The time I have had to sit and reflect on all of the things I need to worry about for my first year of teaching, the more nervous I get. I am such a planner and a to-do-list maker, and I just feel like I am at a loss for how to plan my entire curriculum. I was told to always follow the district, school, and grade curriculum map in order to map out the main themes for the year. I am one who believes in integrating all of the subjects in order to make a cohesive theme such as "Famous Americans," or the "Solar System." When do you get all of your planning done? I have been told that the first year of teaching is the one where you are always at the school planning, organizing, and gathering materials and information. I have also been told that I need to balance my time and make sure that I go home and relax -- leave work at work. I have also been told to find a mentor who will help me through all of the major steps throughout my first year. Many people tell me to save all materials and lesson plans that I have made throughout college in order to use them again and tweak them to fit my particular classroom. As you can tell, I am filled with thousands of questions on how to plan my first year of teaching while still maintaining a life at home. Do you have any advice or opinions on how it needs to be done?