leaving teaching job mid-year - First Year Teachers - New Teachers


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Michele Osborne
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Joined:	Sun Jun 26th, 2005
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Posts:	2
Mana:

I am looking for some ideas on how to break the news to my preschoolers that I will be leaving the state in about a month. My little friends are very emotional and I want to make the transition to another teacher as easy for them ( and me) as possible. Any advice?

Thanks,

Michele

tipsforteachers
Administrator

Joined:	Tue Dec 7th, 2004
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Posts:	2
Mana:

Hi Michele,

Leaving your students will be hard (for you and them) but there are many things you can do to ease the transition. First, you should tell them about the move as soon as possible, but not if you are upset or emotional about leaving. (If you get upset so will they, so wait until you can talk about it without getting upset). Of course, there are bound to be a few tears the last day but you need to keep everything as normal as possible for them in the time leading up to your departure. Show them where you are going using a map and explain why (without divulging too much personal information) and let them know that you can answer any questions they have any time. Children are very naturally curious, and the more they know about where and why you’re going the more comforted they’ll be. Share books about moving to help generate questions and concerns students will have. The following books are useful:
Alexander, Who's Not (Do You Hear Me, I Mean It!) Going to Move by Judith Viorst
Best Friends Together Again by Aliki,

The Leaving Morning by Angela Johnson

Emphasize how exciting it will be to have a new teacher and how important it is to make him/her feel welcome. Depending on their age, have students:

Write a note to the new teacher that asks one question about her and tells one fact about the student
Create a class book that explains the rules/routines of your classroom
Make a welcome present for the teacher: a clay dough necklace, where each student makes and paints a bead for the new teacher then string all the beads onto a length of yarn.

On a more personal note, when I was in first grade my teacher, whom I loved, got married and moved in the middle of the year. She gave us her new address and we were able to write her letters. She also sent a few letters to the entire class during the year with some pictures of her new home. I know I wrote her a few notes and I think this was probably very helpful to us (first grade was a long time ago, it’s hard to remember that far back J).

Best of luck. I hope we were able to help you.

Last edited on Thu Jun 30th, 2005 04:52 pm by tipsforteachers

Michele Osborne
Member

Joined:	Sun Jun 26th, 2005
Location:
Posts:	2
Mana:

thank you so much. I will use your suggestions and I believe we can turn this experience into a positive instead of a negative.

Elizabeth
Member

Joined:	Thu Jan 6th, 2005
Location:
Posts:	1
Mana:

Those are great ideas.

On a different topic, do you have any beginning of the year getting to know you activities? I work at a large public school (2nd grade) and many of the students don't know each other. Any fun and creative suggestions would be appreciated.

ps - Loved the learning center download in your store. The math games are great. They'll be a little challenging for the beginning of the year in 2nd grade, but I always have those students who are advanced and need a challenge!