To the Newbies

I have been the new teacher in the school and/or grade level 5 times in my career.  I know how it feels to be the new teacher starting out meeting new people, getting a room set up, getting a feel for the climate of a school, learning a whole new curriculum (or helping to design one), and all the anxiety that comes with being new.  I know that every August there is a whole new crop of new teachers starting out, and I thought I'd take a minute to give some of my lesson-learned tips and advice. 

YOUR NEW CLASSROOM
1) Take pictures and measurements of your new room.  Do a rough drawing of how you'd like your room to look- in other words, make a plan.  This will save you valuable time later. 
2) Take it one area at a time when setting up the walls of your room.  Make sure you designate one wall as a "focus wall".  If anyone walks into the room, this will give them a snapshot of all curricular areas that you are working on.  Think visiting administrators, parents, etc...
3) It's your very own classroom.  Do anything you want with it!!  Look around online. (Pinterest is a great place to start.)  There are TONS of different examples of how rooms are arranged. You'll be spending 8+ hours in your room, so you better like it!

YOUR NEW SCHOOL
1)  Observe all that you can, and get a feel for your new building and everyone in it.  See who the go-to teachers are for help/resources/advice/etc.  Be aware that it's a building full of different personalitites, and you need to feel everyone out (just as they are surely trying to figure you out).  Be yourself, but hold back some comments or opinions until you know who to say what to.  Basically- learn when to keep your mouth shut quiet.  Again, this is solely based on my experiences.
2)  Ask to check out the classrooms of those around you.  Ask them questions about school and non-school related things.  You will be in the trenches teaching with these people for months.  It helps when you have friends at work.
3)  Make friends with the custodians, assistants, and the secretaries.  They are the hearts of the inner-workings of the school.  If they don't like you, your life at school can be MUCH more difficult.  (Also, some of my closest friendships have been with the members of the support staff at schools!)

YOUR NEW SCHOOL YEAR
1) Remember to breathe.  Expect it to be hard- Don't expect to create all the extravagant lesson plans that you created in undergrad classes.  (I remember having to create thematic units for every methods class with incredible differentiation, multiple ingelligences, etc for EVERY subject.)  You will burn out if you set that expectation for yourself.  Aim for 3 good "undergrad lessons" a week.    The first year's goals are survival and learning.
2)  Discipline is not a bad word- in fact, it's KEY.  Without classroom management, you're year won't ever get off the ground.  I suggest going lighter on the academics at first, while nailing down your classroom management.  DO NOT worry about the kids liking you.  They don't need a FRIEND; they need a TEACHER.  You can always be strict in the beginning and pull back later, but you can't be lax on them in the beginning and expect to pull in the reins later.  It won't work.
3) YOU set the seating arrangement.  They DO NOT pick where to sit, starting from the first day.  (Oh!  If you use desk name tags, don't stick them onto the desk until the third day.  By, then you'll know who for sure is in your class and you won't have to make new tags or throw unused ones away.)
4) SET HIGH EXPECTATIONS, and they will strive to reach them.  I've always had high expectations for my students (kinder-6th grade), and they've always strived to please.  I don't give them the option to not meet my  expectations... that's why it's called an expectation!
5) Lastly, I'm going to give you my key mantra for teaching- Fake it until you make it!  If you don't feel confident, then act like you think a confident, veteran teacher would.  Eventually, you will embody what you are pretending.

Good luck, and congratualtions on a wonderful adventure.  Please remember, that while you are focusing on Common Core, parents, collegues, students, curriculum, testing, etc... The child comes first.  When times get rough, never lose sight of what's important and why you became a teacher.  :)