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.

2016: The Year of...

Did I ever tell you about the time I thought I was cooking quinoa but instead mixed up a big batch of boiled chia seeds?  It was an honest mistake. I had scooped quinoa and chia seeds that afternoon into separate bulk bags at Sprouts, written down the code (but not the name of the item) on each twist tie so the checker could charge me correctly, and brought home my healthy purchase to cook. Wanting a delicious and healthful savory side dish to go with my meal, I looked up the instructions online for cooking quinoa (1 cup quinoa, 2 cups water; boil 20 minutes) and started making dinner.

Unbeknownst to me, I inadvertently scooped out a heaping cup of chia seeds instead of quinoa.

I don’t know if you’re familiar with the culinary experience of chia seeds. In the last several years, they’ve been moved from growing green “fur” on ceramic pets (Ch-ch-ch-Chia!) to being praised by Dr. Oz and other health food gurus for their nutritional value: high fiber, protein, calcium, antioxidants, and more. In their uncooked form, the seeds look like, well, grey-colored quinoa grains. When you mix them with liquid, however, they begin to form what scientists have best been able to describe as “sludge.” Most websites recommend adding a teaspoon or two to your protein shakes, soups, or snacks. I boiled an entire cup.

As soon as I noticed the gelatinous pan-full of chia goop and realized my mistake, I had two options: 1.  I could throw the chia away and start over, or, 2. I could try to do something with my creation.

Option 1 seemed like the best choice at first. After all, I had failed at my attempt to cook quinoa to accompany the chicken breast that was baking in the oven. I did not come up with the correct response, and there was no way to turn this into a palatable savory side. No one wants to eat chicken with chia phlegm for dinner. But if I abandoned my creation, how would I dispose of it? I didn’t trust that my not-Hefty kitchen trash bags would safely contain the mass all the way to the dumpster, and any attempt to wash this glop down the sink would surely end with an expensive visit from a plumber.

Option 2 presented some fun challenges. I recalled vaguely seeing Chia Seed Pudding on the dessert menu at a restaurant, and I wondered if I could make something similar. What might happen if I tried to turn this accident into a not-so-bad-for-me after-dinner treat? I added a little milk, some sugar, and some vanilla and continued to boil. The mixture thickened even more to a lovely puddinglike consistency. I removed the pan from the heat, scooped the pudding into dishes, and cooled it in the fridge.  And you know what?  It was delicious, so much so that I made it again later on purpose.

In our classrooms, I’m afraid we often create students whose only choice  when faced with a challenge is Option 1.  In their minds, there’s a right answer, a correct result, one path to a solution, a single definitive interpretation. If they don’t come up with the lone answer the teacher is seeking, then they’ve failed. They can start over or simply give up.

What if we helped students embrace Option 2? Education, after all, should be about a search for knowledge and understanding. Students should cultivate a playful curiosity.

In fact, I’m decreeing that in my world 2016 is “The Year of Playful Curiosity.” I hope the students and teachers I work with open their minds, banish their insecurities, and wonder “what if?” along with me.

Imagine what would happen in English classes if students trusted their own ideas and didn’t feel compelled to run to the internet to find out what The Scarlet Letter really means. What if they got excited by examining a sentence or paragraph from a book they were reading just to explore what the author was doing with words? They might even try playing with words in similar ways in their own writing.

What if classes raised more questions than answers? What if teachers didn’t predetermine the “right” answer to the essay or discussion question beforehand but only decided what criteria would demonstrate a successful response? What if students grew accustomed to playing around with ingredients, with numbers, with ideas, and with concepts in a safe and exciting environment?

The Understanding By Design framework our district uses for unit planning (Wiggins and McTighe) stresses real-world application, experiential learning, meaningful performance expectations, variety of experience and methods, and creation of meaning rather than accumulation of knowledge. Unit planners determine an acceptable outcome to measure learning and then design the learning experiences students need to reach that outcome. The best units won’t move students in a lockstep fashion to a uniform result; they will allow students to explore, grapple with concepts, play around with ideas, try them on for size, return to the drawing board, and wrestle their way to an acceptable solution. There’s ample room for playful curiosity in these UbD units.

When I think of playful curiosity, I think of one of my favorite English professors from my Southwestern University undergrad days, Dr. Debbie Ellis. Clad in Birkenstocks and sporting an unruly cascade of blond hair so long she could sit on it, Dr. Ellis loved to pose playful questions. I recall with delight answering essay questions on tests (that’s right; her tests were actually fun) in her intro to literature, Chaucer, and Shakespeare classes:  “Who was the most villainous character in all the short stories we read?” “How would the plays have been different if Shakespeare had switched the fool, Feste, in Twelfth Night with the fool, Touchstone, from As You Like It?”  Dr. Ellis didn’t have a correct answer in mind. In fact, she celebrated the unexpected and well-defended unusual response. After each test, she compiled a handout with excerpts from her favorite responses; seeing your answer made the handout was a mark of accomplishment and a source of pride.       

Our world today makes achieving a state of playful curiosity a struggle. When you can google any factoid you seek, watch a video instantly of someone performing most any task, ask a question online and get a response, and cut and paste someone else’s idea and try to pass it off as your own, taking the time to wonder, to play, to try, to fail, to revise, to retry, and to explore seems almost wasteful. But isn’t this where the real learning occurs?

If we’re going to make this playful curiosity thing happen in 2016, we’re going to have to unprogram our students. We are going to have to change their mindsets about school, and, in many cases, we’re going to have to change some of our own mindsets and break old habits.

I invite you to jump on my bandwagon, to embrace the idea of playful curiosity, and to re-envision what your classroom will be like in 2016. I don’t have all the answers about how to do this, but I’m curious to see what they might be. Let’s play around and figure it out. We might end up with sludge, or we might end up with something new and awesome!