Back to School Tips

For many teachers, school will be starting up again soon. This means it is time to start planning so that you have a smooth and positive start up.

I love to spend time, before school starts, freshening up my classroom and changing it up a bit. Not only does it make me feel good to have a new environment to work in, it seems to brighten things up for my students as well. These are pictures from last summer's set up.

In my district, we get our students from last year for the first week of school. The numbers are gathered and the classes are formed based on the registrations for the current year.

I want my students to be excited about returning to school and to my classroom. Noticing the differences in the room is an instant topic of conversation when they enter the door.

Sometimes, when the classes are formed, some of my students will remain in my class for another year. I want this to be something they are happy about, not sad. It is exciting to get a new teacher, and for some, there is disappointment when they don't get to go to a new classroom. I try to make them feel special by giving them the leader roles. They are the ones who know the ropes, so they can help all the new students.

When the new students arrive in my class, we do things to help them become comfortable with the room, with others in the room, and with me. I will play games, do activities to help with getting to know each other, and tell stories about my family, my cat, and what I did during the summer.

I feel it is important for the kids to connect with me and who I am in the classroom and outside of the classroom. It is neat to have them ask questions throughout the year about my grandchildren and my cat. Many times they will beg for one more story!

Meet Red. He is supervising the situation.

The most important thing I do, is share about what is special about each one of us. I like to make sure that each one realizes that they are special in their own way. We spend a lot of time during the first few weeks working on self esteem, following rules, and being a respectful group of learners. This sets the tone for the rest of the year.

Well, there you have it. I hope you have an awesome year.

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