5 minute read
Last week I told you that you shouldn’t panic when setting up a baron (or messy and overstuffed) classroom. This week I am telling you that you shouldn’t lesson plan … yet. Before you think that I’m just lazy and trying to get out of both decorating my room and lesson planning, hear me out.
This is a huge and hard lesson to learn. You’re probably thinking that you have to spend the last few days of August or your Labour Day long weekend lesson planning. If you’re like most brand new teachers and only got hired a few days before school starts (been there, totally speaking from experience) this task can seem impossible. I’m here to tell you that you don’t need to dive right into curriculum right away. Seriously.
Yes there’s a ton of material to cover and no you don’t have a lot of time to fit it in, but trust me on this one. You want to spend your first few weeks of school getting to know the kids, and letting them get to know you. Establish your expectations and allow the students a chance to practice meeting those expectations. Establish rules and routines. Get to know your students; not just on a superficial “what’s your favourite food to eat” level but really get to know them. Find out about their strengths, their needs and their goals.
This fact finding mission will look different depending on the grade level you’re teaching. But this is an essential part of the beginning of the school year. How can you teach your students if you don’t know them? What good are bunch of pre-prepared lessons when you made them before you knew what your students needed? Taking this time to really get to know your class will set you up for a much more successful school year. You should also spend some time getting to know their families, but this is another topic for another day.
Allow time for your students to get to know one another as well. Building a community is in my humble opinion the most important thing you can do at the beginning of the year. Do you want a class that collaborates, solves problems together and enthusiastically shares their innovative ideas and opinions? Do you want a group of kids that isn’t afraid to try new things, to fail once in a while and to constructively critique themselves and others? Of course you do! Classes like this do not just show up in your room in September. They’re carefully coached and encouraged. They’re built through things like get to know you games, team building activities and shared challenges.
You will not regret taking the time to create this culture in September. In a classroom culture like this, you won’t have trouble getting through the curriculum because you can create multidisciplinary activities for your students that not only engage them but that allow you to gauge their knowledge of the curriculum in various ways (translation: deeper, more meaningful learning for them, and easier and more impactful assessment for you!)
How do you get to know your students at the beginning of the school year? I’d love to hear your ideas, share them in the comments below.
Polished & Imperfect 