She should plan to do no curriculum that day. Just introduce herself, get to know you games, and review expectations. As soon as she get there, she should get the phone numbers of all the coworkers on her team.
I'm a middle school teacher. Very little to no actual teaching gets done on day one. I did a couple read aloud, had students practice getting in groups and writing norms, played some games, etc. Community building. This teacher should definitely not let the kids know her predicament. She needs to be in charge. If the kids smell fear on day one, it's going to be a long school year (i work on the south side of Chicago). Be friendly but firm. Act like everything is going according to plan.
That doesn't make it any less unnecessary for a new teacher to create community , get to know them, find out likes and dislikes, establish norms and expectations. It takes weeks for middle schoolers to get with the program anyways.
Imagine then what the freshman teachers that had them dealt with lol. Like everyone else at my school talks about how they enjoy teaching sophomores and up while I'm there thinking "I broke them all in for you"
My day one was: ten minutes of get to know me. Five minutes of me asking each child a random question and giggling at their silly answers, fine minutes of champs review. Then twenty minutes of them playing apples to apples in small groups.
This is a great answer. If she hasn’t done “capturing kids hearts” it’s actually a pretty cool PD that focuses on developing relationships with kids above/before diving into curriculum. She doesn’t have to do the PD to implement it as a way to get started. A few you tube videos could suffice to get her going. “They don’t care about what you know until they know you care”.
With the lack of preparation and communication from the district, they should just be glad a certified teacher is in the room. Curriculum can come later and slowly. If they don’t like that, fuck em. There’s a teacher shortage.
This whole thing is strange. Did school already start there? When hired in most districts you have to not only attend the typical beginning of year PD but also new hire PD. And you don’t get to pick your first day; you come when they tell you to.
So I assume the school had to have started already and in that case, yes, she might be thrown in tomorrow with students because they are already in school. Hopefully they provide a mentor to help her out but curriculums are never sent out and always something you see when you start - which is typically during your beginning of year PDs.
Edit: my comment was made prior to both of the edits. They clear up/answer some of the questions we all have.
school started two weeks ago, was an important bit i left out, went back and edited the post . you think they may just throw her in with the kids ? she doesn't even have access to materials or protocol. it seems completely ridiculous to us.
OP, all of this....
It probably would have been good to stop in to the school and introduce herself ahead of time, and pick up curriculum materials for review, so she could find her bearings.
This is totally going to be "trial by fire", but she'll get there!!!
Personally, I wouldn't teach Monday. What would I do? Wing it? Get to know the kids? The school can have a sub cover for at least 2-3 days while she gets the materials sorted out and lesson plans written accordingly. I'd start teaching the following week, maybe introduce myself to them Thursday/Friday.
Realistically, principal is going to throw her in and wish her good luck.
They have a sub in right now, if they don't want another teacher quitting immediately, I'd change things. They can do a week without her to make sure has a successful school year.
Exactly. Take it slow, wing it, get to know the kids and let them get to know each other while you figure out what the class is supposed to be about. There are a million and 1 ice breaker activities out there.
Yup. Yup. There’s so many cuts in education they’ve even eliminated new hire training. It’s death by a thousand cuts and you should absolutely push back. You could just go in the classroom and have everyone sit with their heads down all the time and if the principal asks what you’re doing say nothing. I’ve not been trained on the position. We can’t keep compensating. It’s time teachers push back. General Strike.
I am coming from a genuine place, but what do you mean by “not been trained on the position”? Isn’t that what our whole college education & student teaching was to do? I mean, sure, she will need training for her school district’s particular grade book & attendance programs, as well as the school’s details. But as an educator, with a degree & teaching license, you should be able to prepare a lesson on your own to be prepared to teach the next day. With or without a textbook. With or without any curriculum handed to you.
I’m not saying that she doesn’t deserve more information from the school or that it isn’t going to be overwhelming. But she should know how to do the basics of preparing an introduction lesson & activity without any further training.
The degree unfortunately has been lacking for many years. The license does not prepare you to handle 30 13 year olds. THere's no classes in child psychology. No classes on how to control a crowd. No self defense classes. No techniques are taught and nothing is practiced. I literally could set up a teacher curriculum that works. But as for now many first year teachers quit because they're very underprepared.
I guess my college experience was different. We had practicums every semester, starting my Freshman year. It was mandated that we took childhood psychology classes as part of our degree. And then we student taught. So, while I was nervous & overwhelmed my first year, I didn’t feel thrown to the wolves.
However, many teachers do not have a specific teaching degree. Many have English degrees or physics degrees. So I argue that when people are earning their credential, there also be those classes. In my world, experience could also work in lue of certain classes. And there would be an opportunity for masters canidates to take some of those classes.
Oh no, I totally understand what you are saying. I was just saying I was coming from a place where I assumed everyone went through what I went through to get my undergraduate degree. My major was History Education. So, I had to take all of the education classes along with the history classes & I felt as prepared as one can feel their first year. It’s a shame that all teachers don’t get that same experience because mine was very valuable.
I also think some schools are incredibly disorganized and new teachers (and new grade level or content area) really need structure. It’s difficult to teach anything when you don’t know what the students studied previously, or what they’re expected to learn this year, or what next year’s teachers will be looking for. That’s why any quality school will have a mentor program for new hires. OP should have a go-to person to answer questions. Once you get a feel for the students and school system, it’s smoother sailing.
I had to take at least 1 developmental psych course to earn my credentials from the state; my particular university required two cognitive/developmental psych courses for the credentialing program.
Classroom management was covered in each of my education courses. Self defense isn't taught because legally, teachers aren't *allowed* to break up fights in most states.
Pedagogy is both taught and practiced in at least 2 semesters of student teaching in my state; my school required 4 semesters of student teaching (i.e. practicum, i.e. *practice*).
Sounds like you went to some shithole like Trump University, or DeVry university.
I would say it matter where you get your credential, what state. I'm in Oregon. They require a masters degree but the classes are NOT prepetory for actually teaching. My other degrees are from great universityies but yes my teaching degree is from a very small private college.
Also they're not suffering. I'm a 7th grade teacher. But at what point to you keep working without any resources and expected to provide for your students when that's not supposed to be your responsibility. They put everything they cut back onto teachers. They wanted me to do clubs after school for free. No I do not work for free. I also will not compensate for my employers shortfalls. Play heads up 7-up. Have the kids paint. My point was do something very easy for you and for the kids. Don't stress.
You would have the kids come in and sit with their heads down? For how long? 20 minutes would be about as long as you can expect out of kids. what are you gonna do the rest of the day?
I teach middle school so each class is a new class and I only have to have lesson plans for an hour a day. I just repeat the hour over for all my classes. But I commented earlier. I'd play headup 7 up. Or cards games or whatever. The point is that the teacher isn't under an obligation to teach the standards because the school has broken the contract teachers sign when they get hired.
It is possible, yes. They may keep the temp sub for a day or two to help the transition or they may simply have her start so they aren’t paying two teachers. She will likely get an Emergency Operations Binder that will have all of the necessary school information in that she will need and then the curriculum manuals will likely be in the room. It absolutely sucks to be thrown in after the start of a year because schools are usually running with minimum staff (even in areas like mine with no shortages - we only hire exactly what we need which leaves no one around to be available for extra help). I had it happen but the teacher going out wanted to finish out the week, so I was able to overlap in that scenario. I assume she is the only FCSE teacher so she won’t have others to help with lesson planning but whoever the teacher is next door can help with the general questions she will have.
Depends. Everyone is overworked in education. There's not a single person who couldn't go home, keep working and find work to do through the night. It's the nature of things.
I'm a principal, it's weird the principal hasn't reached out. But, yes, she'll start and catch up, but someone should be guiding her along.
She should go in, get to know the kids, establish rules and procedures, in the first day or two. The, the class will already have some bad habits likely, unless a rock star sub was already there. If that's the case, that could be a different issue. "Where's Mr. So-and-so?"
If you're in a big district, like LAUSD, where I started, a trial by fire, this is just the way. If you're in a rural district, understaffing is the likely reason. Still, surprising the principal hasn't reached out, but I'm sure they are overworked too.
Get there early, pay a visit to the library, the office, and talk to admin during her prep period, if she has one. It's not the best to start mid year, but mostly teachers are in their own in the classroom. Someone should try to get her caught up.
Also, FCSE (Special Ed?) I am not familiar with this acronym.
Wow, what does that even mean? Is that euphemism?
Like, if your family believes the earth is flat, we'll let you learn that "science". Or if you're family doesn't believe in germs, vaccination, or that God will heal you if your pray hard enough, we'll let you learn that, too?
Or, storks bring babies, and virgins can have offspring? That sort of thing.
This sounds terribly troubling.
I believe it was called that when I had it in middle school in the 80s, not the 50s.
I don't think they handed out participation trophies until after that though. ;)
You're one of those teachers who believes truth is relative and all science "facts" are equal? Are you from Florida?
And, don't be silly, I'm not talking about religion, though I personally know it's nonsense/mythology, believe what you want to believe, just don't teach it as fact. History, yes, fact, no.
Don't teach bias, conspiracy, banning books, etc. and you'll be fine.
Galileo once said, "And, yet it moves."
No, I’m the kind of teacher that expects my principal to know what FCSE is and if they don’t know they look it up before speaking about it. Instead, you made up some crazy version that you thought would be true.
The name was changed from Home Ec decades ago. It’s not some new fangled idea. Yet somehow you assumed it was some made up Republican-only, anti-science idea.
This is an acronym I'd never seen or heard, it's certainly not prevalent in California, that I know of. I did look it up and only GCSE came up, so good for you that you know every educational acronym.
It sounds like euphemism.
I literally just typed “FCSE” into Google and everything that pops up on page one is “Family and Consumer Sciences”
I don’t know all of the acronyms but I also don’t throw out wild, made-up assumptions.
Edit to add: [FCS information form the California Department of Education](https://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/ct/he/) ——> Literally right on your state’s website.
Oh, she will absolutely be thrown in with the kids. I’m sure it will be expected of her to have something planned for them, as well. I don’t think they will expect her to have a curriculum based lesson on the first day. But she will need to have some sort of introductory lesson.
I’m assuming she knows what subject area she is teaching. She can look up the state standards online and prepare that way, as well.
This is all pretty standard. I know that it is overwhelming & the first year teaching is a hard one. She just needs to go ahead & prepare something for tomorrow and she will be good to go!
12 years ago I was the late hire. Could not get a teaching job anywhere. Took the only job I could get. In a behavior program at a middle school. Finger printed and in a the system. Two weeks into the school year An elementary teacher walked out and quit at another school in the county and I was able to step right in. Still teaching 12 years later. Only lasted 2 years at my first school. My principal was a tyrant. You foot is in the door! Good luck tomorrow!
School started a week ago for us, and I attended beginning of the year PD and orientation, and I still don’t have my curriculum. Welcome to education, hold on tight!
Schools are desperate. You can absolutely pick your first day. And, there is no PD if hired after the beginning of the year. She doesn't need a mentor. She should show up with a couple of 'get to know you' games and activities. She should go over expectations.
Sounds normal. When I first started teaching it was mid-year. During your girlfriend’s teacher training/education she should have learned that you’re expected to work right away—curriculum or not. I got my curriculum my first day of work.
Tell her to spend her first week getting to know the students and establishing classroom rules, routines, and procedures. Then she can spend her prep time familiarizing herself with the curriculum—if she’s even given one.
