There are some lessons that only come with experience…or, you know, in a handy list from Shmoop.

This list will be especially helpful for new (and new-ish) kindergarten teachers, but hey—don't disregard it just because you've been in the trenches for a while. Sometimes even veterans need a helpful tip, a gentle reminder, or something useful to pass on to a new co-worker.

So pile up your building blocks and dive on in.

1. First things first: have a few good techniques for quieting your classroom.

Whether you have a room of 5 or 50, you've probably noticed: kids can be L-O-U-D. In fact, there seems to be a reverse correlation between the overall size of children and their lung capacity…so you're definitely going to need a few foolproof ways to bring the calm.

Here are three to start you off.

• Use a prop, like a rain stick, that will make a loud, interesting noise to draw your class's attention to one place.
• Employ a "call and response" technique—a chant like "One, two, three, all eyes on me," or a clapping pattern that, once students have heard the first part, triggers a response from them and indicates that it's time to listen up for your next instructions. Need help coming up with the right clapping pattern, rhyme, or phrase? Check out these 50 ideas from The Cornerstone.
• Go digital. Throw Traffic Light up on your Smartboard or projector, or use a noise from the Super Sound Box app as your standard cue for students to freeze in place, stop talking, and await instructions.

2. Stuffed animals are your friends.

If you're a new teacher or you're teaching in a new school, check to see if your room is currently equipped with a sufficient supply of sweet, fluffy plushies. Yes, yes—you'll be helping many young students transition into a more independent space over the course of the year.

But on Day One? Or even into Week Three?

There may be some tears as some children separate from their parents and their home routines for the first (or first-ish) time. Having a fluffy buddy to sit on their desk and reassure them could make a world of difference.

3. Clean up, clean up, everybody, everywhere.

Yes, any reminder of the purple dinosaur who wreaked havoc on the '90s is likely an unwelcome one. But with that song, anyway, he had a point.

Woe is the teacher who, after the students have left for the day, finds him or herself looking at a room that has been ransacked—a room that will require at least 30 minutes of attention, maybe more, before it'll even be ready for the custodial staff. You don't want to be that teacher. Instead, from the get-go, make sure that every activity includes cleanup time at the end. It's important for students—even the youngest ones—to take an active role in caring for their surroundings, and you'll save yourself a lot of time by getting them involved in the cleaning process right from the start.

But how, exactly, do you do it?

This post from the Powerful Mothering blog has a few typos, but it also has three cleanup song suggestions (scroll down, and brace yourself—no Barney) that could work really well in a kindergarten classroom. Adopt one (or more) and put it to use.

Education World also suggests employing cleanup songs, but they add a few more tips, too. For example: selecting a mystery item that will earn a special reward for whoever puts it away, posting lists of cleanup tasks for various areas, appointing cleanup captains (lists can be pictorial for non-readers), and turning cleanup time into a learning activity. For example, by asking everyone to clean up something blue, or something that starts with "B," or two of something, etc.

4. A few extra (and Kindergarten-specific) supplies can make a world of difference.

Sure, it's always helpful for teachers to have extra pencils, pens, and paper for their students, but as Sarah Richard mentions in her article, "First Day of Kindergarten: 8 Survival Skills," kindergarten teachers sometimes need to keep a few unusual supplies in reserve.

Such as a spare change of clothes for a child who has an accident or an extra belt for a kid whose pants won't stay up. To that list, we'd add a box of baby wipes and spare towels or rags for quick cleanups and a mini first-aid kit you can bring with you on class walkabouts. You can probably think of a few more items that would be helpful to have on hand, and surely more will occur to you throughout the year. Think of this bundle of uncommon supplies as your kindergarten MacGyver bag, and soon enough you'll be ready for any situation.

5. You're gonna need a lotta patience.

For many of your students, Kindergarten will be their first experience in a formal learning environment. If they've been at home or in childcare situations with just a few other young people, they may never have had to "form a line" to go to the library or "make a circle" for sharing time.

These instructions, which are second nature to you, will be foreign constructs to them—as will many of the instructions you offer them in the first days and weeks of kindergarten. You'll have to be incredibly patient, and then you'll have to dig deep to find even more patience as you explain, for the 32nd time, what it is you are asking them to do.

In these moments, we encourage you to channel your favorite athlete: Moses Malone going up for his third offensive rebound or Megan Rapinoe fighting for every possession of the ball—and keep your head in the game. Go up for that next rebound, keep sprinting down the pitch, and do whatever it takes to hit that next goal or hoop.

And then, when they actually do get into a line, don't be surprised to hear yourself yelling "Goaaaallllll!" Okay, do be surprised. But also take a second to be proud of yourself for having that patience, and of them for getting it on the 33rd try.

Before you know it, you'll be down to 31. That's what the early years are all about, right?