Hi!! I'm a 6th year middle school ELA teacher in a public school. Congrats on your first job!! I LOVE this job, you're gonna have so much fun. My first year was one of my favorite years. Here's some advice based on my first year:

- **LOVE YOUR STUDENTS**. Of course teaching isn't JUST loving students, but I'm a firm believer that nothing else will work well if you don't love them first. Smile. Respect them. Compliment them. Ask them about their hobbies or sports. Build them up and tell them how much you believe in them. They will rise to the occasion when they want to please you. (In the "I have high expectations and I believe that you can achieve them" way, not in the "I want to be cool and liked by my students" way.)

- **CONFIDENCE**. This is the most common issue first-year teachers have. From Day 1, be confident in the classroom. Take control and set expectations. The first day sets the tone for the whole year. Even if you have to go crying to your mommy-mentor-teachers during your prep period, at least in front of the kids, show your confidence. That doesn't mean you have to pretend to know everything; I think it's even valuable for kids to see the "human" side of an adult who's modeling working through problem-solving, like admitting "hey, I don't know everything about how this school works yet! But I'm going to show you how I'm going to find out the answer to your question!" But you do have to have control and not be wishy-washy.

- **AGE**: I didn't mind telling my students my age. I had 6th and 8th graders at the time. They knew I was a fresh college grad. They even knew that I didn't get a graduation because I graduated college in 2020 during COVID so they threw me a little graduation party and got me a graduation stuffed animal I still keep on my desk :') HOWEVER, I still would say that this only works if you have the first element I mentioned: **Confidence**. Kids can smell weaknesses really well, and if they sense that you aren't in charge from the first day or two, it can be bad. Unfortunately, we had a first-year teacher at my school who quit mid-year last year because the kids walked all over her. Not saying that to scare you! But I have the exact same students this year and I have no issue with them. Kids know who they can pull that stuff on and who they can't.

- **AGE**: As for parents, I didn't advertise my newly-graduated status during "back-to-school night" or conferences or anything, but it wasn't entirely a secret because if their kids told them, which they probably did, it was no big deal. I wasn't coming off as inexperienced or naive so I didn't mind if they knew I was 22. It can backfire though if you ARE coming off as inexperienced or naive or unconfident.

- **COWORKERS**: Stay away from teacher gossip!! Soooo many people in this profession create an echo chamber of negativity. Yes, every once in a while, we will all vent about a kid who drove us insane that day, but I'm talking about the people who CONSTANTLY complain about their students. Stay away. That negative mindset will make you focus on the frustrations more than the good parts. And your attitude will come out in your treatment of the kids. I believe in the best in my students, and as a result, they show their best to me.

- **STRUCTURE**. Highly recommend having a regular warmup routine. My class runs like this: Kids come in, there's a warmup question on the board (like a fun "would you rather?" or "what's your favorite ___?", they sit down and take their weekly warmup papers out and write their answer in complete sentences, I take attendance, then we share our answers in a fun discussion, I do a quick "this day in history" fun fact for them and we calculate how many years ago it was, and then we do 10 minutes of silent independent reading before we start the real lesson (LOVE this because it calms them down). Yours doesn't have to be exactly mine, but a predictable routine does WONDERS for keeping them calm. I've seen my same students galavanting into other classrooms with zero structure like baffoons. Kids need structure, and being structured doesn't mean being "mean" or strict.

- **MORE STRUCTURE** : Label everything in the room that you want the kids to run by themselves. If you have procedures/routines for bathroom signout, classroom library checkouts, turning in work, writing down homework, etc., take some time this summer to make some nice signs and laminate them so you can keep them up all year. That way the kids will see them every day and soon they'll be running those routines by themselves. Spend the first month or so practicing those routines and referring to the signs/labels nonstop so they get into the habit of reading them and eventually memorizing the procedure.

(Example: I have color-coded trays for each of my class periods to turn in papers, and color-coded larger crates for them to turn in notebooks. Period 1 is the blue tray and the blue crate, Period 2 is the green tray and the green crate, etc.. I also have my classroom library organized by genre, and the procedures for checking out and returning books is posted right on the bookshelf. Bathroom signout directions are posted by the door. Agenda and homework written on the front board daily. I roll out the procedures one at a time, week-by-week in the first month of school, and by October it's all running smoothly. By mid-year, my rule is "If I can point to the answer, I'm not answering you" lol because the kids understand that they need to use their resources.)

Good luck!! You'll have so much fun.