Building Relationships Amid the Chaos (First Days of School Part One)
“ NO significant learning occurs without a significant relationship!”
-Dr. James Comer
I returned to work last week for professional development, complete with lengthy daily meetings and awkward icebreakers, as well as what every teacher is most excited for…classroom setup! While planning for and counting down to the impending chaos of the first days of school for our students, we are also planning lessons to communicate routines for efficiency and safety, expectations, and ways to make connections. This year we are adding ways to address important COVID concerns and measures being taken to protect our parents, ourselves as educators, and our students.
If you are new to the game, let me just say, “Bless you and I swear to you it gets better!” I can’t even imagine how overwhelmed especially new teachers must be not to mention teachers still recovering from last school year’s burnout no doubt all consumed and wondering, “Where do I even begin?” This month I will post a three part series of blogs addressing how and where to channel your energy in your classroom this month and a few helpful literary resources to engage students in discussions and aid in building relationships.
Here are 5 specific areas I focus on in the First Days of School:
Consider the FUN in Classroom FUNction
Part of the reason teachers love classroom setup so much is because we get to transform four walls and miniature furniture into a themed fantasy space that transports our students into a magical world filled with amazing ways to learn, grow, and build as a team. Though the majority of funds to do so comes out of our pockets, the engaging child-centered ideas come from our hearts and souls! As much as the room needs to function for independent and group student learning it also needs to be bright, inviting, and warm. This year more importantly for health and safety reasons, set-up workbooks, centers, manipulatives, and supplies for individualized use and packaged in a way that is child-accessible plus easy to wipe down! Think seat sacks, folder games, pencil box supplies, and sheet protectors for worksheets!
2. Lead with SEL (social emotional learning)
The world has been an increasingly scary place since 2020 and we are all still processing and decompressing from so much change and loss in this “new normal.” More than we are teaching curriculum, we are entrusted to teach human beings. Start by empathizing and showing your own vulnerability. I like to read books that focus on the feelings of the adults and the children when returning to school, like “The Kissing Hand,” and “First Day Jitters.” Stress that it’s okay to feel more than one feeling at a time and assure them that their feelings are valid and important to you! Below are my favorite 7 books for the first 7 days of school great for guiding discussions for SEL!
3. Learn Your Students
Meet the teacher day is really meet your new little people day! No longer names and numbers on a roster list, but living, breathing, eager little faces, with varying personalities, personal interests, home lives, and learning needs. I like to do this by playing games of course! “Pop Up/Sit Down” is a class favorite. Tell students to pop up from their seats if what you are about to say fits them and their family or sit down if what you say is true to them. For example, “Pop up if you’ve ever been to Disney World…Sit down if you have pets.” You can expand and discuss by responding, ”Wow, cool, tell me more about that.” I also like “Would you Rather?” Students make a choice between two proposed options and then explain or expand on their choices. These activities give you insight into who your students are as people, as well as their ability to follow directions, and their thought processing and ability to verbalize their choices. Then, create an “All About Me” poster, picture, or glyph to hang up as representation of some of who they are and what they’ve shared. Knowing how to best motivate and engage each student is also valuable information you will gain from these first days of school interactions that will guide your relationship building all year long.
4. Establish Buy-In to Mutual Success
Your students need to know off the bat that you are in their corner as their cheerleader and their coach! They, however, have to do the work to make the grade! This is a team and we have a common goal…their individual growth and their grade level success. Ask for their help by getting suggestions on how to make their class a friendly, safe, fun, and engaging environment for all of them. Then, turn that into a few classroom rules. Be clear and consistent with these expectations using the reasoning you all just discussed. Practice making good vs. bad choices stressing that every choice has consequences and emphasize your good choice incentives! This year my students will be bucket fillers! All week I will drop pom-poms (“fuzzies”) into their individual bucket when I catch them being good. They can also get fuzzies taken away as a consequence to a bad choices after redirection/warnings. On “warm and fuzzy” Fridays, their bucket totals will earn them different types of incentives. This gives them a tangible goal to work towards, and puts the focus on positive behavior.
5. Establish Cooperative Relationship with the Guardians
Speaking of teamwork, we are actually a team of three…teacher, student, and guardians! Guardians (just like children) can usually sense when someone is sincere about their care and concern for them and their children. Make sure to put them at ease by assuring them that you are there to work with them for the advancement of their child’s skills, critical thinking, and character development. Stress that this all works best if home and school have a cooperative relationship and work together to build that foundation and trust! Call sometimes to share great news not just when there’s an issue, engage in back and forth conversation and be clear when there are questions, ask for their help in specific areas where their little ones need additional guidance and strength, and be open to information and ideas from the people who know your students best so that guardians feel heard in this partnership!