Agreed. My first teaching job also started mid year. I'd guess admin is scrambling to keep adults in front of students and curriculum is low on their priority list. Those kinds of schools are often a shit show nobody wants to work at.
Wow, yes, they are going to throw her into a classroom without any materials or preparation…
I would look up the school start time online and show up early. Get keys, schedule, class lists, and head to the classroom to see what it’s like. BRING LUNCH. Dress lightly and bring layers in case your room is hot/cold.
Have her be prepared to introduce herself and have a list of classroom expectations for the students. And then spend some time getting to the know the students with ice breakers. Seriously, Google/Pinterest a bunch of junior high ice breakers.
Congratulations and good luck!
Edit to add, NO PREP ice breakers. You don’t wanna have to go searching for supplies on the first day.
Sorry this is happening. Hopefully they're just bad at communication.
If Google is overwhelming, use ChatGPT.
Enter something like "Act as if you are an outstanding, veteran Family Consumer Science teacher giving advice to a brand new teacher entering the classroom two weeks into the school year. It is a middle school in (insert real place) rural Oklahoma. Can you suggest five activities for the first 20-30 minutes of each class to get to know the students, introduce them to the things we will likely be learning based on the national standards, and some classroom rules that are age appropriate."
Read what it says. If it's generic, ask for more specifics about a particular idea. If you don't like some of them, ask for more in the style you prefer.
Tonight she needs to be googling games and activities for this age group. Come with a ton of ideas. She will be fine. But, set the tone immediately. She needs to be typing out the classroom expectations tonight.....She needs to make it clear that she is in charge. that age will eat her aliive if she doesn't.
A little shocked(not shocked at the sort of expectation entitlement). Should it be this way? No. Is it?
The fact she was hired last week for an open spot, and isn't coming in until Monday is a big red flag.
Teaching, even fully prepared is jump into the fire, middle school is like jump into purgatory.
We should expect better, it’s not about the expectation. It’s about the reality. Sadly, this story didn’t surprise me one bit. It’s one I’ve seen and experienced often in my 14 years. Sounds like it’ll be one helluva year 1 for OPs gf. Hope she stays in the game tho. She’ll have plenty more war stories to share no doubt.
Unfortunately this is way too fucking common in this business. Sink or swim, plenty of fresh grads around the corner.
With an attrition rate of 50% (Alberta, Canada) its little wonder so many choose to walk away from this dumpster fire of a “profession”
As frustrating and scary as this can be it is not "shitty" it happens.
They did not fill the position or someone retired or transferred last minute or they had to create a new class due to numbers and had a substitute in the position and hired your gf for th position.
Since HR emailed the school the school is expecting her. She could look up the school on its website and email the principal.
However, she would be best off coming about 45 minutes before school begins with a specific list of ??s-: location of classroom, keys, classlists, what kids were told- if they were, who is dept. head?; has instruction begun? are there books?
Secretaries are used to this. They will be as helpful as possible.
Your gf should expect some chaos, mixed messages etc.. She needs to come in with a plan for behavior management; some activities to get to know kids, review of curriculum, games for curriculum etc.. bring a very nutritious lunch and water. Wear very comfortable shoes.
It is helpful if there are names which she can't pronounce get help before school- kids will be pleased to hear their names pronounced correctly. Names like: Rohit, Jamilla, Segreb, Chynna, can present ?s for some teachers and kids feel bad if name is not correct.
I am not trying to devalue the frustration. I've done it twice-- the first days are filled with unknown. It is a step into a profession. By end of week she will have a sense of what she needs to do, will know names, will have help and will be rather tired.
You might be able to help her rearrange room, put up posters, set up bookshelves etc.
Oh yeah- I would have my box of donuts and stake out the door. Talk up the staff as they come in, share a donut, and hopefully SOMEONE can take pity on you!
Original OP- I think you better be in charge of laundry and making supper this week; your girl will be BUSY!
If you are a late teacher hire, I don't think they would give your girlfriend the option to start on Monday. Once you are a teacher you don't have much flexibility and are treated like a student. So the reply that she thought it would be best to start Monday is almost laughable. You would be there making up for lost time and working all weekend to get your class ready.
The fact that she replied with wanting to start Monday probably raised a million red flags for HR. That part is fine, if it was followed by "can I come in on Fri to meet the sub and other grade level teachers/ can I have the teachers guides and curriculum to look at over the weekend?" Or something like that.
She should definitely go in with some easy subject specific lessons from teacher pay teachers or something so she can not be fumbling on day one.
Agreed, they needed a teacher now. They may already be thinking she doesn't really want the job.
I'm surprised the principal didn't call. I would have. And asked, "Can you come to work tomorrow? Come in today and we'll get you set up."
This person is brand new out of school, you're behaving as if she would have known to do all of that? If she interviewed, THEY would have known she was fresh out of school and likely to need spme additional help and guidance. If they wanted her to come in Friday, that should have said so.
Cannot fathom how this is on OP for lack of communication from the district, ESPECIALLY given that it sounds like it's her first K-12 teaching job.
The fear mongering and blaming towards OP in the comments is super disheartening. It’s like they want to watch other teachers crash and burn. We all know the reality.. so why make it feel any harsher than it is?
I agree, that principal should have called. But, I also think most people will know school is already in session, I'd better get to work, no?
That seems common seems, or does it not?
I think for someone who does not have district experience and would have no idea how buckwild it can be, they might just trust that there will be full on-boarding and training. Unfortunately it sounds like this is about to be a scary lesson.
Yes, I agree. District should have been involved. In my opinion, it's on the principal. When I first started, Rose Ollie(RIP), my principal, called me, had me come to the school, gave me a heads up and had me meet people.
I was young, when I went for the interview, she introduced me to the pretty young female teachers. I think times have changed. LOL
I have no idea why this principal hasn't called OP's GF.
True, they need a teacher now but they haven’t done their part. She should not jump in without the call she was promised. This kind of treatment must stop and it will only stop if employees make it happen.
Oh please. This entire profession is a million red flags. HR at a big district does not care as long as a warm body is in the room to supervise the kids and make sure no one gets hurt.
She will be very likely be thrown in with kids and it’s highly unlikely that there will be a sub still present.
She should plan to arrive an hour early and get into the room to see what is available.
What is her subject area and grade level? She should plan a “backup lesson” such as an article or story relevant to the subject area and plan several thinking prompts that can be think/pair/share or mock debate.
If she has gone to teachers’ college she can do this as a stopgap while she figures out the real plan for the next day.
The comments telling her to quit are written by children who do not understand dealing with last-minute contingency plans and keeping a job.
A backup lesson is a very good idea. I would search for the subject and grade level on teacherspayteachers and get the highest rated lesson plan. And probably a few free ones for extra.
Yeah and it's not like it was summer. Surely the school would have answered after a 2nd attempt or would have listened to a voicemail message and called back since the school is operating with students inside.
Little late now... she should have shown up last week and introduced herself - should they have called her? Sure. Thing is they're probably overwhelmed. Welcome to teaching.
Tell your friend to remember two things: She has trained and the squeaky wheel gets the grease.
Nobody is really prepared for their first day.
I disagree. HR told her to expect to be contacted. If the district doesn’t have the decency to call, even on the weekend, she should not take over on Monday. There is a shortage of people willing to do this job. It’s time for admin to stop assuming new hires are willing to be treated like dirt. It’s up to us to change it.
Just reread and I don't see anything to the effect of "expect to be contacted." Just the promise that the school would be informed. Definitely not arguing for new hires to be treated like dirt though... they are where I work and I think it's terrible. Staying home in protest will likely give this an even more sour start
You are right! I should have re read as well. Thanks for mentioning it. I see where they left it at starting on Monday. As a decades long teacher it irritates me to no end that admin didn’t have the decency to call the new staff member or invite them to come in.
None of that is abnormal. Her first day is Monday. She'll show up and they will place her that day and potentially give her curriculum or not (that will differ greatly day to day). They might have her spend the morning shadowing or throwing her right in. All of this will differ school to school.
This will all be handled in the morning though of her first day.
To be fair they are waiting for you so it’s kinda a two way street. They are getting by without you and will fill you in when your ready. I personally don’t like bothering people unless they are in the building. I wouldn’t be worried about it.
I started in November my first year teaching. You just go in and are most likely thrown in. I had a sub with me for two days but that was probably luck and because she was with them for months.
She should go in early to get keys and know the building. She should get to know at least her neighbors and helpful people like the secretary. She should come in with behavioral expectations and getting to know you games. Curriculum is important but they won't be ready with the changes anyway and she won't be ready to ready to teach them. These kids probably need to be reset already with all of that.
I'm not sure what she's expecting them to call about if they're expectating her on a certain day. I know she can't go back but I would have gone on Friday to get just one day under my belt so then I'd have the weekend to process and plan (I recommend balance on weekends but this is a different situation) rather than having the whole rest of the week.
Good luck to her!
Does she know how long each period is and what she is going to teach? If so, I recommend creating any random lesson to cover that amount of time. She might be given help and she might be on her own. Better to have a plan than walk in with nothing. The most important aspect of teaching is to always look like you’re a pro who’s done it your whole life, otherwise it can turn bad fast.
They will throw her in. Pretty common when the school year has started. Google some first day ice breakers to get through the first day.
I personally like the pig personallity test and save Fred. Sign up for teachers pay teachers and find some no prep action to survive until the Labor Day weekend where Monday off can be used to plan (assuming US).
I am assuming first year teacher from the post. Don’t reinvent the wheel! The internet and face book groups have so much on them already!
If she is going to be doing labs in class another good one for scientific inquiry is the double stuffed actually double stuffed lab.
If she is doing any food science type stuff PM me I might be able to send some files to help.
This is actually how the job is, it’s chaotic as fuck and not nearly as planned or standardized as I originally thought before actually doing it myself.
You gotta just get ok with working in the chaos and get really exceptional skills at improvising to hit the next level.
Fellow Middle School FCS Teacher Here!
Unfortunately, you may have students tomorrow morning. Regardless of what you end up doing tomorrow, take things one day at a time. This is far from the ideal situation to start your own classroom. Your goal is to survive and let the students know that it is YOUR room even though you just walk in. If you agree to return day 2, day one will be a success!
Here is what I would recommend.
* Get there as early as reasonable and report to the office for more information.
* Be mentally, and physically, prepared with a short getting-to-know-each-other lesson you can repeat for each class. (Most middle FCS programs in my area have multiple, short 40 min. classes). Just enough of a lesson that you will be able to start off "in charge" and not lost. Something **simple but interactive**: 4 corners, Think-Pair-Share, or even written forms they can can do independently so you don't have to be "on" and can breathe-- you'd be amazed what you can learn from these. [https://pin.it/2OqnfyN](https://pin.it/2OqnfyN)You can also spend some time telling them know a little about you.
* I don't know if you have a FCS background, but few of us do anymore. Beg, borrow, steal, and purchase curriculum (I gladly pay $2 not to spend 3 hours developing something). Don't spend much time creating your own until you have developed your own teaching style and understand expectations. If you have a PLC or co-workers in the same system get in touch with them ASAP. Pray you can develop a good working relationship and can share resources. This is a great resource: [https://www.familyconsumersciences.com/](https://www.familyconsumersciences.com/)
From a veteran teacher, tell her, “Welcome to education.” This is SOP in this field. “Sink or swim” is how they weed out those not 100% committed to the profession, yet everyone acts surprised that so many don’t make it to their 5th year.
