Fall is a magical time of year for teachers. For everyone else, it seems like the year is getting older and worn out. But for teachers everything is fresh and new. Crisp clothes worn for the first time show no dirt and the smell of newly sharpened pencils fills clean, organized rooms. The first days of school magically unfold like a fresh blank journal. And like journal, these few magical days will determine what comes after. Every veteran teacher will state that the first days of school are essential to the learning of the rest of the year. For me, there are five things everything teacher needs to accomplish during the first three weeks of school.
Systems and Structures-
Before the students walk in the door, the teacher should know the answer to some essential questions. How will students turn in work? Where will students store folders? How will students start the period? How will the teacher get students' attentions? These pesky structural problems are small but without answers they will grow and nourish a chaotic environment. Students can't guess how you want them to put their names on their papers or how they should raise their hands in class, even if it seems obvious to you. New teachers often don't realize the intensity of teaching or forethought these structures need and end up being frustrated four weeks later when a student asks where to turn in work or doesn't have a pencil. The answer is simple. Cut the frustration by setting up a structure for all repeatable tasks and teaching to and practicing the structures multiple times the first week, until they are habits.
Some of the structures I plan and teach to are:
- Work- turning it in, late work, redo work, locker passes to get work, consequences for not doing work, absent work, folders for class work, no name work, handing back work, labelling work, grading work, recording and monitoring work.
- Behavior- raising hands, seat position, jobs, responses to poor behavior, beginning of period, end of period, bathroom passes, coming into the class, leaving the class, moving to groups, moving to discussion, and getting supplies.
Norming and Rules-
There is an old saying, "Good fences build good neighbors." The same is true about norming. Kids need to know the boundaries in the classroom. As a brand new teacher, I didn't want to be seen as too strict and I had only one rule, "Act right." The problem is...nobody but me knew what that meant, and even worse depending on my mood it was a moving target. I still don't have very many rules and the ones I have are all designed to aid learning. The students and I collaboratively decide how we can BE SAFE, BE LEARNING, and BE LEADERS. We word the rules simply, clearly, and post them in the front of the classroom. Students still make impulsive decisions sometimes, but with the rules clearly understood, the class doesn't get angry when someone is renormed.
Relationships-
Virtually every education guru from Marzano to Hattie will tell you that the teacher-student relationship is the basis of any learning that happens with the walls of a school. As one principal told me, "Kids will do all sorts of stuff for a teacher they like, they will even learn to divide decimals!" However, having a great learning relationship goes well beyond a kid simply "liking you." Students need to have a variety of emotional needs met before the start learning, and the more impacted a student is...the more emotional holes they need filled. Students have a strong sense of justice, they need to see that everything is fair and transparent in the classroom They need to hear you make mistakes and admit to making mistakes. They need to feel safe to be learners. Students have an unerring ability to tell whether an adult enjoys talking to them. Kids, especially teenagers want to be able to joke, be sarcastic, and laugh at themselves. Being a positive model for behavior actually means being positive and happy. In the atmosphere of the classroom, teachers make the weather and the students magnify and reflect it.
Positive Atmosphere-
It is the easiest and most common teaching teaching skill of all to recognize a poor behavior and correct it. "Tim please raise your hand next time." "Dan put the chair down." "Sarah, please get out your work." There are really only a few student responses to being called out and corrected. 1) The student is embarrassed and corrects his/her behavior. 2) The student is mad and corrects their behavior. 3) The student is not listening and ignores you. 4) The student is listening and chooses not to comply. Most of these don't have the positive outcome of encouraging learning, building a relationship, or even getting the task completed. Much more effective than continuous nagging is recognizing the learning leaders. "Thank you Sam for writing down the learning goal." "Thank you Mayra for having your paper ready." It is shocking how much more quickly the rest of the class will not only comply with the task but be begging for recognition. "Miss! Miss! I have my paper out too." There are so many ways to switch from saying something negative to honoring something positive. The more teachers do this, the more trust and respect the students feel, and then tighter the community becomes.
Communication-
There are very few parent/teacher issues in the beginning of the year. Every student still has a shining slate with no marks and every parent is still confident that this year will be great. Grab that time! Devise several methods of normal communication with parents so they know what is happening in the class. This will enable parents to be involved in their kids' education and be able to offer support if things get rough. I am a firm believer in communication overload. I have a general email list for weekly updates, a text service for announcements, a class facebook page to post funny memes, build excitement, or celebrate work, an open classroom policy, and a class website where parents can get basic questions answered. As well, I make sure that I reach out to each parent in the first month and give them my email and phone number. By the time the first conferences roll around, parents already know who I am and what I'm about and we can jump right in to challenging and supporting the students.
A great learning community takes time and energy to set up, but the payoff is big. In the years where I didn't do this, I would get to May and be a nervous wreck. The kids would be feisty and hard to engage, the parents would be frustrated, and I was exhausted from all putting out fires. With a strong classroom community in place, we learn right up until the last day of school joyously celebrating and enjoying the process.
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