New Teacher Checklist

A first-year list in time order on one page: before school starts, the first week, the first month.

Press a line or a heading to type, or paste a list.

Name:School year:First-year teacher checklistDoneBEFORE SCHOOL STARTSTurn in new-hire and payroll formsGet keys, ID badge and parking passSet up school email and loginsRead the staff handbookMeet your mentor and your teamTour the building and find the exitsGet curriculum guides and the calendarLearn how to request a substituteTHE FIRST WEEKLearn every student's nameLearn how attendance is takenWalk the lunch and dismissal routesFind out your duty daysAsk the nurse about health plansRead your students' IEP and 504 plansIntroduce yourself to familiesLearn how copies get madeTHE FIRST MONTHSet up the gradebookMark the report card datesAsk when your first observation isWatch a colleague teach a lessonContact every family onceEnroll in benefits by the deadlineLearn how to log training hoursAsk what your license renewal needs
New teacher checklist: before school, first week, first month One page in time order: 8 lines to do before school starts, 8 for the first week and 8 for the first month, each with a box to tick. It runs from Turn in new-hire and payroll forms to Ask what your license renewal needs.
More options

Next step Print a substitute lesson plan

All 6 sheets

The first year 4

  • First-year paperwork to keep, with a Where it is column 9 kinds of paper to keep track of in a first year, Signed contract to Mentor meeting notes, each with a Have it box and a Where it is box.
  • New teacher checklist: before school, first week, first month One page in time order: 8 lines to do before school starts, 8 for the first week and 8 for the first month, each with a box to tick. It runs from Turn in new-hire and payroll forms to Ask what your license renewal needs.
  • People to meet in your first week 14 people in a school, Principal to Bus and dismissal lead, each with a Met box and room for a name and a room number.
  • Questions for your mentor, with room for the answers 12 questions a first-year teacher needs answered, from How do I request a substitute? to What do I do during a drill?, each with an Asked box and room to write the answer.

Every day and every week 2

  • Daily teacher checklist, Monday to Friday 10 things a teacher does every school day, from Agenda on the board to Room locked, with a box for each weekday.
  • Weekly teacher checklist, four weeks 8 things to finish each week, from Lesson plans written to One good-news note or call home, with a box for each of four weeks.

How it works

This new teacher checklist is for a first job at a school. Its 24 lines cover what is new there: forms, keys and logins, the people to meet, how the building runs, a first observation and license renewal.

Read the full guide

A first year teacher checklist is mostly people

Many lines send you to someone: the office for keys and forms, a mentor for how substitutes and copies work, the nurse for health plans. Two more sheets take that further: one for the people to meet and one for the questions to ask a mentor.

A daily and a weekly teacher checklist

The first-year list is ticked once and then it is finished. What repeats goes on the routine sheets: the daily one for things done every school day, the weekly one for plans, grades and messages home.

  • Every school does these things its own way and on its own dates. Where a line does not fit yours, change it or remove it.
  • The paperwork sheet has a Where it is box, so a contract or a license can be found again in spring.
  • A substitute lesson plan written in a calm week is ready for the morning you need it.

Questions and answers

What should a new teacher do first?

Start with what lets you into the building and its systems: forms, keys, a badge, email and logins. Then read the staff handbook and meet your mentor. The opening sheet lists these under Before school starts.

What should a new teacher learn in the first week?

Three kinds of thing. The students: every name, their IEP and 504 plans, a first hello to their families. The building's routines: attendance, the lunch and dismissal routes, your duty days, how copies get made. And one question for the nurse, about health plans.

What should a first-year teacher ask a mentor?

How to request a substitute, who to call in an emergency, where a sick student goes, when grades are due, how copies are counted and what to do during a drill. The mentor sheet prints 12 such questions with room for each answer.

More tools

Show 6 more

Browse Classroom Management