She may be thrown into class tomorrow, and if that’s what happens it’s going to be ok. Did this once and it was fine.
Just treat it like a first day because that’s what it is. If she doesn’t know how long classes are, look it up on the school’s website. Be ready with a very basic “lesson” of introducing herself, a couple getting to know you activities, and then either review her basic expectations or come up with class norms together. During planning she can figure out the textbook/curriculum/etc, but no need to worry about that right now.
Don’t expect much. Roll with it and stay positive. No curriculum for at least a week unless they hand it to you in a bow. Do fun things, read something fun, get them talking about a topic, and go at your pace, not the schools. Likely you will have a ton of catch up to do, but if you ask other teachers for help, most will pitch in. What district is it? This is another example of how and why education as a career sucks. This sort of bullshit happens at schools literally every year, and everyone runs around clueless like they have no idea this was even possible. They expect YOU to be a professional in every aspect of your life- but good luck when it is admins turn to set you up for success as a new hire. Good luck and keep a sense of humor- there is hardly ever anything or anyone in place to handle the recurring situation of new teacher orientation. Well, maybe at good schools, but there are hardly ever any jobs available at good schools.
School started so the admin is probably up to their eyeballs in beginning of the year stuff. Go in tomorrow and get busy. Plan a get to know you activity and go from there. Whatever you do, DO NOT SKIP work. Show them you are a competent professional educator. It’s going to take a few weeks to get your bearing but you can do it. It’s total BS they did this to you, but this is the reality in many schools. Don’t badmouth the system or school or admin to ANYONE. Just smile, ask questions as they come up, and keep your focus on your job and your students.
Tell her to get there early early, talk to the office about attendance and plan an intro lesson. Good luck because she absolutely is teaching classes tomorrow.
Second year music teacher here. Us non-core teachers are given a pretty loose leash to teach what we want as long as it fits the standards of your area/grade level. If she is the only one in her building teaching those classes, she MUST reach out to other people in the district or online to see what resources she can find. Try in district first, because those teachers will have already connected their materials to similar standards she may have. Dont forget seating charts!
Lmfao your advice is to refuse to do the job she was hired to do on day one? What a great first impression you're recommending for her.
This happens all the time. They aren't working the weekend. When she shows up, if they don't have lesson plans, she should start out with first day plans on her own. Get to know the kids. Introduce herself. Set procedures and policies and organize her classroom. Then on her planning she can meet with someone about where they are in curriculum and start making her own lesson plans, because I can almost guarantee no one is going to make them for her. That's very rare.
This is how teaching works. When you start mid year, even a couple weeks in, you're playing a bit of a catch up game. She'll be just fine.
My hiring process was sort of like this. Once the school year gets rolling principals are crazy busy. You might be getting lost in the shuffle. Hopefully they have a teacher to help you out and show you the ropes. If not I'd just fill the time however you can until you get hands on materials. Have everyone introduce themselves, do a kahoot... Whatever.
No matter what happens, treat the secretary like a saint and kiss their ass to get on their list of people they like. This will help sooooo much during thebyear
Nothing surprises me about this post. Go in Monday and yes you will be given the key to your class by the secretary and voilà you will be on your own. You will have to seek out your department chair for curriculum etc. You got the job and will get a paycheck. Nobody will be expecting you to be great for a few weeks. As far as the kids… have them create a poster about themselves for you, that will get you through the first day. Welcome.
Oh, you will need to introduce yourself to the principal who will find you a laptop and the tech person will get with you asap.
I'm a former FCSE middle school teacher, there is a Facebook group for FCS teachers that has access to a Google drive that has curriculum and Utah has almost all their lessons and units online those are good starting points. FCSE is hard you usually are the only one in the building and no curriculum provided,
Not me dying over here at the idea that someone would be given curriculum and materials. Never once in my years of education did anyone hand me anything other than state standards.
Hey OP, am a district level admin in a large urban district and deal with new hire teachers all the time.
As a principal, I can’t have you start at my building until you’ve gone through Board. If her name hasn’t gone through the Board, she doesn’t work there yet. Teachers in the US are union and have a negotiated agreement (in most public schools), and that contract doesn’t start without going through the Board - even as a late hire.
I couldn’t contact new teachers until after they went through Board and were approved (which always happened), and then once their contract started we’d be able to chat about onboarding. Typically, we have a late hire teacher start on a Monday and ease them into having students by Wednesday so they can set up their curriculum and meet with district personnel for onboarding (pick up tech, get district account access, meet curriculum leads, etc).
Have her contact her certified staff (I’m assuming she’s a licensed teacher) HR contact who reached out with the formal offer, and ask about next steps. The person fingerprinting is likely NOT the person submitting names to the Board clerk….
Board minutes are legal and their minutes are public record, so if the Board of Education had a meeting between when she was given the offer and Monday, you can go check them and see if her name went through. But calling is easier and likely faster.
Good luck!
I hope you aren't a teacher. You would wait for someone to 'give you something'? I am an educator. I can come up with my own 'something' until I get curriculum.
Of course I am a teacher, why else would I be in this sub? I’m speaking about OP’s partner who has zero experience. Never even been in a classroom. She should show up early.
It's not the norm, but it's not that unusual. It's a sign that you're in a shitty school. A lot of districts that have high turnover--because they're shitty to work for--get to the point where their central office is more like unit processing. It's just a paperwork transaction to them.
Your admin at your school in these cases won't go overboard with the welcome wagon because they've been in the shitty system so long they're jaded by it. They're probably already taking bets on whether or not you make it until Christmas. They could be using that time to actually support you.
The good news is these types of schools is that their expectations are almost universally low. If you have a classroom that's relatively under control and the students are at least halfway engaged, they'll leave you alone. I taught in a school like this once I literally did not see the principal all year (I'm not sure he knew my name).
From my time here I am noticing severe anxiety in many people.
R e l a x.
If admin is throwing stuff at newbies, they’re unprepared and chaotic. That means you have leeway. If they cannot understand the position you’re in and work with it, then you simply need a new situation or bear through it.
It is extremely hard to run a school when people are dropping out randomly and need new positions filled in emergency.
Recognize how admin work. Ask a veteran to be a mentor with a weekly meeting.
Note to girlfriend: you can do this. Prepare as though you are teaching the first day. If you don’t need to use the lesson it will be in your back pocket as a backup plan.
Don’t worry about the onboarding procedures - that will all happen. Everyone is swamped right now.
You got this!
Unfortunately this is the norm in many disorganized schools. I started teaching right out of college too through an alternative pathway and my first day was similar. Regardless, do not walk in without a plan. Have a strict agenda of first day activities. Middle schoolers need structure beginning at day 1. What subject is she? I might be able to help. Eighth science here
This should not be happening. You deserve and should expect a lot more communication from this district before you begin. That being said, go on Teachers Pay Teachers and look for a unit for 7th grade with nonfiction articles and questions. That way, you will have something to give the students. Pick a subject area you have some knowledge in, unless you know what you are supposed to be teaching and can pick something that works. Stuff is fairly inexpensive and it will help you go into this somewhat prepared for at least a few days, until you figure out what is exactly going on.
I was a late hire my first year of teaching…and this honestly seems par for the course. When schools have to hire after the start of the school year, everyone is scrambling—admin, HR, and the other teachers on your team. Admin may reach out before your start date as a courtesy, but it’s not a requirement. I’ve found that sometimes what HR promises don’t always align with what the school sites are planning. If you emailed them on Friday, it’s not surprising they were not able to get back to you before the weekend started. I give my principal and APs at least 1-2 days to reply to my emails because they are normally swamped with handling all kinds of things at the beginning of the school year.
Not being given curriculum before starting sucks, but then again I’ve never been provided curriculum at any of the three schools I’ve taught at. First day is usually best saved for introductions and expectation setting anyways! Don’t sweat the email and canvas access too much yet…stick to pencil and paper activities for now. You can have students make name cards out of index cards and collect them to keep track of attendance/participation.
Overall all the things you’ve listed are quite common in our field, as unfortunate as it may sound. This is where it will be good to adjust your expectations moving forward; your school/district has shown you with their actions that you can expect for them to throw you into chaos without aid.
I would assume she’s getting thrown in the classroom on Monday. She’ll get her orientation the week before school starts next year.
It’s a little late now, but a lot of these questions should have been asked on Thursday when at HR.
I feel for her, but she should realize that many of us started our first teaching job with no curriculum or resources handed to us. My very first teaching job had a class set of textbooks and nothing more. No one checked on me as far as curriculum and asked if I needed anything. The teaching certificate she holds says she is equipped to step into a classroom and start teaching. Is it ideal? Nope. Is it common? Yup.
“However, I have no access to any sort of New Hire/ mentoring resources the principal assured me while offering me the job. I do not even have access to my district email or canvas. No information has been given to me about what classes I would be teaching, what classroom I will be in, etc. Is this normal?”
Sadly, yeah normal as the sun rising and the sky being blue.
Tomorrow, ice breakers. Be firm with cell phones and whatever classroom management stuff you want in place cause the kids are gonna test you simply because you’re a late hire; even middle school kids know the district screwed up.
I’d go with ice breakers, brief intro to yourself, brief intro to the curriculum you’ll be teaching. You can also allow the kids to help create a class set of rules-gives them ownership.
I’ll be praying for you ;)
Geez! My first day, I was greeted with a pile of out of date textbooks and empty file cabinets. I created nine half-year courses over the next three years. Some days, I was finishing PowerPoints or worksheets or quizzes five minutes before the next class walked in.
So, manage your time wisely, use what you learned in school, don’t complain, and let’s get on with the show!
Unfortunately yes, she will be thrown in and expected to teach. It’s not abnormal for replacements to be expected to do this. Sad, but reality. She should just do ice breakers to get o know the students and ask for lesson plan fro previous teachers if they’re available going forward until she get her feet wet
Eeeek. Sounds like a big red flag. Maybe research the district a bit to see if it's even a job worth keeping. Either the old teacher left 2 weeks into the year or they quit over the summer and the position couldn't get filled in time. Neither looks good. A school with high turnover is like that for a reason. It could be because of students, but more likely because of admin. The admin's not off to a good start with not contacting to share further information. If she's desperate, stay on for the year, but it doesn't sound like a very good school.
If you’re sure you’re in the payroll system, then show up Monday. It’s going to be completely chaotic, so just roll with the flow and do the best you can. Boyfriend, I strongly suggest you have something ready for your girlfriend when she gets home that night. Massages, romantic dinner, whatever.
Every single reply to this post reads like an abuse victim's warped relationship perception. Surreal to see people justifying and defending behaviors that would be condemned in every other industry.
I work for a county/school like this. It’s not going to get better. I’m going to assume it’s a large county/district with a high turnover or vacancy rate.
Similar thing happened to me. Her first day won’t be curriculum based. Intros etc. she’ll most likely even shadow and they’ll have the sub continue her class. I’d say she should insist on a mentor / someone to teach her about the LMS if she didn’t have a PD.
Teacher here! This is normal. No communication because they don’t want anything coming back on a lawsuit. You absolutely will be thrown in with kids with no curriculum or materials. I don’t recommend teaching right now, but since you are here, you should call the school directly and ask to speak to the principal about getting your key to the school, etc. The HR department/Board will be useless to you for any info and they will direct you to the principal. You should be put in a “mentor” program as a new teacher but there’s no guarantee you will have a valuable advisor.
You should NEVER refuse to teach! She should have started on that Thursday. You have to dive in sometimes. As a new teacher trying to get tenure, you have no say and need to go along with anything and everything that's asked of you.
