Start Your School Year Pppppperfectly

Start Your School Year Pppppperfectly

Ready or not, here they come!

For teachers, the excitement-mixed-with-dread anticipation has begun for the first day of classes in a new school year. With only days to go until the students show up in their brand new school duds, you’re probably putting the finishing touches on your plans for the first day.

If you can get them to talk, students will tell you a lot at the end of the first day of school. They’ve already decided which classes they are going to dread, which teacher is the “coolest,” and what class will be their favorite. I’m sure you don’t want your class to be on the List of Doom on Day One.  By paying attention to the Six Ps for a successful first day, you’ll set the right tone for your best year yet.

The first P:  POSITIVE

If you visited someone’s home for the first time and they greeted you with a lengthy list of rules you were expected to follow, you might be rethinking your decision to pay them a social call in the future. Imagine how your students feel when you begin the first day like this: “Welcome. I’m Mr. McKinney. I don’t accept late work without a penalty. Ten points off if you get it in within an hour after the due date. Each day after that, it’s 25 points off. And that’s only on major-grade assignments. I don’t take late homework, EVER. You get one free tardy to class each semester. After that, it’s a 30-minute detention. Three tardies, you owe me an hour after school. Four tardies, I will claim your firstborn child. Don’t talk. Don’t forget your supplies and textbooks. First time is a warning; second time is detention. You’ll have at least 30 minutes of homework a night because you need to learn right now that life is hard and that you are doomed to fail if you don’t develop a work ethic immediately. I’m looking forward to a great year, and I hope you are, too.”

Even if it’s the truth, you probably should avoid trying to give the students the impression on the first day that you care more about order and compliance than you do about kids.

Consider holding off on the negative talk about rules and consequences until the students are convinced you are a likeable, reasonable human. Having a positive experience on Day One sets the tone for an upbeat, productive, happy year.

The second P: PROCEDURES

Bombarding students with a bunch of naggy rules from the outset is a no-no, but--as any good elementary school teacher will tell you--establishing efficient procedures is essential from the get-go. Like new puppies, your students have to be trained. What do I do when I enter the classroom? What’s the desired approach if I have a question to ask? Where would I find the make-up assignment if I miss a day of class? How am I supposed to conduct myself during daily warm-ups? How are papers handed out and handed in? What do I do if I finish an assignment or activity before my classmates? What are the permissible behaviors during silent reading time?

It’s best to introduce each new procedure as it is needed; no point in confusing students by making them learn or practice behaviors they won’t need to use until later. Teach a procedure the first time the first time you need it. Don’t let the students develop habits they’ll have to unlearn. If a procedure or routine doesn’t go as planned, stop, debrief, and practice it until the students get it right. Before you know it, your classroom will be a paragon of efficiency.

The third and fourth Ps: PLAN and PREPARE

Have a plan to keep the students engaged from the moment they enter to the second the final bell rings. Remember that the kids are sizing you up and determining whether the new teacher knows what he or she is doing. I don’t suggest diving into curriculum on Day One, but have something worthwhile for them to do that will engage them in your subject matter in some way.

Keep in mind that by the time third or fourth period rolls around, they’ve had their names butchered by several adults, played a number of hokey get-to-know-you games, and awkwardly introduced themselves to a roomful of strangers. Sadly, they have probably sat in a desk without moving for more time than they have remained immobile all summer and have heard several adults pontificate on classroom rules, school rules, and the importance of their class in relation to the other classes in the school.

If your plan includes something novel and engaging, you’ll be ahead of most. If you keep your students busy until the bell rings at the end of class, you will have established the expectation that you’re a teacher who values students’ time and is going to make the most of it. On the other hand, if, after 30 minutes, you run out of things to do and just let them talk amongst themselves for the rest of the period, you’ve communicated that not every moment is important, that you underplan, and that your class is going to provide plenty of unstructured time. Be prepared, and set the precedent from the first day that your class is worth attending--every second of it.

