Become Familiar with Your School Facility
Familiarize yourself with your school before the kids arrive by doing a walkabout. Walkabout is an Australian aboriginal term, meaning a long trek over unfamiliar terrain, done to honor one's ancestors. Your journey is a similar endeavor, done to prepare yourself for your students and honor the professionalism and dedication of all the teachers who have gone before you. Budget a bit of time for this task, as it might take upward of half an hour or more.
You've got many excellent reasons for conducting a walkabout, but perhaps the best one is safety. If your school schedules a fire drill during the first month of school, will you know where your line-up area is, as well as the quickest way to get your kids there? Or, if there's a school lockdown and you're required to retrieve your kids early from lunch, do you know where the cafeteria is? If you're followed by a stranger on campus after hours, do you know the quickest way to the front office? Safety's a big consideration when it comes to learning the ins and outs of your school. Also, you simply need to know where to go each day in order to do your job.
Some public school sites have amenities that might surprise you. For example, the Yadavindra Public School in Punjab State, India, boasts horse stables, tennis courts, badminton courts, and cricket fields. Closer to home, Beverly Hills High School in Beverly Hills, California, has its own functioning oil well, which provides some $300,000 in annual oil revenues to the school.
Take at least one day, if not more, before the kids come streaming through the front gates to learn where everything is. You may be pleasantly surprised to discover a well-tended student garden or a large volleyball area complete with nets or a second copy room with numerous additional copy machines. But you'll never know unless you start walking. And don't forget to ask your teaching colleagues and principal any questions you might have about your school site.