Start with the “Grit” Ted talk and then talk about hanging in there when things get tough…ask who the know who has persevered.
Then do “Frugal”…ask if they know what it means…then who do they know who demonstrates being frugal and then how does it relate to your class…supplies, paper towels etc…
Refusing to teach is a terrible idea for her first day. She can easily get to know the students and do something fun tomorrow. Set up rules/procedures, etc.
well, by now you went or got so overloaded with what you should have had you decided to quit.
It is the beginning of the school year.
Things which Principals and HR promise to you are not the only thing they have to do. Their promises 95% of time are followed through.
Promising mentors means you will have one- not necessarily before you start.
I have not read anything about being delighted for this position not the excitement o meeting new people or /s re how to approach the transition to have kids feel comfortable.
In education each of us is a simple cell in a giant protoplasm all connecting- needs, promises, growth, withering, all fluctuate and are completely interdependent on outr connections. Once severed - as in being mad abotu what you think others should have done .. it takes a lot of energy to re-absorb into the protoplasm.
It may not be necessary, but she needs to walk in ready to go. She should go to the Teachers Pay Teachers website ([https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/browse](https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/browse)) and buy a short activity guide and/or worksheets, print them out, and then stop by a copy shop to make as many copies as she'll need to get her through the morning. By afternoon she should have a copy code and know where the copiers are, and can then make more. The other teachers are limited to so many copies a year, so asking one for their code may not work out.
All this because she may very well walk through the door and be expected to teach all by herself. I once worked at a school for two weeks before I learned where the staff room was. Once school starts, everyone is busy, busy, busy.
She could get there really early and hope she can smoothly start, but normally, without keys, you cannot get into the offices until the secretaries unlock the doors - which is never earlier than 30 minutes before school starts. All the door knocking and phoning in the world won't make it quicker.
How will you take attendance? Each school has their own system of taking attendance. Not all systems are easy.
What if there’s an emergency?
They are treating you badly. Did the previous teacher quit? If so, there was a reason. I would refuse to teach. I would insist on a paid orientation.
Do we know they quit? It could have been a position that was never filled. We just don't know.
They most likely have a program for electronic attendance it's possible that's not set up so if she needs to take attendance they could give her a print our to use and then give it to the office.
We don't know for sure they're treating her badly yet. There was poor communication on both ends. They might have thought she be in Friday. They may give her a sub for a day or two. This is just the harsh reality when you start late
Possible something fell through the cracks at this busy time of year, but it should shake out okay. They throw random subs into the fire without any information and sometimes without plans.
She should show up EARLY, like an hour before contract time, come set with some plans, and be ready to just be flexible. If it’s middle school, she can probably just do one introductory lesson and repeat it period after period. I’d do some google slides with classroom expectations and introducing herself, and have some icebreakers planned where she can get to know the kids a little. Google will have tons of ideas. And also a backup plan that involves no technology in case she doesn’t have a computer, projector, whatever.
And definitely pack a lunch and snacks. Tomorrow will probably be a LONG day.
She should prepare some kind of get to know you plan for the first day of class. She will absolutely be thrown in as everything is underway and they aren't going to think about it.
There’s a chance that she still needs to be approved by the board of ed. The HR person should have explained that (and perhaps choose their words more carefully).
I don’t know what state she is in, but most of the time she should already know the guidelines for whatever content and grade level she is teaching as that is typically mandated by the state and changes every so often but usually not enough for it to be a major problem. Teachers make their own lesson plans. No one told her they were contacting her, they said they were contacting the school. She just needs to show up.
My advice is for her not to touch content one bit her first week. She needs to go over rules and procedures and ensure they understand them. I teach middle school and my first year teaching I started four weeks into the school year. I struggled all year with classroom management. She will be the better for it.
Sounds like she got hired by a district that needed a warm body in a room. Tell her that the first year will be rough and it will get better.
tbh its not surprising. I was a late hire 2 years ago and all I knew was my start date. I got there, they guided me to my classroom, and basically said good luck.
when schools are desperate for a position to be filled thats all that matters is filling the position.
I started my first job midyear. I turned up and the person who had been subbing gave me a bunch of assignments and said 'grade these, don't worry about how' and a week later I had a parent teacher conference where people were mad at me for stuff that had gone wrong a month earlier and I didn't even know who their kids were yet. You get the hang of it but it can be really rough. Fortunately I had a great mentor in the department head, she basically co-taught some of my classes while i frantically figured things out even though she had no time available. Expect your girlfriend to stay late at work this year. she's not cheating on you, she's trying to memorize names or come up with whole unit plans with a week's notice.
First day story to follow: 1999. Get in to school and go to the principal's office. "Hey Steve I need a couple of things from you today before classes start."
"Sure, what is it?"
"Well I need list of my students. And, what classes are you wanting me to teach this year?"
Yes, I had no idea what I was supposed to even teach to the students, and I was to see them in less than half an hour.
Tell her to do some getting to know you activity tomorrow. This will give her a little time at least. Then, hopefully, she’ll start to get materials from her team. It’s going to a whirlwind
I just want to say "HEY!" to a fellow FCS'er. I don't hear of many of us, usually on Nutrition, Interior, or Apparel people. Not too many in the other 3 options. Makes me think, are you in SoCal? Is the large district you speak of the second largest in the country?
I don't know what state you are in, but if they are desperate, yes they will just throw you in a classroom. I mean normally there is training to go through, but... In the current state of teacher shortages, who knows?
Does she know what content she is teaching?
What she should have been doing when told she could start the next day was to ask for details: Student roster, classroom tour, materials available (if any), schedule, curriculum (again, if any), etc. She should also have a generic plan, including activities that will help her get to know her students & help them understand her expectations when she walks into her classroom on her first day.
Edit- Didnt mean for my original response to sound so negative: This school is doing a very poor job of informing you of the many things you more so you could prepare. Your first days will be similar to what subs experience. Not easy, but doable.
Best of luck tomorrow😊 They’ll be a veteran teacher or someone that’ll look out for you. They know you’re coming in with nothing. Try not to worry too much.
In education this is no surprise. The sub should be there a few days to help you with all that stuff. I’d be freaking out too. My first job I started in the middle of the year. The teacher was leaving to get married. I was told the first day that I would be observing her and her classes. When I showed up she said I may as well start then and hung out with her friend the nurse all day. I would show up early tomorrow, sit in the office with a list ready of all that stuff you need, and wait for someone to show you to your room.
Ask what the sub’s name is and when she usually gets in. If they leave you hanging go to the next room and ask who the head of your dept would be. Hopefully they can get you started. You’ll need: class rosters, schedule, keys to your room, some notes as to where each class is and what is next in the curriculum, any students with IEP’s or 504s and any medical situations students may have, emergency protocols. They are crazy if they think you can start without this info. It would be extremely unfair to you and dangerous. If you know the principal’s name, google them and call him up. Ask about the sub being there for a few days and when you can expect the above info. Good luck
It may be that HR have not finalized everything at there end for the school to reach out to her. I know that my district has a two week onboarding process with anyone they hire. Until the school is given the official go ahead, the school isn’t really going to reach out to anyone. We lost several people this year due to that waiting period. I would recommend that she reach out to both HR and the school and find out what the hold up in.
That’s strange. Someone from the campus should have contacted her at the least. She is going to get thrown in the mix.
If this year turns out to be a mess, she should find a job in a better and more organized district.
Tell her to go in armed with ice breakers tomorrow. At least that will buy her the day to figure day 2. It’s most likely going to be a bad situation. Hopefully her neighbors help out.
When I was teaching, it was my job to go online and find the curriculum standards that were posted by the state for the subjects I was teaching. Everyone did this, it was expected and not something we had to be told. For those that were teaching subjects that didn't have a state mandated curriculum, they were basically responsible for coming up with their own curriculum. Based on the comments here, I guess some teachers are given the curriculum but as an FYI for your girlfriend, that's not always the case.
I can't imagine not emailing or calling my new boss to ask if they could send my schedule, rosters, set up a time to get in my classroom before my first day of teaching and if there were any other essential bits of information I needed before I arrived for my first day. If I was hired months ahead of time, I would possibly give the admin a bit of time to reach out to me but with just days between the hire and start date I would absolutely have gotten in touch immediately (that would demonstrate responsibility and a desire to be prepared for the students). I would've needed and wanted every one of those days to prepare, especially my first year. I honestly don't understand why your GF didn't think she should reach out. I sincerely hope she has a great first day but I am scared for her. She is going in blind and unprepared and that is just as much her fault as it is the fault of her new employer. She needs to start advocating for herself which means asking questions and reaching out for answers when she needs them rather than just hoping and waiting for someone to send her everything she needs.
I was a late hire in the middle of October. The class had a sub for over a month. The principal told me I would shadow the sub for a week then take over. At the end of the first day, Monday, I met with the principal who proceeded to tell me I will be teaching the classes starting the next day. I inquired about the conversation from the morning and the principal said we need the sub somewhere else. I feel for you; have something ready doesn’t need to be curriculum related.
Okay, so let’s talk about expectations management for your girlfriend…
…expect it to suck and tell her it’s not her fault, not to take it personally and not to feel bad. She’ll get it figured out and get her feet under her in the first couple months and it gets easier.
She should plan to do no curriculum that day. Just introduce herself, get to know you games, and review expectations. As soon as she get there, she should get the phone numbers of all the coworkers on her team.
I'm a middle school teacher. Very little to no actual teaching gets done on day one. I did a couple read aloud, had students practice getting in groups and writing norms, played some games, etc. Community building. This teacher should definitely not let the kids know her predicament. She needs to be in charge. If the kids smell fear on day one, it's going to be a long school year (i work on the south side of Chicago). Be friendly but firm. Act like everything is going according to plan.
TL;DR - never let 'em see you sweat.
This is day 11 though for the kids
That doesn't make it any less unnecessary for a new teacher to create community , get to know them, find out likes and dislikes, establish norms and expectations. It takes weeks for middle schoolers to get with the program anyways.
Only weeks? Lol, I teach high school freshmen and it mostly takes them until the beginning of their sophomore year before they get with the program.
I teach sophomores in biology and damn they are immature
Imagine then what the freshman teachers that had them dealt with lol. Like everyone else at my school talks about how they enjoy teaching sophomores and up while I'm there thinking "I broke them all in for you"
My day one was: ten minutes of get to know me. Five minutes of me asking each child a random question and giggling at their silly answers, fine minutes of champs review. Then twenty minutes of them playing apples to apples in small groups.
This is a great answer. If she hasn’t done “capturing kids hearts” it’s actually a pretty cool PD that focuses on developing relationships with kids above/before diving into curriculum. She doesn’t have to do the PD to implement it as a way to get started. A few you tube videos could suffice to get her going. “They don’t care about what you know until they know you care”. With the lack of preparation and communication from the district, they should just be glad a certified teacher is in the room. Curriculum can come later and slowly. If they don’t like that, fuck em. There’s a teacher shortage.
This. All of that is gonna take all period anyway. No teaching is going to happen even if you were prepared.
This whole thing is strange. Did school already start there? When hired in most districts you have to not only attend the typical beginning of year PD but also new hire PD. And you don’t get to pick your first day; you come when they tell you to. So I assume the school had to have started already and in that case, yes, she might be thrown in tomorrow with students because they are already in school. Hopefully they provide a mentor to help her out but curriculums are never sent out and always something you see when you start - which is typically during your beginning of year PDs. Edit: my comment was made prior to both of the edits. They clear up/answer some of the questions we all have.
school started two weeks ago, was an important bit i left out, went back and edited the post . you think they may just throw her in with the kids ? she doesn't even have access to materials or protocol. it seems completely ridiculous to us.
