A school is like a miniature community with several people playing differentroles to serve and support everyone in the community. Some situations you may need assistance with include: Emergency drills or other emergency situations Working with community classroom volunteers Dealing with student illness Field trips or accessing community resources Physical problems with your room Obtaining supplies for your classroom Problems or questions about your compensation or benefits Most of these topics are explained in either your school handbook or the school district handbook and auxiliary materials. Rather than waiting until you have a crisis or major problem with these and other situations, here is a checklist of what you can do to find the information you need. Make a list of any questions or situations you can think of that you are unsure of or you don't understand. Include any listed above that pertain to you and any others you anticipate. Quickly go through any written materials you may have received from the school and school district when you were hired to see if the information is available there. If you find the information you need, highlight it, or better yet, make a copy of the information and put it in a file marked appropriately. (Compensation Questions, Emergency Routines, Classroom Repairs/Work Orders, etc.) Any questions you can't answer, ask a veteran teacher or someone in the front office if they have the information you need. Keep a list of any questions you have handy so that you can get answers quickly. Post in a prominent place in the classroom, any information that would be helpful to students, such as emergency routines, how to contact the office, etc. Make sure that any information that would be helpful, in case you are absent, is also copied and placed in a folder clearly marked for a substitute teacher.