5 Tips for the First Week of School

As a new school year is set to begin, we often spend countless nights in the lead-up to the "big day" asking ourselves the same kind of question:

How can I make this year even better?

The time spent pondering ideas to this question is so important, if you are looking to elicit any kind of change to your own teaching practice and goals for this school year. Take your time. Reflect on everything you know and everything you've tried before - this can be a year for you to tweak things slightly or even re-brand yourself as an educator!

Here are 5 things that I believe matter in the first week of school:

1. Welcome them to your classroom at the door with a smile. First day class organization chaos may happen - but once you have your group and are in the room - take the time to make them feel like they are a part of something special in your class.

2. Spend time with "team building" and "class culture" growing games and activities. DO NOT begin with class rules. Nothing lets the excitement out of the room quite like revealing your laminated copy of the class rules (because they haven't changed in 10+ years).

3. Learn their names in the first week (or even the first few days if you can). Use student names early and often - we all love hearing our name used, and it will begin to show students that you care about them and who they are. 

4. Find out about student interests. The more directly the better too! Having them write a letter to introduce themselves to you is one idea - but a face-to-face conversation will give them both your attention and interest. 

5. Share your own beliefs about learning and development. As a class, come up with a collaborative list of things to remember and realize. Post them on the walls all around the class:

"Learning is a journey - we are all in this together"

"Be problem-solvers - not problem-makers"

"Learning is messy and failure gives us important feedback"

"Show Grit. Be Resilient. Stay Strong."

"Dream about what you want to learn and become."

Above all else, have fun and always remember why you chose this profession. Do what is best for students and always keep their interests and dreams in mind. 

10 Things I've Learned about Teaching

I think that "Reflective Teaching" is the single-most important tool that educators can use to improve student learning. If we don't take the time to truly think about what we do in the classroom - and how we do it - how can we transform our practice in meaningful and lasting ways? What we think worked 5 years ago, likely won't have the same impact on our students - so how can we continually evolve and re-define ourselves as facilitators for student growth and development?

Put simply, we need to question everything and focus on only those things that we can honestly say are "good for students."

Here's what I've come up with so far....(put together as my very first infographic:)

What's missing from this list? What have you learned about teaching? What would your list include? 

I would love to hear your thoughts.

Shatter Your View of the Classroom

Classrooms should be crumbling. But many stand firm in an ageless state.

I want to give credit to one of the catalysts for my own educational shift and reflective view of teaching. Changing Educational Paradigms (by Sir Ken Robinson) is media clip that completely changed how I thought of our current educational system. If you haven't seen this before...spend the next 10 minutes re-thinking YOUR educational experience and reflecting on YOUR school memories. If you teach, how can this reshape your view of the classroom? Your school? Your pedagogy? Your approach to students? Your goals?


One of the things that Sir Ken illuminates is the notion that the industrial age-defined classroom has been, largely, left unchanged. Think about how the world has changed in the past 100 years, 50 years, even 10 years. Now think about how many classrooms you could walk into RIGHT NOW and see the following:

• Student desk in rows
• Chalkboard at the front
• Teacher desk in front corner
• Teacher standing at the front
• Filing cabinets filled with worksheets

Are some of these things still practical? Effective? Purposeful? Necessary?

Sure.

But how many of these things are in place because of familiarity? Conformity? Safety? Tradition?

Now think about how many of these things are in place for student learning.

A classroom is for learning NOT teaching.

Students are tasked with the journey of learning and education. Teachers are tasked with how to facilitate this.

The school day is not block of time to be filled with activities to "keep kids busy." It should be an opportunity to forge positive relationships with students so THEIR learning is facilitated in an appropritately paced and meaningful manner.

If the goal of schools is merely to put in time and have the students feel like they remember something that the teacher has "taught them" by the end of the day - we are doing it all wrong. Because if that's the case, why not set up classroom like movie cinemas and bring in the cozy chairs and snacks?

If all we ask of students is to sit passively and learn through sight and sound alone - how different are we than the movies and television shows that we seem to associate with a negative use of time? No one ever suggests that listening to teachers will rot your brain - but depending on the conditions of learning and structure of the classroom environment - I think there's a possible argument there.

Let's shatter our view of the classroom. Let's allow students to put the pieces together. Facilitate the change. Facilitate the learning.

Students - The Missing Puzzle Piece

Many teachers find themselves drowning in the inescapable waters of change. They struggle to keep afloat by attempting small bits of new innovation or re-packaging old bits of confident instruction. They scream out at change and technology as a harbinger of finality and morality to their teaching careers and lives. They sincerely need help and support.

The education industry is slowly finding itself. Its merits and morals are becoming more built on creativity, critical thought, and expressiveness. Those teachers and leaders that have taken on this new challenge are reaping the rewards of true 'student-centered' learning. Their classrooms are places for talk; places for questioning; places for discovery. Students don't sit in their chairs - they merely start in their chairs.

Training teachers to believe they are experts of knowledge is counter-productive. This inherently establishes a hierarchy between pupil and teacher. Even the most brilliant teachers are missing the one important piece of the educational puzzle until they enter the classroom....the students.

Let's compare this profession with that of doctors...

Any newly trained doctor has made it through the training and medical knowledge testing to have a solid starting point. However, how they use their knowledge and bedside manner is entirely dependent on the situation they face. All the knowledge in the world is useless, if you can't identify how it all fits together to find a solution.

