My students hated being called out negatively in front of their peers, but this tactic avoided that while still making it clear who wasn’t meeting expectations.

Lesson Plan Structure: Agenda

After going over the warm-up, I moved into the day’s agenda. 

I kept my agendas on a simple Google Slides presentation. When I taught remotely or hybrid, this document was nice because I could share it with my students or post it to my class’s Google Site as well. 

Going over the agenda only takes about thirty seconds and since I already had everyone’s attention from reviewing the warm-up, the transition doesn’t take long. 

With the agenda still up, I give students directions for moving into the lesson for the day. This might include grabbing their independent reading books, our classroom novel, or pulling out a packet we’ve been working on. 

Your agenda is also a great place to share your learning targets. I didn’t always have time to deep dive into the targets with my students (and often they were obvious–we’re learning about semicolons today so I hope you learn how to use a semicolon). But it’s nice to have them posted somewhere in case admin drops by. 

Lesson Plan Structure: Content

Because my classes were ninety minutes, I tried to break my classes into two sections about thirty minutes each. This meant fifteen minutes for a warm-up, thirty minutes for our first task, thirty minutes for our second task, and fifteen minutes to close class. 

This time breakdown isn’t perfect. When we read longer novels, the breakdown was often forty-five minutes and fifteen minutes. But I tried to avoid doing one single thing for sixty minutes straight. It’s just too long for my students to focus on any one thing.

If we were reading a novel, our first thirty minutes chunk of the class would often be reading. Usually, this involved playing an audiobook. I would stop intermittently to discuss what was happening with the class. They usually had reading questions to fill out as we went to keep them on task. 

(Struggling to map out your novel study lessons over the course of a quarter? Here’s my quick way of doing it!)

The second content chunk of the class would often focus on grammar. This might be a thirty-minute lesson on a specific convention topic or just time to work through some practice problems. 

(Not sure how to sequence your grammar? I’ve got a guide for that too!)

If we were involved in a longer-term project (like writing an essay or putting together a presentation), one of those chunks would probably be some work time. 

Classroom Management Tip

Each chunk of class time for me was about thirty minutes, but even that was a lot of attention for today’s students to sustain. When you can, break that time up even more. 

For example, maybe you introduce a comma rule for five minutes and then have students write five sentences using that comma rule. You’re still focusing on commas for the full thirty minutes, but students aren’t just listening to you for thirty minutes straight. 

Lesson Plan Structure: Endling Class

The last bit of my lesson plan structure was usually about fifteen minutes. Ten of these were meant for cleaning up. 

My students were messy and disorganized. Without specific cleanup time, nothing was going to end up in the right folders and pencils were definitely not going to be returned. 

Even at the end of an eighteen-week semester, I always gave directions for cleaning up. 

“Alright, everyone. It’s time to clean up. If you didn’t finish your worksheet today, please make sure they get put into your folder. If you did finish, you can go ahead and place them in the turn-in-tray. Don’t forget to return any pens or pencils you may have borrowed. Carlos, I see a pencil on the floor by your foot. Would you mind returning that for me when you put your folder away? Thank you!”

This meant my room was less chaotic, and so were my students. Once students were cleaned up and seated again, I moved into the last five minutes of class. 

Closing Activity Options

Our school followed a Capturing Kids Heart Model of classroom management, so we all ended with something we called a “launch.” The idea is to just end your class in a positive way with the class all together. 

This could be as simple as a positive aphorism. When one of my colleagues ended class, she always told her students, “You matter.”

I always liked to end with a short video. Sometimes they were five-minute videos that reviewed what we were learning in class. Others were short videos that added background information or shared interesting English facts. 

On Friday, I always ended with fun, G-rated cartoon shorts. (Search “animated shorts” on YouTube and there are a plethora of awesome CG videos from amazing art students you can share with your class.)

As my videos played, I could take a moment to verify my attendance, check some emails again, or just take a breath before the next class. 

One last amazing option is exit tickets! If you’re using exit tickets to collect data, pass them out as students start cleaning up. I loved using exit tickets to review reading skills and story elements on independent reading days!

Classroom Management Tip

Remember that praising from the warm-ups? Do it again at the end of your class!

Thank students for returning supplies or returning to their seats rather than waiting by the door. Tell students how awesome they were in class today. High-five the students that stayed on task during the day.

Weekly Plan Structure

My class periods generally followed the same structure, but so did my weeks! This made planning every day much easier. Plus, as students got into the routine of my class, they always knew what to expect. 

Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday were heavy teaching days. We usually read from a novel and did some grammar work. If they were working on a big assessment, I might teach students how to go about the next step and give them some time to work. 