The fifth P: PERSONAL

Most students aren’t sure whether their teachers are human. It makes sense. Why would a reasonable human voluntarily go to school for an entire lifetime?

Your job--before you can get your students to work for you and learn from you--is to make a personal connection with them. Let them know you’re human, and, more important, that you care about them and value their contributions.

You can’t make other people like you. You can, however, make it clear that you like them. By making an investment in getting to know your students, you can reap the rewards down the road.

I seldom remember anything students tell the class during a get-to-know-you game on the first day of school because after about the tenth student, it all becomes a blur of names and faces and random snippets of information. Furthermore, it doesn’t really matter to me on the first day that I know what a student’s favorite food is, how many dogs or cats they have, and what music they listen to.

What matters to me is that they know that my classroom is a safe place where they can be themselves, take risks, and share ideas that will be valued by me and by their classmates. From the first minute, I’m working to build community because learning doesn’t happen when students are afraid or hesitant.  I don’t tolerate ridicule, name calling, or other disrespect, and I hope you don’t, either.

The get-to-know you games and group building activities aren’t for me to get to know the students; they’re for the students to become more comfortable with one another and perhaps identify some new friends or kindred spirits in the room. I don’t jump into weighty content until I feel that most of the students know that my room is a safe and fun place to learn.

Get to know your students. Greet them at the door. Smile. Say hello. Ask about their weekend. Don’t be a creepy adult, and don’t get too personal. You’re their teacher, not their pal. Sometimes you may need to be the adult voice of reason and order in the room.

The sixth P: PLAYFUL

If you’ve spent much time in my classroom, you know that I believe the line between work and play is a blurry one. This doesn’t mean that I let the classroom become an unruly, unstructured madhouse, though. People, young and not-so-young, love to play, so why can’t we make our classrooms playful places where learning is fun?

I want students leaving my class on the first day of school to say to one another, “I don’t know everything about Mr. McKinney’s class yet, but I can tell you that we’re going to have fun.” It’s okay to laugh, to move, and to look at the world through less-than-serious lenses.

I try never to ask my students to do anything I wouldn’t enjoy doing. Inevitably, what I have to teach sometimes involves things I wouldn’t enjoy doing. In those situations, I ask myself, “What could I do to make this a fun (or at least less miserable) experience?” Approaching my curriculum with a playful attitude helps build student curiosity and often yields creative results.

Try to inject some levity into your first day with a little playfulness: “gamify” an activity, inject some random elements, show a humorous video clip to make a point memorable, or bring in some music to use during transitions or as students form groups for a collaborative experience.

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By keeping the atmosphere positive and playful, establishing clear procedures, showing evidence of planning and preparation, and making your classroom a personal place, you’ve set the stage for a successful year with your new crop of students. They’ll know that you’re competent and caring, and they’ll be eager for more. I wish you all the success in the world! Enjoy what you do; it’s the best and most important job there is.

Why Can’t the Whole Year Be Like the First Day of School?

Why Can’t the Whole Year Be Like the First Day of School?

Two weeks ago, I started a new position as an English Language Arts Instructional Specialist after years of teaching English, Humanities, and/or AVID at Shepton High School. Consequently, Monday was the first first day of school since 1993 that I was not standing up in front of a roomful of teenagers with whom I would spend the next 180 or so days.  Instead, I spent most of the day visiting five middle or high schools around the district, meeting some teachers, and tracking down everyone I’m supposed to support at those schools.

As I stepped in and out of classrooms and walked through the halls, I noticed a few things that seem to be generally true about middle school and high school students and teachers on the first day of school:

• Nearly everyone looks excited to be there.
• Students are eager to please, want to succeed, and are willing to make an effort.
• Teachers are polite, patient, and well-rested.
• Students don’t mind asking adults for help, and the adults don’t seem to mind being helpful.
• The teachers are prepared and organized. So are the students.
• The classrooms are full, but the hallways aren’t.
• No one is failing.

