Many new teachers in middle and secondary schools float for the first few years of teaching. As if teaching wasn’t already hard enough for new teachers, you now must be super-organized in your planning and preparation.
Here are several tips to help float classroom to classroom successfully.
Scope Out Each Room
Take note of the equipment and desk arrangement in each room. See how long it will take to travel from room to room. If you have a major haul, ask your supervisor if there are any closer, open classrooms. Otherwise, you will have to pack up immediately between these periods.
Ask Teachers for Space
Request shelves and a drawer in each room. Use the shelves to hold any classroom texts. Use drawers to store student portfolios, and let the teachers know these drawers need to be secure.
Demand a Secure Desk and Filing Cabinet in a Central Location
It is your right as a profession to have a desk and a locking filing cabinet. You can forgo the filing cabinet if the desk has ample drawer space for files. Request a desk that locks to protect your personal property. Tell the office you want to keep IEPs and other confidential records secure.
Refuse a desk in the teacher’s room or library whenever possible. You want your desk in a secure classroom where you can get work done before and after school.
Get to School Early
You must prepare all materials and pack them each morning for traveling. You can also prepare after school, but often meetings and students will take up this time.
Borrow a Cart
Request a cart from the media center. Having a cart is a lifesaver on days when you need to carry numerous text and supplies from classroom to classroom.
Rethink Your Bag
A professional leather bag is just not going to work. By the end of the year, you’ll be carrying three bags to class.
Instead, buy a piece of luggage with a retractable handle and wheels. Or, you can learn from the students, and purchase a backpack.
You may also want to purchase a crate or small, filing box for quick sorting of papers coming in and out of each class. Find one that can hold hanging files. You'll be surprised at how quickly your bag will become disorganized without this addition.
Find Quiet Space
Most vital to the traveling teacher is finding a quiet place to prep. Usually, the room where your desk is located is not free during your preps. The library is often the best location. If the library is crowded, try the empty cafeteria during the morning or afternoons.
Beware of the teachers’ room; it’s a great place to meet colleagues, but often it can be a distracting place to get work done.
Change Your Methods and Materials
Do not rewrite notes on the board. Instead, use overhead transparencies for notes, which can then travel to the next room with you. Or, during your first class write notes on large newsprint, and reuse those notes in later classes.
Forget those awesome PowerPoint presentations if they will be too difficult to set up in different classrooms. Don’t get stressed fighting with technology. Unless, of course, your school is equipped with SmartBoards or laptop-projector carts—then, by all means, PowerPoint away.
Enlist Students
Lastly, use floating to your advantage. Create starter activities that do not involve you, and soon students will be working before you even get to class. Teach students to respect each classroom since they are not yours, and you will be accountable for their actions. Offer to write late passes if students will help carry heavy supplies to your next class.
Hold yourself and students to high standards. When you do forget something, apologize to students, and tell yourself aloud to stay after school.
Once you've implemented these nine tips into your travels, you'll find floating isn't as bad as you thought it would be. Now you are ready for classroom management strategies!
Kristy Acevedo - I am a freelance writer and high school English teacher. I am currently working on articles, a memoir, and a YA novel. I'm still looking ...
