As explained in this and other chapters, much of teaching is confidence. And organization can be a big boon to anyone's confidence. It may help you to use the following lists to help organize yourself before and during the school year. You can also find more comprehensive beginning-of-the-year and end-of-the-year checklists on the CD included with this book.

In Your Room

You will spend a lot of time in your classroom, so make sure that you have created a warm and welcoming environment there. Use the following checklist to make sure your room is ready for your students:

• Create bulletin boards with an eye toward enhancing your curriculum. Make sure they are not a distraction to your students.

• Organize your room into separate areas devoted to specific tasks and resources. For example, you might have an area devoted to make-up work, one for text checkouts, one for learning stations, and so on.

• Place items where they make the most sense in terms of use. In other words, put your most used files in the cabinet closest to your desk.

• Gather your supplies in specific locations. Make sure to inventory what you have so that you can keep track of your resources.

• Clean your desks before the students arrive. You will often come to school to find dirty desks that have not been cleaned all summer.

• Depending on the grade you teach, make sure you have a pencil sharpener, chalk, erasers, markers, scissors, and crayons.

On Your Desk

You will spend a lot of time at your desk over the next year, so take some time now to organize your personal space. Following is a list of items that you should make sure to have at or near your desk for quick reference:.

• Your course texts and books

• Your lesson plan book

• Your attendance book and sheets

• Hall passes and discipline referrals

• The substitute folder and information

• Post-it notes, paper clips, paper, pens, and pencils

• A stapler, tape, and a pair of scissors

In Your Lessons

Finally, you should make sure that when you create lessons, you consider the following:

• Learning styles

• Multiple intelligences

• Varying instruction

• Standards

• Time to complete

• Time to grade

• Your goals

• Your expectations

While it can seem overwhelming, just take it one step at a time. Realize that you will have lessons that will flop and lessons that will soar. Keep the best, and rework the worst for next year's students. Only through trial and error can you truly become an effective teacher.