Similarly, teachers start with curricular knowledge and the best intentions. But, until you walk into your classroom and meet your students - you should have no idea how to move forward in THEIR learning. It is helpful to have a path or purposeful planning, but if there is no chance that you will alter or modify it - it truly is meaningless.

We do teach STUDENTS - not curriculum. Our lasting effects on our students are not measured by CASI or monitored by report card marks. We cultivate the atmosphere we work in everyday through our choices and confidence. What that looks like and what you will do with it is up to you. But don't cower from change and progress - recognize its purpose and learn from it. Those around you will support you in your quest and those in need will grow from your journey (even if vicariously until the time is right).

Promoting "Play" in the Classroom

ETFO (The Elementary Teacher's Federation of Ontario) has recently released a pamphlet entitled "Playing is Learning" that shows a refreshing approach to structuring (or 'unstructuring') the learning environment. The importance of incorporating opportunities for play in the classroom is not a new idea, but it is an exciting one. If you google "promoting play in the classroom" there are a number of studies and articles that have been written on the merits of giving students time to play. I will explore some of the benefits of providing play time at school.

"Play is the Work of Children"

Before life responsibilities and commitments enter our lives, we spend our time engaged in play. By undertaking unstructured activities, we create meaning about our environment and come to understand aspects of life - all the while having fun when we do it. Our students have many years to spend in a classroom. In fact, they spend the majority of their "childhood innocence" under our watch as teachers. Many of our classrooms have become so structured and regimented towards the accomplishment of curriculum obligations, that we are neglecting to tap into the rich resource of "play." During these times, the students emerge as individuals who have interests, ambitions and unique characteristics, and while solid programming will still reveal these things - play is the perfect stage for presenting them to you (as the teacher).

"Play is Training for the Unexpected"

Valuable learning takes place when children design and improvise an activity. Watching my son (aged 3) play cars or transformers or emergency rescue is intriguing. There are often no limits to the creative situations that those cars or characters find themselves in. "He fell into the ditch!" We'd better get the tow truck to get him out. "The building caught on fire!" We'd better call the fire department to save the day. "Megatron isn't being nice to the other Transformers!" Well, I guess Megatron needs to learn how to play nicer and use his manners. I mean, these are valuable and life-specific events, except he is learning about them through free time - not as a sit down lecture or conversation. Kids can learn about the world when they pretend things happen and then problem solve how to deal with it.

"Play is our Brain's Favourite Way of Learning"

When we give students choice of what they would like to do - they thrive. Free time, reward time, "golden time," whatever you want to call it - it works! Save for a few situations when it can become overwhelming or difficult to carry out, students are engaged and happy when they dictate what they do and know that it is simply for fun. Think about how many academic-type tasks a student in your class will carry out today. How many does that amount to in an entire academic year? Now consider how many of those were designed or chosen by the students. Finding a way to make work look like play is the key to success when motivating students. Just like the best career advice you can give...

"Find something that you love to do and turn it into a career that will pay you to do it"

If students are enjoying what they're doing, the learning will happen in a meaningful way. People don't want to feel that they are doing work - they want to play and yet still accomplish what needs to be done.

Keep playing in the classrooms. Board games, puzzles, computer games, cooperative games, charades, "house," block-building; whatever it is, students are enjoying themselves while learning. Of course, don't tell them that.

"History Day"

One of the most challenging aspects of teaching today is covering the curriculum. To do this well requires a great deal of creativity and flexibility as a teacher. The growing trends of differentiated instruction and cross-curricular assignments provide a vehicle to deliver content in a new and efficient manner. Gone are the days when learning is compartmentalized as "Literacy," "Science," "Math," and "The Arts." Now we are becoming increasingly aware of the potential to capitalize on the centrality of literacy in all subjects (math too!). By incorporating literacy expectations into our social studies and other areas of the curriculum, not only are teachers able to cover more of the expectations underpinning their grade assignment; they are also able to assess students more readily in all facets of learning.

Students who were previously thought of as being weak in science or literacy, could have been weak in concentration at the part of the day that these subjects were being taught. Perhaps our 'social' students can benefit more from group work in math depending on the time it is delivered in many cases. Using a cross-curricular approach provides a path to learning that may seem unconventional in nature, but it resonates with many teachers as "learning environments" not unlike the 'common curriculum' days. One of the ways that a teacher can approach these 'environments' is to dedicate a whole school day to a theme that covers multiple curriculum areas. Instead of building formative tasks and assessments over a three-week period; try to build on these things over the course of one day and see what happens.

In my class, I have created a "History Day" before, during which students are given academic tasks for history that also touch on arts, math, literacy, gym and even social studies activities - all of which must be completed during the course of the day. It is incredible to observe how well students who struggle with transitions and separated lessons can excel during a day when you clearly state ALL of the learning expectations first thing in the morning and then give them the WHOLE DAY to complete them. The 'independent work' and 'self-regulation' themes emerge in students when they know the exact moment that work is due, and feel a sense of ownership for the product that is created by a fairness in the time-frame given. The work assigned can be worked on in any order that they prefer and some tasks that involve partners or groups have to be organized with the timeline in mind.

There are many things that 'learning environments' can offer you in meeting the demands of the curriculum - it is only a matter of plotting out your course and trying it. Only with new eyes can we recognize new solutions to old problems.