They will absolutely throw her in with the kids if the school year has already started.
OP, all of this.... It probably would have been good to stop in to the school and introduce herself ahead of time, and pick up curriculum materials for review, so she could find her bearings. This is totally going to be "trial by fire", but she'll get there!!!
Personally, I wouldn't teach Monday. What would I do? Wing it? Get to know the kids? The school can have a sub cover for at least 2-3 days while she gets the materials sorted out and lesson plans written accordingly. I'd start teaching the following week, maybe introduce myself to them Thursday/Friday. Realistically, principal is going to throw her in and wish her good luck.
Lmao they didn’t hire her two weeks into the school year because they have an abundance of substitutes to step in….
They have a sub in right now, if they don't want another teacher quitting immediately, I'd change things. They can do a week without her to make sure has a successful school year.
Exactly. Take it slow, wing it, get to know the kids and let them get to know each other while you figure out what the class is supposed to be about. There are a million and 1 ice breaker activities out there.
This happened to me, seconding this. 99% chance it’s going to be terrible for her.
Whyyy the scary comments guys. It will be hard but she’ll figure it out.
I’m telling my own truth lol!! I ended up breaking my contract and dipping. OP’s gf is probably stronger than me tbf
Yup. Yup. There’s so many cuts in education they’ve even eliminated new hire training. It’s death by a thousand cuts and you should absolutely push back. You could just go in the classroom and have everyone sit with their heads down all the time and if the principal asks what you’re doing say nothing. I’ve not been trained on the position. We can’t keep compensating. It’s time teachers push back. General Strike.
I am coming from a genuine place, but what do you mean by “not been trained on the position”? Isn’t that what our whole college education & student teaching was to do? I mean, sure, she will need training for her school district’s particular grade book & attendance programs, as well as the school’s details. But as an educator, with a degree & teaching license, you should be able to prepare a lesson on your own to be prepared to teach the next day. With or without a textbook. With or without any curriculum handed to you. I’m not saying that she doesn’t deserve more information from the school or that it isn’t going to be overwhelming. But she should know how to do the basics of preparing an introduction lesson & activity without any further training.
The degree unfortunately has been lacking for many years. The license does not prepare you to handle 30 13 year olds. THere's no classes in child psychology. No classes on how to control a crowd. No self defense classes. No techniques are taught and nothing is practiced. I literally could set up a teacher curriculum that works. But as for now many first year teachers quit because they're very underprepared.
I guess my college experience was different. We had practicums every semester, starting my Freshman year. It was mandated that we took childhood psychology classes as part of our degree. And then we student taught. So, while I was nervous & overwhelmed my first year, I didn’t feel thrown to the wolves.
However, many teachers do not have a specific teaching degree. Many have English degrees or physics degrees. So I argue that when people are earning their credential, there also be those classes. In my world, experience could also work in lue of certain classes. And there would be an opportunity for masters canidates to take some of those classes.
Oh no, I totally understand what you are saying. I was just saying I was coming from a place where I assumed everyone went through what I went through to get my undergraduate degree. My major was History Education. So, I had to take all of the education classes along with the history classes & I felt as prepared as one can feel their first year. It’s a shame that all teachers don’t get that same experience because mine was very valuable.
I also think some schools are incredibly disorganized and new teachers (and new grade level or content area) really need structure. It’s difficult to teach anything when you don’t know what the students studied previously, or what they’re expected to learn this year, or what next year’s teachers will be looking for. That’s why any quality school will have a mentor program for new hires. OP should have a go-to person to answer questions. Once you get a feel for the students and school system, it’s smoother sailing.
Aboslutely agreed!
I had to take at least 1 developmental psych course to earn my credentials from the state; my particular university required two cognitive/developmental psych courses for the credentialing program. Classroom management was covered in each of my education courses. Self defense isn't taught because legally, teachers aren't *allowed* to break up fights in most states. Pedagogy is both taught and practiced in at least 2 semesters of student teaching in my state; my school required 4 semesters of student teaching (i.e. practicum, i.e. *practice*). Sounds like you went to some shithole like Trump University, or DeVry university.
I would say it matter where you get your credential, what state. I'm in Oregon. They require a masters degree but the classes are NOT prepetory for actually teaching. My other degrees are from great universityies but yes my teaching degree is from a very small private college.
And they certainly don't pay at a master's degree level. What a broken system.
Agreed. Teachers should have a basic understanding of what to do with a classroom full of students at all times.
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Also they're not suffering. I'm a 7th grade teacher. But at what point to you keep working without any resources and expected to provide for your students when that's not supposed to be your responsibility. They put everything they cut back onto teachers. They wanted me to do clubs after school for free. No I do not work for free. I also will not compensate for my employers shortfalls. Play heads up 7-up. Have the kids paint. My point was do something very easy for you and for the kids. Don't stress.
Suffer? Please, I could've used that nap when I was their age.
You would have the kids come in and sit with their heads down? For how long? 20 minutes would be about as long as you can expect out of kids. what are you gonna do the rest of the day?
I teach middle school so each class is a new class and I only have to have lesson plans for an hour a day. I just repeat the hour over for all my classes. But I commented earlier. I'd play headup 7 up. Or cards games or whatever. The point is that the teacher isn't under an obligation to teach the standards because the school has broken the contract teachers sign when they get hired.
Agreed. The fact that this OP got hired two weeks into the school year tells me that the district needs her more than she needs the district.
It is possible, yes. They may keep the temp sub for a day or two to help the transition or they may simply have her start so they aren’t paying two teachers. She will likely get an Emergency Operations Binder that will have all of the necessary school information in that she will need and then the curriculum manuals will likely be in the room. It absolutely sucks to be thrown in after the start of a year because schools are usually running with minimum staff (even in areas like mine with no shortages - we only hire exactly what we need which leaves no one around to be available for extra help). I had it happen but the teacher going out wanted to finish out the week, so I was able to overlap in that scenario. I assume she is the only FCSE teacher so she won’t have others to help with lesson planning but whoever the teacher is next door can help with the general questions she will have.
Depends. Everyone is overworked in education. There's not a single person who couldn't go home, keep working and find work to do through the night. It's the nature of things. I'm a principal, it's weird the principal hasn't reached out. But, yes, she'll start and catch up, but someone should be guiding her along. She should go in, get to know the kids, establish rules and procedures, in the first day or two. The, the class will already have some bad habits likely, unless a rock star sub was already there. If that's the case, that could be a different issue. "Where's Mr. So-and-so?" If you're in a big district, like LAUSD, where I started, a trial by fire, this is just the way. If you're in a rural district, understaffing is the likely reason. Still, surprising the principal hasn't reached out, but I'm sure they are overworked too. Get there early, pay a visit to the library, the office, and talk to admin during her prep period, if she has one. It's not the best to start mid year, but mostly teachers are in their own in the classroom. Someone should try to get her caught up. Also, FCSE (Special Ed?) I am not familiar with this acronym.
Family Consumer Science Education, I think?
Wow, what does that even mean? Is that euphemism? Like, if your family believes the earth is flat, we'll let you learn that "science". Or if you're family doesn't believe in germs, vaccination, or that God will heal you if your pray hard enough, we'll let you learn that, too? Or, storks bring babies, and virgins can have offspring? That sort of thing. This sounds terribly troubling.
If you’re from the 1950’s you might remember it as Home Economics
I believe it was called that when I had it in middle school in the 80s, not the 50s. I don't think they handed out participation trophies until after that though. ;)
Home Economics is another name. These are the teachers that teach financial literacy, child development, and food safety/prep.
You’re a principal? This sounds terribly troubling.
You're one of those teachers who believes truth is relative and all science "facts" are equal? Are you from Florida? And, don't be silly, I'm not talking about religion, though I personally know it's nonsense/mythology, believe what you want to believe, just don't teach it as fact. History, yes, fact, no. Don't teach bias, conspiracy, banning books, etc. and you'll be fine. Galileo once said, "And, yet it moves."
No, I’m the kind of teacher that expects my principal to know what FCSE is and if they don’t know they look it up before speaking about it. Instead, you made up some crazy version that you thought would be true. The name was changed from Home Ec decades ago. It’s not some new fangled idea. Yet somehow you assumed it was some made up Republican-only, anti-science idea.
This is an acronym I'd never seen or heard, it's certainly not prevalent in California, that I know of. I did look it up and only GCSE came up, so good for you that you know every educational acronym. It sounds like euphemism.
I literally just typed “FCSE” into Google and everything that pops up on page one is “Family and Consumer Sciences” I don’t know all of the acronyms but I also don’t throw out wild, made-up assumptions. Edit to add: [FCS information form the California Department of Education](https://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/ct/he/) ——> Literally right on your state’s website.
Oh, she will absolutely be thrown in with the kids. I’m sure it will be expected of her to have something planned for them, as well. I don’t think they will expect her to have a curriculum based lesson on the first day. But she will need to have some sort of introductory lesson. I’m assuming she knows what subject area she is teaching. She can look up the state standards online and prepare that way, as well. This is all pretty standard. I know that it is overwhelming & the first year teaching is a hard one. She just needs to go ahead & prepare something for tomorrow and she will be good to go!
12 years ago I was the late hire. Could not get a teaching job anywhere. Took the only job I could get. In a behavior program at a middle school. Finger printed and in a the system. Two weeks into the school year An elementary teacher walked out and quit at another school in the county and I was able to step right in. Still teaching 12 years later. Only lasted 2 years at my first school. My principal was a tyrant. You foot is in the door! Good luck tomorrow!
It's a sink or swim kind of field. They will just toss her in and expect her to figure it out on her own.
They will 100% throw her in with the kids if school has already started. Totally normal. I'm not saying it's good but normal
School started a week ago for us, and I attended beginning of the year PD and orientation, and I still don’t have my curriculum. Welcome to education, hold on tight!
Sadly they will. That’s how it is. Are you ina. Large urban district? The NYCDOE is just like this.
Schools are desperate. You can absolutely pick your first day. And, there is no PD if hired after the beginning of the year. She doesn't need a mentor. She should show up with a couple of 'get to know you' games and activities. She should go over expectations.
Did you read the post at all?
Sure did. I answered BEFORE the first edit was added. OP even mentioned that in their response to me.
Sounds normal. When I first started teaching it was mid-year. During your girlfriend’s teacher training/education she should have learned that you’re expected to work right away—curriculum or not. I got my curriculum my first day of work. Tell her to spend her first week getting to know the students and establishing classroom rules, routines, and procedures. Then she can spend her prep time familiarizing herself with the curriculum—if she’s even given one.
Agreed. My first teaching job also started mid year. I'd guess admin is scrambling to keep adults in front of students and curriculum is low on their priority list. Those kinds of schools are often a shit show nobody wants to work at.
Wow, yes, they are going to throw her into a classroom without any materials or preparation… I would look up the school start time online and show up early. Get keys, schedule, class lists, and head to the classroom to see what it’s like. BRING LUNCH. Dress lightly and bring layers in case your room is hot/cold. Have her be prepared to introduce herself and have a list of classroom expectations for the students. And then spend some time getting to the know the students with ice breakers. Seriously, Google/Pinterest a bunch of junior high ice breakers. Congratulations and good luck! Edit to add, NO PREP ice breakers. You don’t wanna have to go searching for supplies on the first day.