On Wednesday, we always did thirty minutes of independent reading after the warm-up. (For more information on how that worked, check out my post on building a classroom library or this one in which I share the good, bad, and ugly of an independent reading day in my room.)

Our Fridays were shorter days. I still had a warm-up and a closing activity, but we only had about forty-five minutes for content in-between. On these days, I used a computer program our school had purchased to help students bump up their nonfiction reading skills. 

The activities assigned on this program could be done without any teacher’s help. The reading was Lexiled and differentiated for students, the program automatically adjusted activities according to their reading skills, and the program gave and graded questions. 

Our school really wanted every teacher to use this program, so I did so on Friday. This allowed me to get a jump start on grading or prepping the next week while my students worked. 

Find Your Own Independent Work

Not every school has a program like this that they’ve purchased, but you can set some up on your own! Depending on what you’d like your students to work on, you can create a teacher account on Vocabulary.com, NoRedInk, Quill.org, or NewsELA.

You could also make Friday an independent digital day. Sometimes I would give students quizzes via Google Forms–this kept them busy and working while I graded or planned. Then, the Form graded itself, so I didn’t add much grading to my workload. 

But you could also reserve Friday for independent WebQuests, research, work time on essays or slideshows, etc. 

However you do it, I highly recommend building in independent practice into your classroom week to give yourself a few minutes to grade some papers or put your plans into place for the following week!

Conclusion

This lesson plan structure worked really well for my students and me for years. It’s certainly not the only way to run a class, but if you’re struggling with finding your own routines to put into place, it’s a great place to start!

If you’re still finding your lesson plan style, I have tons of resources for you:

• Effective Classroom Management: A Plan College Never Taught You
• How to Lesson Plan for the Unexpected
• 5 Preparations You Need to Teach Your New English Class

The post A Simple Lesson Plan Structure English Teachers Can Steal appeared first on It's Lit Teaching.

(Looking for more tips on staying healthy while teaching? Check out this post on setting boundaries around your time or this post on self-care.)

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links that earn me a small commission, at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products that I personally use and love, or think my readers will find useful.

Diet Tools for a Healthy Teacher

If you’ve heard the phrase “abs are made in the kitchen,” then you know how important healthy eating is to an overall balanced lifestyle. When there are classroom parties, teacher appreciation cupcakes, and general stress eating to contend with, however, eating healthy is hard.

I found that it was essential to plan my meals and prep them all ahead of time. I had to make choosing healthy meals the easiest option. If I failed on any of these points, ordering a pizza or grabbing to-go food simply became too tempting. 

Meal Planning for a Healthy Teacher

If you’ve never meal planned before or have no idea what you should be eating on a daily basis, I recommend downloading a meal tracking app like MyFitnessPal. For a couple of weeks, don’t worry about optimizing your nutrition. Instead, just track what you eat normally. 

Then, once you have some data, you can see your weak areas. Getting too many calories? Not enough protein? Going hard on the weekends? We teachers know how important data is; it’s no different when it comes to your health. 

Once you have an idea of the calorie and macronutrient target you’d like to hit, it’s time to meal plan! There are of course tons of recipes online. I’m a vegan and have a vegan cookbook hoarding problem, so I always refer to a few of my trusty favorites. But you should use whatever books or websites that allow you to cook healthy and delicious foods that are right for you.

Tools for Healthy Meal Prep

When it comes to selecting meals, opt for recipes that have few ingredients (or at least common ones) and minimal prep. As a student teacher, I became obsessed with using my slow cooker on the weekends to cook food for the whole week. This habit continued into my professional teaching career. 

You could alternatively grab an instant pot for even more versatility (without killing all of your cabinet space).

We also love our air fryer for healthy foods that taste pretty sinful. If french fries are your weak spot, chop up some potatoes and put them in an air fryer. You’ll thank me later.

(True story–my husband does this for his dinner every single night and tops the potatoes with protein and veggies. It’s a super simple and really delicious meal for about 25 minutes of prep and wait time.)

I’ve also used a nutribullet on the daily for some quick meals or snacks. Some protein powder, frozen berries, spinach, and half of a bottle of Bai make for a nutritious and filling breakfast smoothie. Almond milk, protein powder, ice, and dairy-free Halo Top ice cream make for dreamy low-calorie milkshakes!

Tools for Storing Prepped Food

Once you’ve made your meals for the week, you need a way to store and transport them. Honestly, finding food containers I liked and that didn’t take up a ton of cabinet space was harder for me than planning and cooking meals. 

