This is a life-saving guide to maintaining your sanity during your rookie teacher year. Nothing's more daunting for a first-year teacher than the moment when the cold, hard reality of classroom life strikes. It can come in many forms - from the unruly student to pesky state standards - but one thing's for certain: that moment will come, and more will follow. "The Organized Teacher" takes you beyond theory and into hands-on classroom management. Designed for use from Day 1, this blueprint for classroom success sees you through your first year by getting right down to the nitty-gritty of 'in the trenches' teaching.Among hundreds of valuable tips, "The Organized Teacher" provides: advice on everything from desk arrangement to unit planning; sample room setups, from kindergarten to fifth grade; tried-and-true behavior-management strategies; practical advice on creating student portfolios; checklists and signs in reproducible 8-1/2-by-11-inch format; and, templates and samples of math and writing rubrics. As a new teacher, you'll have to deal with an extraordinary number of tasks, rules, and standards - not to mention the ubiquitous 'human factor'. This guide will help you make a smooth transition from the cozy comfort of school to the unpredictable, always-eventful profession of teaching.