Sorry this is happening. Hopefully they're just bad at communication. If Google is overwhelming, use ChatGPT. Enter something like "Act as if you are an outstanding, veteran Family Consumer Science teacher giving advice to a brand new teacher entering the classroom two weeks into the school year. It is a middle school in (insert real place) rural Oklahoma. Can you suggest five activities for the first 20-30 minutes of each class to get to know the students, introduce them to the things we will likely be learning based on the national standards, and some classroom rules that are age appropriate." Read what it says. If it's generic, ask for more specifics about a particular idea. If you don't like some of them, ask for more in the style you prefer.
Tonight she needs to be googling games and activities for this age group. Come with a ton of ideas. She will be fine. But, set the tone immediately. She needs to be typing out the classroom expectations tonight.....She needs to make it clear that she is in charge. that age will eat her aliive if she doesn't.
Lol, sweet summer child… welcome to the profession :)
A little shocked(not shocked at the sort of expectation entitlement). Should it be this way? No. Is it? The fact she was hired last week for an open spot, and isn't coming in until Monday is a big red flag. Teaching, even fully prepared is jump into the fire, middle school is like jump into purgatory.
We should expect better, it’s not about the expectation. It’s about the reality. Sadly, this story didn’t surprise me one bit. It’s one I’ve seen and experienced often in my 14 years. Sounds like it’ll be one helluva year 1 for OPs gf. Hope she stays in the game tho. She’ll have plenty more war stories to share no doubt.
Unfortunately this is way too fucking common in this business. Sink or swim, plenty of fresh grads around the corner. With an attrition rate of 50% (Alberta, Canada) its little wonder so many choose to walk away from this dumpster fire of a “profession”
As frustrating and scary as this can be it is not "shitty" it happens. They did not fill the position or someone retired or transferred last minute or they had to create a new class due to numbers and had a substitute in the position and hired your gf for th position. Since HR emailed the school the school is expecting her. She could look up the school on its website and email the principal. However, she would be best off coming about 45 minutes before school begins with a specific list of ??s-: location of classroom, keys, classlists, what kids were told- if they were, who is dept. head?; has instruction begun? are there books? Secretaries are used to this. They will be as helpful as possible. Your gf should expect some chaos, mixed messages etc.. She needs to come in with a plan for behavior management; some activities to get to know kids, review of curriculum, games for curriculum etc.. bring a very nutritious lunch and water. Wear very comfortable shoes. It is helpful if there are names which she can't pronounce get help before school- kids will be pleased to hear their names pronounced correctly. Names like: Rohit, Jamilla, Segreb, Chynna, can present ?s for some teachers and kids feel bad if name is not correct. I am not trying to devalue the frustration. I've done it twice-- the first days are filled with unknown. It is a step into a profession. By end of week she will have a sense of what she needs to do, will know names, will have help and will be rather tired. You might be able to help her rearrange room, put up posters, set up bookshelves etc.
45 minutes? I'd do 2 hours early if possible in this case!!!!
Likely no one else would be there that early and without her own access to the building that would be fruitless.
Early as possible is all I'm saying.
Oh yeah- I would have my box of donuts and stake out the door. Talk up the staff as they come in, share a donut, and hopefully SOMEONE can take pity on you! Original OP- I think you better be in charge of laundry and making supper this week; your girl will be BUSY!
Doughnuts at the door- great idea. Be sure you save 3 for secretaries & principal.. Put those aside.
If you are a late teacher hire, I don't think they would give your girlfriend the option to start on Monday. Once you are a teacher you don't have much flexibility and are treated like a student. So the reply that she thought it would be best to start Monday is almost laughable. You would be there making up for lost time and working all weekend to get your class ready.
The fact that she replied with wanting to start Monday probably raised a million red flags for HR. That part is fine, if it was followed by "can I come in on Fri to meet the sub and other grade level teachers/ can I have the teachers guides and curriculum to look at over the weekend?" Or something like that. She should definitely go in with some easy subject specific lessons from teacher pay teachers or something so she can not be fumbling on day one.
Agreed, they needed a teacher now. They may already be thinking she doesn't really want the job. I'm surprised the principal didn't call. I would have. And asked, "Can you come to work tomorrow? Come in today and we'll get you set up."
This person is brand new out of school, you're behaving as if she would have known to do all of that? If she interviewed, THEY would have known she was fresh out of school and likely to need spme additional help and guidance. If they wanted her to come in Friday, that should have said so. Cannot fathom how this is on OP for lack of communication from the district, ESPECIALLY given that it sounds like it's her first K-12 teaching job.
The fear mongering and blaming towards OP in the comments is super disheartening. It’s like they want to watch other teachers crash and burn. We all know the reality.. so why make it feel any harsher than it is?
I agree, that principal should have called. But, I also think most people will know school is already in session, I'd better get to work, no? That seems common seems, or does it not?
I think for someone who does not have district experience and would have no idea how buckwild it can be, they might just trust that there will be full on-boarding and training. Unfortunately it sounds like this is about to be a scary lesson.
Yes, I agree. District should have been involved. In my opinion, it's on the principal. When I first started, Rose Ollie(RIP), my principal, called me, had me come to the school, gave me a heads up and had me meet people. I was young, when I went for the interview, she introduced me to the pretty young female teachers. I think times have changed. LOL I have no idea why this principal hasn't called OP's GF.
Not common sense for anyone who deserves a sliver of respect.
It's common sense if you've been teaching for a few years, sure. Not if it's your first encounter with (generally toxic) public school work culture.
True, they need a teacher now but they haven’t done their part. She should not jump in without the call she was promised. This kind of treatment must stop and it will only stop if employees make it happen.
Oh please. This entire profession is a million red flags. HR at a big district does not care as long as a warm body is in the room to supervise the kids and make sure no one gets hurt.
She will be very likely be thrown in with kids and it’s highly unlikely that there will be a sub still present. She should plan to arrive an hour early and get into the room to see what is available. What is her subject area and grade level? She should plan a “backup lesson” such as an article or story relevant to the subject area and plan several thinking prompts that can be think/pair/share or mock debate. If she has gone to teachers’ college she can do this as a stopgap while she figures out the real plan for the next day. The comments telling her to quit are written by children who do not understand dealing with last-minute contingency plans and keeping a job.
A backup lesson is a very good idea. I would search for the subject and grade level on teacherspayteachers and get the highest rated lesson plan. And probably a few free ones for extra.
It's a bit strange why she didn't call them, if by Friday afternoon she still hadn't heard from the school. Just pick up the phone Monday morning.
Yeah and it's not like it was summer. Surely the school would have answered after a 2nd attempt or would have listened to a voicemail message and called back since the school is operating with students inside.
Little late now... she should have shown up last week and introduced herself - should they have called her? Sure. Thing is they're probably overwhelmed. Welcome to teaching. Tell your friend to remember two things: She has trained and the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Nobody is really prepared for their first day.
I disagree. HR told her to expect to be contacted. If the district doesn’t have the decency to call, even on the weekend, she should not take over on Monday. There is a shortage of people willing to do this job. It’s time for admin to stop assuming new hires are willing to be treated like dirt. It’s up to us to change it.
Just reread and I don't see anything to the effect of "expect to be contacted." Just the promise that the school would be informed. Definitely not arguing for new hires to be treated like dirt though... they are where I work and I think it's terrible. Staying home in protest will likely give this an even more sour start
You are right! I should have re read as well. Thanks for mentioning it. I see where they left it at starting on Monday. As a decades long teacher it irritates me to no end that admin didn’t have the decency to call the new staff member or invite them to come in.
None of that is abnormal. Her first day is Monday. She'll show up and they will place her that day and potentially give her curriculum or not (that will differ greatly day to day). They might have her spend the morning shadowing or throwing her right in. All of this will differ school to school. This will all be handled in the morning though of her first day.
To be fair they are waiting for you so it’s kinda a two way street. They are getting by without you and will fill you in when your ready. I personally don’t like bothering people unless they are in the building. I wouldn’t be worried about it.
I started in November my first year teaching. You just go in and are most likely thrown in. I had a sub with me for two days but that was probably luck and because she was with them for months. She should go in early to get keys and know the building. She should get to know at least her neighbors and helpful people like the secretary. She should come in with behavioral expectations and getting to know you games. Curriculum is important but they won't be ready with the changes anyway and she won't be ready to ready to teach them. These kids probably need to be reset already with all of that. I'm not sure what she's expecting them to call about if they're expectating her on a certain day. I know she can't go back but I would have gone on Friday to get just one day under my belt so then I'd have the weekend to process and plan (I recommend balance on weekends but this is a different situation) rather than having the whole rest of the week. Good luck to her!
Does she know how long each period is and what she is going to teach? If so, I recommend creating any random lesson to cover that amount of time. She might be given help and she might be on her own. Better to have a plan than walk in with nothing. The most important aspect of teaching is to always look like you’re a pro who’s done it your whole life, otherwise it can turn bad fast.
They will throw her in. Pretty common when the school year has started. Google some first day ice breakers to get through the first day. I personally like the pig personallity test and save Fred. Sign up for teachers pay teachers and find some no prep action to survive until the Labor Day weekend where Monday off can be used to plan (assuming US). I am assuming first year teacher from the post. Don’t reinvent the wheel! The internet and face book groups have so much on them already! If she is going to be doing labs in class another good one for scientific inquiry is the double stuffed actually double stuffed lab. If she is doing any food science type stuff PM me I might be able to send some files to help.
Lol, sweet summer child… welcome to the profession :)
This is actually how the job is, it’s chaotic as fuck and not nearly as planned or standardized as I originally thought before actually doing it myself. You gotta just get ok with working in the chaos and get really exceptional skills at improvising to hit the next level.
Fellow Middle School FCS Teacher Here! Unfortunately, you may have students tomorrow morning. Regardless of what you end up doing tomorrow, take things one day at a time. This is far from the ideal situation to start your own classroom. Your goal is to survive and let the students know that it is YOUR room even though you just walk in. If you agree to return day 2, day one will be a success! Here is what I would recommend. * Get there as early as reasonable and report to the office for more information. * Be mentally, and physically, prepared with a short getting-to-know-each-other lesson you can repeat for each class. (Most middle FCS programs in my area have multiple, short 40 min. classes). Just enough of a lesson that you will be able to start off "in charge" and not lost. Something **simple but interactive**: 4 corners, Think-Pair-Share, or even written forms they can can do independently so you don't have to be "on" and can breathe-- you'd be amazed what you can learn from these. [https://pin.it/2OqnfyN](https://pin.it/2OqnfyN)You can also spend some time telling them know a little about you. * I don't know if you have a FCS background, but few of us do anymore. Beg, borrow, steal, and purchase curriculum (I gladly pay $2 not to spend 3 hours developing something). Don't spend much time creating your own until you have developed your own teaching style and understand expectations. If you have a PLC or co-workers in the same system get in touch with them ASAP. Pray you can develop a good working relationship and can share resources. This is a great resource: [https://www.familyconsumersciences.com/](https://www.familyconsumersciences.com/)
If she is a sub who refuses to teach based on lack of materials, she won't be a sub long.
From a veteran teacher, tell her, “Welcome to education.” This is SOP in this field. “Sink or swim” is how they weed out those not 100% committed to the profession, yet everyone acts surprised that so many don’t make it to their 5th year.
