Get to know the developmental characteristics of your students

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If you’re hired last-minute, you won’t have time to study, but try to squeeze in a little time to research the habits and behaviors of the little people you’ll be teaching.

I didn’t do any developmental research at all before I started teaching first grade. I thought I knew that age group because I had worked with second graders in my internship the year before. But for children, there can be differences in behaviors based on even one year of age!

Here is a great resource to get you started. 

Also, here are some personal findings [unscientific] about 6- and 7-year-olds that I experienced last year:

            -6/7s are not too cool for stuffed animals, which is great. I let my students read with reading buddies (aka donated Beanie Babies) sometimes, and they loved it!



            -6/7s lose a lot of teeth. The other teachers had cute teeth holders to give out, but I never really had time to consider it. I just threw plastic baggies at them and told them to put the teeth away in their backpacks. It works.

            -First grade is the year they love to be first. 6/7s bicker a lot about being first or getting the best of something. I found it incredibly hard to teach selflessness. I’m considering teaching selflessness and patience in more detail through daily morning meetings, but if you have any ideas, please comment below!

            -6/7s shed a bunch of tears. Whether they tripped and fell or a friend doesn’t want to play their game on the playground, 6/7s will usually cry about it. Let them cry it out. The more attention you give to the hysteria, the longer it will take for them to calm down. Of course, have compassion – for them, they may be facing a big battle! But also realize that for this age, the waterworks come easy.

            -6/7s love stories and believe what you tell them. I never did Elf on the Shelf or Santa anything, but I did have a “leprechaun” around St. Patrick’s Day play all sorts of tricks in the classroom. The students got really into it. They were still asking about the leprechaun in May.

Leprechaun footprints aka teacher fist dunked in washable green paint. Shh!


A leprechaun trap!



        I hope that helps! Doing a little research on your age group will help you form more appropriate expectations in the classroom and will prepare you for certain behaviors.

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