In the end, I used these a lot for meals, especially breakfasts. They stack well in the fridge and in a lunchbox and can easily fit overnight oats or protein pancakes. You can even throw a sandwich in there or a side salad. 

When I made salads for lunch, however, I needed Tupperware that was much bigger and opted for these. I know plastic isn’t ideal, but I tried a lot of glass containers. They were all heavy to drag to work and back, and every one of them leaked. 

These were perfect for salad dressings or small amounts of condiments. (The twist-on lids help, I think, with preventing leaks.)

I also found that protein shakes were essential for me to hit my calorie/protein targets. And while blender bottles aren’t new anymore, I have yet to find anything else that can mix my vegan protein powder into something palatable. 

Transporting Prepped Food to Work

As you stock up on your perfect food containers, make sure you have your lunchbox sorted out, too. 

For years, I used one of these freezable lunch boxes. After work every day, I emptied my lunch box and then threw the whole thing into the freezer. It always kept my food cold until lunchtime and even cooled off my room temperature diet cokes!

Later, I switched to one of these lunchboxes specifically meant for meal preppers. I loved the side pocket that could fit a can of diet coke for lunch and a smoothie for a morning snack. The main compartment allowed me to stack several small containers and an ice pack or a big salad and an ice pack. (I could even squeeze my dinners in there for parent-teacher conferences!)

Exercise Essentials for a Healthy Teacher

If you really want to maintain a healthy body, then you’ll have to include some exercise in your daily routine. 

When I taught, I got up at 4 am, made it to the gym by 4:30, worked out for about an hour, and then went home to get ready for work. Going before work was the only way. If I tried to go to the gym after school, something would always get in the way or I’d have time to convince myself that I was “too tired” or “too stressed” to bother. 

I didn’t start that way, though. At first, I woke up at 5 am in the morning to do a quick thirty-minute routine at home. I chose to do the P90X3 videos because I had previously enjoyed the P90X ones in college and P90X3 workouts were much shorter. There are, of course, free workout videos online, too. Just be sure that you’re following a program and not piecemealing random workouts together.

When I finished that program, I moved on to longer videos before finally sucking it up and getting a gym membership. 

So regardless of whether you choose to do at-home or in-gym workouts, make sure you have what you need. Most at-home routines will probably require you to have a yoga mat, resistance bands, and some basic weights. 

If you’d like to incorporate cardio into your regular routine, you can keep it simple and run outside. Alternatively, there’s always a treadmill if you live somewhere with sketchy weather. (Treadmills, in my experience, are super boring. So make sure you have a TV nearby or don’t get motion sickness while reading on one!)

Tracking your Fitness

I also highly recommend a fitness tracker. I’ve always like my Fitbits, partially because they sync with just about every other app and many of my colleagues also had them. It was nice to be able to talk “steps” with coworkers or invite colleagues for a quick walk around the building to bolster our step counts. 

You, of course, don’t have to have a Fitbit. My husband had a Garmin for a long time that he enjoyed. But I do recommend some kind of fitness tracker. Like tracking your food, it’s difficult to make improvements if you’re not tracking data. 

The apps that come with these fitness trackers are great. They sync with apps that you might be using to track your food (like MyFitnessPal). They can also be a place to record body measurements and weight changes as you go.

If you don’t have a scale at home, I recommend getting one that will show you body fat percentages too. The body fat numbers are notoriously inaccurate, so don’t take them as gospel, but I feel the body fat numbers help show a general trend.

Starting a Fitness Journey for the First Time

Lastly, if you’ve never worked out before and can’t afford a personal trainer (who can?), I highly recommend doing some solid reading on the science of fitness. Don’t waste your time chasing fads or “butt blasting” Pinterest routines. 

Instead, read some books based on science-backed research. I’m a huge fan of Michael Matthews’ works and recommend Thinner, Leaner, Stronger for any woman who is getting serious about her fitness and diet for the first time. 

Last Tips for Being a Healthy Teacher

To be a healthy teacher, more than anything you need to give yourself grace.

Teaching isn’t easy, and neither is maintaining your health. Add family, second jobs, pets, and everything else life throws away on top of that, and you will probably struggle if you aim for perfection.

Instead, just try to incorporate a few healthy habits at a time. You don’t even need to buy every tool you think you need all at once. Try a few healthy recipes and figure out how to package them. Grab a lunch box that you think is cute. Find a workout that you can do every day–even if it’s only 15 minutes. Walk with a colleague during lunch to add some steps.

Being healthy is a lifelong goal, so don’t treat it like there’s a finish line.

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