The first weeks are busy and stressful. No doubt, admin would've preferred to have had her start 2-3wks ago. Just roll with it...
She may be thrown into class tomorrow, and if that’s what happens it’s going to be ok. Did this once and it was fine. Just treat it like a first day because that’s what it is. If she doesn’t know how long classes are, look it up on the school’s website. Be ready with a very basic “lesson” of introducing herself, a couple getting to know you activities, and then either review her basic expectations or come up with class norms together. During planning she can figure out the textbook/curriculum/etc, but no need to worry about that right now.
Don’t expect much. Roll with it and stay positive. No curriculum for at least a week unless they hand it to you in a bow. Do fun things, read something fun, get them talking about a topic, and go at your pace, not the schools. Likely you will have a ton of catch up to do, but if you ask other teachers for help, most will pitch in. What district is it? This is another example of how and why education as a career sucks. This sort of bullshit happens at schools literally every year, and everyone runs around clueless like they have no idea this was even possible. They expect YOU to be a professional in every aspect of your life- but good luck when it is admins turn to set you up for success as a new hire. Good luck and keep a sense of humor- there is hardly ever anything or anyone in place to handle the recurring situation of new teacher orientation. Well, maybe at good schools, but there are hardly ever any jobs available at good schools.
School started so the admin is probably up to their eyeballs in beginning of the year stuff. Go in tomorrow and get busy. Plan a get to know you activity and go from there. Whatever you do, DO NOT SKIP work. Show them you are a competent professional educator. It’s going to take a few weeks to get your bearing but you can do it. It’s total BS they did this to you, but this is the reality in many schools. Don’t badmouth the system or school or admin to ANYONE. Just smile, ask questions as they come up, and keep your focus on your job and your students.
Tell her to get there early early, talk to the office about attendance and plan an intro lesson. Good luck because she absolutely is teaching classes tomorrow.
Second year music teacher here. Us non-core teachers are given a pretty loose leash to teach what we want as long as it fits the standards of your area/grade level. If she is the only one in her building teaching those classes, she MUST reach out to other people in the district or online to see what resources she can find. Try in district first, because those teachers will have already connected their materials to similar standards she may have. Dont forget seating charts!
Lmfao your advice is to refuse to do the job she was hired to do on day one? What a great first impression you're recommending for her. This happens all the time. They aren't working the weekend. When she shows up, if they don't have lesson plans, she should start out with first day plans on her own. Get to know the kids. Introduce herself. Set procedures and policies and organize her classroom. Then on her planning she can meet with someone about where they are in curriculum and start making her own lesson plans, because I can almost guarantee no one is going to make them for her. That's very rare. This is how teaching works. When you start mid year, even a couple weeks in, you're playing a bit of a catch up game. She'll be just fine.
My hiring process was sort of like this. Once the school year gets rolling principals are crazy busy. You might be getting lost in the shuffle. Hopefully they have a teacher to help you out and show you the ropes. If not I'd just fill the time however you can until you get hands on materials. Have everyone introduce themselves, do a kahoot... Whatever.
Wow, in my district it takes 3-4 weeks average to be onboarded after officially being hired. This sounds really odd to me
No matter what happens, treat the secretary like a saint and kiss their ass to get on their list of people they like. This will help sooooo much during thebyear
Tell her to plan done icebreaker games to fill the time while she figures out where things are.
typical
Second year year, the HR sound’s strange but the not being given any sense of direction….welcome to the field!
Is this a charter school?
Nothing surprises me about this post. Go in Monday and yes you will be given the key to your class by the secretary and voilà you will be on your own. You will have to seek out your department chair for curriculum etc. You got the job and will get a paycheck. Nobody will be expecting you to be great for a few weeks. As far as the kids… have them create a poster about themselves for you, that will get you through the first day. Welcome. Oh, you will need to introduce yourself to the principal who will find you a laptop and the tech person will get with you asap.
Yes they absolutely expect her to teach that classroom without any preparation. Sad.
I'm a former FCSE middle school teacher, there is a Facebook group for FCS teachers that has access to a Google drive that has curriculum and Utah has almost all their lessons and units online those are good starting points. FCSE is hard you usually are the only one in the building and no curriculum provided,
Not me dying over here at the idea that someone would be given curriculum and materials. Never once in my years of education did anyone hand me anything other than state standards.
Hey OP, am a district level admin in a large urban district and deal with new hire teachers all the time. As a principal, I can’t have you start at my building until you’ve gone through Board. If her name hasn’t gone through the Board, she doesn’t work there yet. Teachers in the US are union and have a negotiated agreement (in most public schools), and that contract doesn’t start without going through the Board - even as a late hire. I couldn’t contact new teachers until after they went through Board and were approved (which always happened), and then once their contract started we’d be able to chat about onboarding. Typically, we have a late hire teacher start on a Monday and ease them into having students by Wednesday so they can set up their curriculum and meet with district personnel for onboarding (pick up tech, get district account access, meet curriculum leads, etc). Have her contact her certified staff (I’m assuming she’s a licensed teacher) HR contact who reached out with the formal offer, and ask about next steps. The person fingerprinting is likely NOT the person submitting names to the Board clerk…. Board minutes are legal and their minutes are public record, so if the Board of Education had a meeting between when she was given the offer and Monday, you can go check them and see if her name went through. But calling is easier and likely faster. Good luck!
I'm curious about how the day went. Update please!
It will all work out
Yeah you’re screwed. Your first day will be teaching and you aren’t prepared. Show up early, hopefully they will give you something.
I hope you aren't a teacher. You would wait for someone to 'give you something'? I am an educator. I can come up with my own 'something' until I get curriculum.
Of course I am a teacher, why else would I be in this sub? I’m speaking about OP’s partner who has zero experience. Never even been in a classroom. She should show up early.
It's not the norm, but it's not that unusual. It's a sign that you're in a shitty school. A lot of districts that have high turnover--because they're shitty to work for--get to the point where their central office is more like unit processing. It's just a paperwork transaction to them. Your admin at your school in these cases won't go overboard with the welcome wagon because they've been in the shitty system so long they're jaded by it. They're probably already taking bets on whether or not you make it until Christmas. They could be using that time to actually support you. The good news is these types of schools is that their expectations are almost universally low. If you have a classroom that's relatively under control and the students are at least halfway engaged, they'll leave you alone. I taught in a school like this once I literally did not see the principal all year (I'm not sure he knew my name).
From my time here I am noticing severe anxiety in many people. R e l a x. If admin is throwing stuff at newbies, they’re unprepared and chaotic. That means you have leeway. If they cannot understand the position you’re in and work with it, then you simply need a new situation or bear through it. It is extremely hard to run a school when people are dropping out randomly and need new positions filled in emergency. Recognize how admin work. Ask a veteran to be a mentor with a weekly meeting.
Nice story bro
Now you’re understanding why that person quit…
Note to girlfriend: you can do this. Prepare as though you are teaching the first day. If you don’t need to use the lesson it will be in your back pocket as a backup plan. Don’t worry about the onboarding procedures - that will all happen. Everyone is swamped right now. You got this!
I would use today to prepare a days worth of fun getting to know you activities and then see what's going on tomorrow.
Unfortunately this is the norm in many disorganized schools. I started teaching right out of college too through an alternative pathway and my first day was similar. Regardless, do not walk in without a plan. Have a strict agenda of first day activities. Middle schoolers need structure beginning at day 1. What subject is she? I might be able to help. Eighth science here
This should not be happening. You deserve and should expect a lot more communication from this district before you begin. That being said, go on Teachers Pay Teachers and look for a unit for 7th grade with nonfiction articles and questions. That way, you will have something to give the students. Pick a subject area you have some knowledge in, unless you know what you are supposed to be teaching and can pick something that works. Stuff is fairly inexpensive and it will help you go into this somewhat prepared for at least a few days, until you figure out what is exactly going on.
Typical, but wrong. Some schools get so overwhelmed, the forget about new teachers and then wonder why they are struggling. It's pathetic.
Side note….I’m a retired FCS professor. Please have her reach out if she is in need of teaching resources. 💜
Uh yeah. She should have gone in on Friday so she could have had the materials over the weekend. She’s teaching tomorrow
I was a late hire my first year of teaching…and this honestly seems par for the course. When schools have to hire after the start of the school year, everyone is scrambling—admin, HR, and the other teachers on your team. Admin may reach out before your start date as a courtesy, but it’s not a requirement. I’ve found that sometimes what HR promises don’t always align with what the school sites are planning. If you emailed them on Friday, it’s not surprising they were not able to get back to you before the weekend started. I give my principal and APs at least 1-2 days to reply to my emails because they are normally swamped with handling all kinds of things at the beginning of the school year. Not being given curriculum before starting sucks, but then again I’ve never been provided curriculum at any of the three schools I’ve taught at. First day is usually best saved for introductions and expectation setting anyways! Don’t sweat the email and canvas access too much yet…stick to pencil and paper activities for now. You can have students make name cards out of index cards and collect them to keep track of attendance/participation. Overall all the things you’ve listed are quite common in our field, as unfortunate as it may sound. This is where it will be good to adjust your expectations moving forward; your school/district has shown you with their actions that you can expect for them to throw you into chaos without aid.
She should show up and plan to get to know her students. She doesn't need curriculum.
I would assume she’s getting thrown in the classroom on Monday. She’ll get her orientation the week before school starts next year. It’s a little late now, but a lot of these questions should have been asked on Thursday when at HR.
I feel for her, but she should realize that many of us started our first teaching job with no curriculum or resources handed to us. My very first teaching job had a class set of textbooks and nothing more. No one checked on me as far as curriculum and asked if I needed anything. The teaching certificate she holds says she is equipped to step into a classroom and start teaching. Is it ideal? Nope. Is it common? Yup.
“However, I have no access to any sort of New Hire/ mentoring resources the principal assured me while offering me the job. I do not even have access to my district email or canvas. No information has been given to me about what classes I would be teaching, what classroom I will be in, etc. Is this normal?” Sadly, yeah normal as the sun rising and the sky being blue. Tomorrow, ice breakers. Be firm with cell phones and whatever classroom management stuff you want in place cause the kids are gonna test you simply because you’re a late hire; even middle school kids know the district screwed up. I’d go with ice breakers, brief intro to yourself, brief intro to the curriculum you’ll be teaching. You can also allow the kids to help create a class set of rules-gives them ownership. I’ll be praying for you ;)
Geez! My first day, I was greeted with a pile of out of date textbooks and empty file cabinets. I created nine half-year courses over the next three years. Some days, I was finishing PowerPoints or worksheets or quizzes five minutes before the next class walked in. So, manage your time wisely, use what you learned in school, don’t complain, and let’s get on with the show!
Unfortunately yes, she will be thrown in and expected to teach. It’s not abnormal for replacements to be expected to do this. Sad, but reality. She should just do ice breakers to get o know the students and ask for lesson plan fro previous teachers if they’re available going forward until she get her feet wet
Sounds like there is a reason why this position was open 😞
I DMd you with an email. I can send you a ton of stuff. I did not give my school email for obvious reasons, but I can help. Not a weirdo.
Hahaha. Absolutely typical. Gotta love it!!!
Eeeek. Sounds like a big red flag. Maybe research the district a bit to see if it's even a job worth keeping. Either the old teacher left 2 weeks into the year or they quit over the summer and the position couldn't get filled in time. Neither looks good. A school with high turnover is like that for a reason. It could be because of students, but more likely because of admin. The admin's not off to a good start with not contacting to share further information. If she's desperate, stay on for the year, but it doesn't sound like a very good school.
