It is easy to create disaster, a horrendous start to the school year that haunts us the rest of year. It is easy to make our students feel unappreciated and undervalued, in fact, we can often ensure this within the first day. I wrote about this in my post "Recipe for an Awful School Year" and many asked what then would be my recipe for an amazing school year, and to this I say...I don't know.
It would be easy for me to give you a long list of the things that I must do to ensure a good start but the truth is, I think most teachers do these things already. I think most great teachers do many things that I have no idea about and that I have yet to learn. And then I realize too that for all of the planning that I can do to set up the year there is one ingredient I cannot control; the students. Yet, for my own sanity and to get my own ideas flowing there are things I have to do for this to be my room, our room, the kind of room I would want my daughter in, the kind of room I would want to be a student in. These things are simple and they do not cost any money. So here is what I will do.
I will greet my students with a smile and a laugh, probably a joke even though all of my jokes tend to be corny and yet they make them laugh. I will let them know that I am excited and nervous too and that we are on this journey together and if they fail then I fail and that is alright by me. We will talk about our vision, how do we want this classroom to feel? Do we like noise or do we work better quiet? How can I get their attention and how can they get mine? We always need to figure this out before misunderstandings and hurt feelings occur.
The classroom will be bare because it is not mine to decorate, it is theirs and they can take over as soon as they would like. There will be no rules poster because we set those together and then we discuss and change them when needed. There will be tables, finally, this year so that students can work together whenever they need to and always have someone to reach out to. There are also pillows and comfy chairs, carpet squares and corners for retreat - we all need our quiet space. There are boxes of books to be explored and pictures to take. We need to document this journey together. There will be things to teach each other as I have had some of these kids before and they seem to know me better than I do. My daughter and husband will have made a welcome video because they become a huge part of our classroom since they are a huge part of me. There will be sharing but there will also be work that first day because kids tend to want to get started. After all, they are older now and wondering what this class is all about. Their voices will do most of the talking because I should not be the center of attention. And so goes my first day.
I cannot tell you how my first week will go because we haven't decided. Of course there are plans to follow, lessons to be taught, school routines to conquer but how these will shape out I am not sure of yet. I have to get to know my students before I can think that far. I have to adapt my teaching style to them. I have to meet them before I decide how the school year will unfold, hear their ideas, their hopes, their fears, and then together we will plan. Together we will make this a journey we all want to be on. Not just my journey or theirs, but ours. It is always about the ours.
It would be easy for me to give you a long list of the things that I must do to ensure a good start but the truth is, I think most teachers do these things already. I think most great teachers do many things that I have no idea about and that I have yet to learn. And then I realize too that for all of the planning that I can do to set up the year there is one ingredient I cannot control; the students. Yet, for my own sanity and to get my own ideas flowing there are things I have to do for this to be my room, our room, the kind of room I would want my daughter in, the kind of room I would want to be a student in. These things are simple and they do not cost any money. So here is what I will do.
I will greet my students with a smile and a laugh, probably a joke even though all of my jokes tend to be corny and yet they make them laugh. I will let them know that I am excited and nervous too and that we are on this journey together and if they fail then I fail and that is alright by me. We will talk about our vision, how do we want this classroom to feel? Do we like noise or do we work better quiet? How can I get their attention and how can they get mine? We always need to figure this out before misunderstandings and hurt feelings occur.
The classroom will be bare because it is not mine to decorate, it is theirs and they can take over as soon as they would like. There will be no rules poster because we set those together and then we discuss and change them when needed. There will be tables, finally, this year so that students can work together whenever they need to and always have someone to reach out to. There are also pillows and comfy chairs, carpet squares and corners for retreat - we all need our quiet space. There are boxes of books to be explored and pictures to take. We need to document this journey together. There will be things to teach each other as I have had some of these kids before and they seem to know me better than I do. My daughter and husband will have made a welcome video because they become a huge part of our classroom since they are a huge part of me. There will be sharing but there will also be work that first day because kids tend to want to get started. After all, they are older now and wondering what this class is all about. Their voices will do most of the talking because I should not be the center of attention. And so goes my first day.
I cannot tell you how my first week will go because we haven't decided. Of course there are plans to follow, lessons to be taught, school routines to conquer but how these will shape out I am not sure of yet. I have to get to know my students before I can think that far. I have to adapt my teaching style to them. I have to meet them before I decide how the school year will unfold, hear their ideas, their hopes, their fears, and then together we will plan. Together we will make this a journey we all want to be on. Not just my journey or theirs, but ours. It is always about the ours.