Wouldn’t it be nice, I thought, if most or all of these things were still true in May? I realize that is a Pollyannaish idea, but it’s worth considering. Here are a few thoughts about what teachers might do to make this “schooltopia” a reality:

Nearly everyone looks excited to be there.

My buzzword for the school year is “joy”—so much so that my coworkers keep jokingly asking me “Where’s the joy?” if they happen to catch me with a furrowed brow. I’ve been urging teachers at back-to-school inservices to make their classrooms joyful places for students. “How do I do this?” you may ask: Share your love for your subject. Enjoy the exploration with your students. Laugh. Play. If you’re not having fun, I’m pretty sure your students aren’t either. Find the joy in what you have to teach, and it’ll make coming to class easier for you and for the students.

Students are eager to please, want to succeed, and are willing to make an effort.

In an inspirational and hilarious TED Talk, Rita Pierson said, “Kids don’t learn from people they don’t like.” They will, however, keep working for a teacher who likes them and believes in them, even when the work gets more challenging.  Although Machiavelli in The Prince suggests that an effective leader strive to be feared rather than loved, I’m not sure that’s the best advice for teachers. Though students may work in a classroom with a climate of fear, they won’t be excited to be there, and they won’t do anything more than required. You can’t make teenagers like you, but you can let them know you like them, which makes it much harder to dislike you in return.    

Teachers are prepared and organized.  So are the students.

Even Pigpen from the Peanuts comic strip had an organized binder and a clutter-free backpack on the first day of class. When students have their time and materials organized, they are primed for success. Help your students with organization, the O in WICOR, by providing them with structures for calendaring and keeping up with assignments and classwork. When teachers are prepared and organized, the classes run more smoothly, more learning occurs, teachers are calmer, and there are fewer disciplinary issues because lessons move seamlessly from one activity to the next, giving students no down time to cause trouble or get bored. Also, calm teachers are happy teachers, which makes them infinitely more tolerant and patient. 

Teachers are polite, patient, and well-rested.

You may be the only adult in a student’s life who reacts to the world in an adult manner. Show students how to treat others through your actions. Handle conflicts and disciplinary issues with logic and maturity. Take care of yourself. Get plenty of rest. Breathe more often than you think you need to.  When we get stressed and overwhelmed, we become less patient and pleasant. Remember that your students are not fully-formed adults, so they will do things that will test your every last ounce of self-restraint. Be the adult who responds calmly and pleasantly.

Students don’t mind asking adults for help, and the adults don’t seem to mind being helpful.

Is your classroom a place where students can ask questions safely? Do you encourage students to take risks? Is a struggling student an opportunity or an imposition? When a student comes in with a question, do you stop what you’re doing and help? Making your classroom a safe place to learn, to mess up, to explore, to get frustrated, and to ask for help is a key to making learning happen. 

The classrooms are full, but the hallways aren’t.

After years of seeing students wandering the halls without a sense of purpose or urgency, I have concluded that most of the students in the halls don’t really have to go to the restroom.  They’re just bored and restless.  Make your classroom a fun place to be so they’ll want to stay there. Ensure that they feel the time spent in your room is worthwhile and that they’ll miss something important if they aren’t there. And utilize state changes and activities that involve movement frequently so they can get the wiggles out in your room and not have to roam. 

No one is failing.

Isn’t it great when students feel successful? The beginning of the semester offers hope to all. As our gradebooks fill up, however, we chip away at the self-esteem of some of our students as they find themselves unsuccessful and increasingly see the futility of trying to dig their way out of the hole. I think, though, that if teachers work on the other six items on this list, they will create an environment that makes failure less desirable, encourages students to work harder and seek help when their efforts aren’t paying off, and maximizes success for all students.

I can already hear the naysayers telling me that these things could never happen. I concede that they’re probably right.  But isn’t it worth making an effort to make things perfect even if we don’t quite achieve perfection?

Thanks for the work you’re doing and will continue doing to help shape the future positively.

Have a wonderful new school year!

Craig