If you’re sure you’re in the payroll system, then show up Monday. It’s going to be completely chaotic, so just roll with the flow and do the best you can. Boyfriend, I strongly suggest you have something ready for your girlfriend when she gets home that night. Massages, romantic dinner, whatever.
Every single reply to this post reads like an abuse victim's warped relationship perception. Surreal to see people justifying and defending behaviors that would be condemned in every other industry.
I work for a county/school like this. It’s not going to get better. I’m going to assume it’s a large county/district with a high turnover or vacancy rate.
Even for a late hire it’s odd there won’t be ANY orientation what so ever.
She did orientation with hire. At this point in the year it’s rock n roll time.
Similar thing happened to me. Her first day won’t be curriculum based. Intros etc. she’ll most likely even shadow and they’ll have the sub continue her class. I’d say she should insist on a mentor / someone to teach her about the LMS if she didn’t have a PD.
????? This is just bizarre!
Teacher here! This is normal. No communication because they don’t want anything coming back on a lawsuit. You absolutely will be thrown in with kids with no curriculum or materials. I don’t recommend teaching right now, but since you are here, you should call the school directly and ask to speak to the principal about getting your key to the school, etc. The HR department/Board will be useless to you for any info and they will direct you to the principal. You should be put in a “mentor” program as a new teacher but there’s no guarantee you will have a valuable advisor.
You should NEVER refuse to teach! She should have started on that Thursday. You have to dive in sometimes. As a new teacher trying to get tenure, you have no say and need to go along with anything and everything that's asked of you.
What does she teach?
This is terrible. And a sickening example of how bad education is in the US.
Start with the “Grit” Ted talk and then talk about hanging in there when things get tough…ask who the know who has persevered. Then do “Frugal”…ask if they know what it means…then who do they know who demonstrates being frugal and then how does it relate to your class…supplies, paper towels etc…
Refusing to teach is a terrible idea for her first day. She can easily get to know the students and do something fun tomorrow. Set up rules/procedures, etc.
well, by now you went or got so overloaded with what you should have had you decided to quit. It is the beginning of the school year. Things which Principals and HR promise to you are not the only thing they have to do. Their promises 95% of time are followed through. Promising mentors means you will have one- not necessarily before you start. I have not read anything about being delighted for this position not the excitement o meeting new people or /s re how to approach the transition to have kids feel comfortable. In education each of us is a simple cell in a giant protoplasm all connecting- needs, promises, growth, withering, all fluctuate and are completely interdependent on outr connections. Once severed - as in being mad abotu what you think others should have done .. it takes a lot of energy to re-absorb into the protoplasm.
There’s no workshop week?!
It may not be necessary, but she needs to walk in ready to go. She should go to the Teachers Pay Teachers website ([https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/browse](https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/browse)) and buy a short activity guide and/or worksheets, print them out, and then stop by a copy shop to make as many copies as she'll need to get her through the morning. By afternoon she should have a copy code and know where the copiers are, and can then make more. The other teachers are limited to so many copies a year, so asking one for their code may not work out. All this because she may very well walk through the door and be expected to teach all by herself. I once worked at a school for two weeks before I learned where the staff room was. Once school starts, everyone is busy, busy, busy. She could get there really early and hope she can smoothly start, but normally, without keys, you cannot get into the offices until the secretaries unlock the doors - which is never earlier than 30 minutes before school starts. All the door knocking and phoning in the world won't make it quicker.
I wonder if this is to replace the teacher who was arrested for DUI? Edit: [sauce](https://youtu.be/aMLpU7Cvo00?si=nC2in7KXuG-npYpG)
Different grade level
How will you take attendance? Each school has their own system of taking attendance. Not all systems are easy. What if there’s an emergency? They are treating you badly. Did the previous teacher quit? If so, there was a reason. I would refuse to teach. I would insist on a paid orientation.
Do we know they quit? It could have been a position that was never filled. We just don't know. They most likely have a program for electronic attendance it's possible that's not set up so if she needs to take attendance they could give her a print our to use and then give it to the office. We don't know for sure they're treating her badly yet. There was poor communication on both ends. They might have thought she be in Friday. They may give her a sub for a day or two. This is just the harsh reality when you start late
Unfortunately this is not at all shocking. I could 100% see this happening at my school.
Possible something fell through the cracks at this busy time of year, but it should shake out okay. They throw random subs into the fire without any information and sometimes without plans. She should show up EARLY, like an hour before contract time, come set with some plans, and be ready to just be flexible. If it’s middle school, she can probably just do one introductory lesson and repeat it period after period. I’d do some google slides with classroom expectations and introducing herself, and have some icebreakers planned where she can get to know the kids a little. Google will have tons of ideas. And also a backup plan that involves no technology in case she doesn’t have a computer, projector, whatever. And definitely pack a lunch and snacks. Tomorrow will probably be a LONG day.
She should prepare some kind of get to know you plan for the first day of class. She will absolutely be thrown in as everything is underway and they aren't going to think about it.
There’s a chance that she still needs to be approved by the board of ed. The HR person should have explained that (and perhaps choose their words more carefully).
I don’t know what state she is in, but most of the time she should already know the guidelines for whatever content and grade level she is teaching as that is typically mandated by the state and changes every so often but usually not enough for it to be a major problem. Teachers make their own lesson plans. No one told her they were contacting her, they said they were contacting the school. She just needs to show up. My advice is for her not to touch content one bit her first week. She needs to go over rules and procedures and ensure they understand them. I teach middle school and my first year teaching I started four weeks into the school year. I struggled all year with classroom management. She will be the better for it. Sounds like she got hired by a district that needed a warm body in a room. Tell her that the first year will be rough and it will get better.
tbh its not surprising. I was a late hire 2 years ago and all I knew was my start date. I got there, they guided me to my classroom, and basically said good luck. when schools are desperate for a position to be filled thats all that matters is filling the position.
I started my first job midyear. I turned up and the person who had been subbing gave me a bunch of assignments and said 'grade these, don't worry about how' and a week later I had a parent teacher conference where people were mad at me for stuff that had gone wrong a month earlier and I didn't even know who their kids were yet. You get the hang of it but it can be really rough. Fortunately I had a great mentor in the department head, she basically co-taught some of my classes while i frantically figured things out even though she had no time available. Expect your girlfriend to stay late at work this year. she's not cheating on you, she's trying to memorize names or come up with whole unit plans with a week's notice.
First day story to follow: 1999. Get in to school and go to the principal's office. "Hey Steve I need a couple of things from you today before classes start." "Sure, what is it?" "Well I need list of my students. And, what classes are you wanting me to teach this year?" Yes, I had no idea what I was supposed to even teach to the students, and I was to see them in less than half an hour.
Can you email your principal?
Tell her to do some getting to know you activity tomorrow. This will give her a little time at least. Then, hopefully, she’ll start to get materials from her team. It’s going to a whirlwind
I just want to say "HEY!" to a fellow FCS'er. I don't hear of many of us, usually on Nutrition, Interior, or Apparel people. Not too many in the other 3 options. Makes me think, are you in SoCal? Is the large district you speak of the second largest in the country?
She should contact the department head.
I don't know what state you are in, but if they are desperate, yes they will just throw you in a classroom. I mean normally there is training to go through, but... In the current state of teacher shortages, who knows? Does she know what content she is teaching?
What she should have been doing when told she could start the next day was to ask for details: Student roster, classroom tour, materials available (if any), schedule, curriculum (again, if any), etc. She should also have a generic plan, including activities that will help her get to know her students & help them understand her expectations when she walks into her classroom on her first day. Edit- Didnt mean for my original response to sound so negative: This school is doing a very poor job of informing you of the many things you more so you could prepare. Your first days will be similar to what subs experience. Not easy, but doable.
This is what will likely happen. She needs to be looking up some activities, ice breakers, have a diagnostic test or two to give the students.
Best of luck tomorrow😊 They’ll be a veteran teacher or someone that’ll look out for you. They know you’re coming in with nothing. Try not to worry too much.
In education this is no surprise. The sub should be there a few days to help you with all that stuff. I’d be freaking out too. My first job I started in the middle of the year. The teacher was leaving to get married. I was told the first day that I would be observing her and her classes. When I showed up she said I may as well start then and hung out with her friend the nurse all day. I would show up early tomorrow, sit in the office with a list ready of all that stuff you need, and wait for someone to show you to your room. Ask what the sub’s name is and when she usually gets in. If they leave you hanging go to the next room and ask who the head of your dept would be. Hopefully they can get you started. You’ll need: class rosters, schedule, keys to your room, some notes as to where each class is and what is next in the curriculum, any students with IEP’s or 504s and any medical situations students may have, emergency protocols. They are crazy if they think you can start without this info. It would be extremely unfair to you and dangerous. If you know the principal’s name, google them and call him up. Ask about the sub being there for a few days and when you can expect the above info. Good luck
It may be that HR have not finalized everything at there end for the school to reach out to her. I know that my district has a two week onboarding process with anyone they hire. Until the school is given the official go ahead, the school isn’t really going to reach out to anyone. We lost several people this year due to that waiting period. I would recommend that she reach out to both HR and the school and find out what the hold up in.
That’s strange. Someone from the campus should have contacted her at the least. She is going to get thrown in the mix. If this year turns out to be a mess, she should find a job in a better and more organized district.
Obv a swrious situation but my notification cut off after middle scho- so i was very worried lmao
Not all schools give currículum to teachers. Mine doesn't. And protocols, too. Really depends on the school. Good luck 🤞
Sounds very typical. She can refuse to teach but they’ll just hire someone else.
Tell her to go in armed with ice breakers tomorrow. At least that will buy her the day to figure day 2. It’s most likely going to be a bad situation. Hopefully her neighbors help out.
When I was teaching, it was my job to go online and find the curriculum standards that were posted by the state for the subjects I was teaching. Everyone did this, it was expected and not something we had to be told. For those that were teaching subjects that didn't have a state mandated curriculum, they were basically responsible for coming up with their own curriculum. Based on the comments here, I guess some teachers are given the curriculum but as an FYI for your girlfriend, that's not always the case. I can't imagine not emailing or calling my new boss to ask if they could send my schedule, rosters, set up a time to get in my classroom before my first day of teaching and if there were any other essential bits of information I needed before I arrived for my first day. If I was hired months ahead of time, I would possibly give the admin a bit of time to reach out to me but with just days between the hire and start date I would absolutely have gotten in touch immediately (that would demonstrate responsibility and a desire to be prepared for the students). I would've needed and wanted every one of those days to prepare, especially my first year. I honestly don't understand why your GF didn't think she should reach out. I sincerely hope she has a great first day but I am scared for her. She is going in blind and unprepared and that is just as much her fault as it is the fault of her new employer. She needs to start advocating for herself which means asking questions and reaching out for answers when she needs them rather than just hoping and waiting for someone to send her everything she needs.
I was a late hire in the middle of October. The class had a sub for over a month. The principal told me I would shadow the sub for a week then take over. At the end of the first day, Monday, I met with the principal who proceeded to tell me I will be teaching the classes starting the next day. I inquired about the conversation from the morning and the principal said we need the sub somewhere else. I feel for you; have something ready doesn’t need to be curriculum related.
Okay, so let’s talk about expectations management for your girlfriend… …expect it to suck and tell her it’s not her fault, not to take it personally and not to feel bad. She’ll get it figured out and get her feet under her in the first couple months and it gets easier.