Any 4th grade teachers out there?

[luvmy2sams]

I accepted my first teaching position yesterday. Woo hoo! Although I have several mentors in my school district, it never hurts to get as much information and advice as possible. I'd appreciate anyone that is willing to impart any tips for a successful first year.

Thanks!

 

[AlaskaMOM]

I'm at the high school level, elementary scares me.

so I have no advice for you

But wanted to offer my congrats!

 

[Mary•Poppins]

Congrats!

I am a reading specialist and work with fourth graders. They are great! They can work independently and will still try to please their teacher. (At least most of them do ... )

If you have any questions when you start about your struggling readers ... PM me. Congrats, congrats, congrats!!!!

 

[mum4jenn]

http://rhonda-adayinthelife.blogspot.com/2010/01/day-in-life-of-new-teacherparentteacher.html

THis is a blog about a teacher's first year. The blogger is my SIL and she has entries from January through just a week or so ago.
I am not a teacher but I think she has given tons of advice. I hope you will find something useful.
She just earned her Doctorate and her daughter is beginning her 1st year of teaching in Alaska.

 

[luvmy2sams]

I'm at the high school level, elementary scares me.

so I have no advice for you

But wanted to offer my congrats!

High schoolers scare the life out of me. Thanks for the congrats!

Congrats!

I am a reading specialist and work with fourth graders. They are great! They can work independently and will still try to please their teacher. (At least most of them do ... )

If you have any questions when you start about your struggling readers ... PM me. Congrats, congrats, congrats!!!!

Thanks for the congrats and the offer of future assistance. I'm filing your user name away! I did my student teaching in a 4th/5th split, and I loved those 4th graders. Such sweeties! I can't wait to meet my students!

http://rhonda-adayinthelife.blogspot.com/2010/01/day-in-life-of-new-teacherparentteacher.html

THis is a blog about a teacher's first year. The blogger is my SIL and she has entries from January through just a week or so ago.
I am not a teacher but I think she has given tons of advice. I hope you will find something useful.
She just earned her Doctorate and her daughter is beginning her 1st year of teaching in Alaska.

Very cool! Thanks for the link!

 

[IDoDis]

Congrats on your new job! DH and I are both elementary teachers. DH has taught 4th grade for the past 13 years and is extremely happy with that grade level. He said it's the perfect grade to teach (he's taught mid-school and high school, as well).

One teacher that he refers to as his "mentor" is Beth Newingham. She's an amazing teacher and has quite a following on the internet! Here's a link to her website:
http://hill.troy.k12.mi.us/staff/bnewingham/myweb3/

She also has a page on Scholastic.com that is updated each month or so:

http://blogs.scholastic.com/top_teaching/beth_newingham/

Even though she teaches 3rd grade, DH still gets tons of ideas from her. Just check out her web page and the creativity! I'd have given anything for our kids to have had her as a teacher.

I teach special ed and have all elem. grade levels except for kindergarten. The best piece of advice I can give would be to set up your class as a place where students learn to respect each other and treat each other kindly. Use positive rewards, rules, and consequences. Most of all, be consistent. You don't have to be a "mean" teacher to have kids respect you. In fact, when they do respect you and each other, you can have so much more fun than other teachers who don't do the fun things because the class gets too out of control.

I'm going to do her bucket idea using the book, "Have you Filled Your Bucket Today." Beth shows where to get all of the materials, and she has wonderful pages that you can print for most of her ideas.

 

[Erin1700]

I am not a 4th grade teacher, but my DD is going to 4th grade this year.

I can tell you that most of them still really love school and enjoy doing work that is "hard" for them. Last year all the 3rd grade teacher had to say was "this is tough work, I think maybe the 5th grade can not even do it!" and all the kids completed it in minutes!

Also, they still really like to know about you and your hobbies and favorite things.

I hope you have a great year and have good students!!

 

[UnderTheMistletoe]

Congratulations!!

I student taught in 4th grade. I love them! They are at such a perfect age where they can work independently, but still want to please you. You can still do the corny things with them and they still laugh and giggle and play along.

Having just finished my first year teaching, I think it's more important that you really spend the time getting a game plan in mind before the start of the school year. My school was under refurbishment and we couldn't get into our classrooms until the 2nd day of teacher return week. You couldn't focus on the superficial stuff (bulletin boards, etc.) because you had four walls, a ceiling, and a floor. I literally taught my first day in the media center because I didn't even have desks!

You've got to know what your rules, policies, and procedures are on the first day. That's what the kids want and need to know so that they settle in. Check out Harry Wong's "The First Days of School." I went through it before I started student teaching, last summer, and just picked it up again this year. You only get one start to the year and you want to make it count!

And never tell them it's your first year teaching! You just finished student teaching... so THAT was your first year! I've been teaching 7th grade, so this was vitally important! And remember that parents are your allies!

 

[stsomewhere]

My sons 4th grade teacher gave them a lecture about making sure they wear deodorant on gym days.

 

[MM27]

I teach 4th grade. I start my 11th year in September. I was an early childhood education major in college and hired as a 2nd grade teacher. Two days before school started my first year, the principal informed me that I was being moved to 4th grade. I was so scared because I student taught in 1st grade and all my experiences were with younger kids.

I can't tell you how much I like 4th grade now. The kids are independent, yet they still love school for the most part.

If you have any questions about anything in particular, feel free to ask, but you also might want to head over to the proteacher.com boards. They have a board for just about everything and one is just for 4th grade. I'm always over there.

 

[Boston Tea Party]

Run, don't walk, and acquire Harry Wong's The First Days of School.

And welcome to the profession!