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Teaching Secrets: First Days in the Elementary Classroom

By Elena Aguilar

My first day of teaching—15 years ago in a bilingual 2nd grade classroom in Oakland, California—was terrifying, exhilarating, and utterly exhausting. Although I had never felt so unprepared for anything, somehow the first days were smooth. In retrospect, I was really lucky. Those days set the tone for the rest of the year, I later realized.

I have since refined my first-days routines, modifying them based on grade and content, but sticking to the same framework. In order to establish an effective learning environment, all my activities in those first days fall into one of three categories:

• Building community with students and their families.

• Establishing routines, procedures, and classroom management systems.

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