CONNECTIONS: Starting the School Year Strong
The following blog post is from Shane Saeed, author of our latest book, Be the Flame: Sparking Positive Classroom Communities (see below for more info about Shane’s new book):
Schools everywhere will soon open their doors to students and families marking the start of a brand new year. Each year teachers are asked to “start the year strong,” but what does that mean? Every teacher interprets starting the year strong in different ways. Some teachers believe that this means jumping straight into content after day one.They want to give their students a head start on academics to help them become successful. This is well-intentioned, but I encourage teachers to take some time to get to know their students first. As my principal licensure professor, Dr. Scott McLeod, reminds me, “You have to go slow to go fast.”
Building connections with students is integral to their success in our classrooms. Take time at the beginning of the year to see how they work, what they need support with, how to best support them, and build strong positive relationships. I’ve started the school year both ways: jumping straight into academics and taking a few days to get to know one another. In my experience, the years that I took the time to cultivate positive rapport and get to know my students, the easier it was to help them with their academics down the line.
My first year teaching I felt like I needed to start teaching lessons immediately. On the third day of school I began teaching math and reading lessons and I had multiple students shut down because they felt the content was too hard. There were two glaring issues I had run across by starting content too early. First, I had not yet seen how the students worked through productive struggle or what strategies would be helpful for them to use when they hit a roadblock. It felt to them as if they were immediately thrust into a high-stakes environment and not given the tools to be successful. This is especially difficult for students who require more support in the classroom. Second, I had not made enough time to build trust with my students through relationship building. I had unintentionally created a space that was not ready for the rigor our content demanded. Unfortunately, I look back on the beginning of that year and I wonder if students actually enjoyed coming to school. I eventually built relationships that year, however;, it took longer to cultivate that foundation of trust.
My current principal completely changed the way I look at the beginning of the year. He asserted that creating expectations is important—but it should not be done on the first day. The first day of school should be FUN. Our students should be going home on day one and be excited to come back the next day. We went from quick name games and going over classroom rules on the first day of school to school-wide dance parties on the playground, team building activities, and lots of smiles. I had parents pull me aside on the second day of school at drop off, thanking me. They said their child came home saying, “Best first day ever!” This small tweak in first day protocols changed our school and classroom cultures for the better. Now, the first week is focused on relationship building, creating expectations together, and strengthening our new communities.
In teacher prep classes and first day of school books, I read about how important it was to build strong foundational relationships with your students. What frustrated me the most as a new teacher was none of these books outlined exactly how to go about that process. I ended up relying a lot on my experience as a day camp counselor and after school care provider. These jobs gave me experience with building rapport and activities to use when laying a foundational relationship. I realized there were not a lot of resources out there for teachers coming into the field or veteran teachers wanting to revamp their beginning of year process. That’s when Be the Flame came to fruition. When I started writing my book, Be the Flame, I wanted to create a book that gave teachers actionable advice and strategies to use in their classrooms the next day.
So I challenge you, dear educator, to rethink what your first few days of school will look like and how you will change it to start strong by building foundational relationships. I hope you’ll find that these relationships pay out in my dividends through academic outcomes.
Thanks to all educators reading this for the amazing work you are doing during these challenging times. As always, Teach and Lead with Passion...
Jeff and Jimmy
DAILY INSPIRATION EDUCATOR
(Please let us know about an inspiring educator you think we should highlight in a future newsletter by completing this brief form!)
NEW RELEASE
Be the Flame: Sparking Positive Classroom Communities by Shane Saeed
Educators know that relationships and rapport are the most important foundational pieces to a successful classroom community. The hard part is knowing how to build those impactful relationships. How do you establish and maintain rapport? What activities can encourage teamwork? How do you continue to build community throughout the school year? In Be the Flame, teacher leader Shane Saeed details ideas and activities that spark positive classroom communities and create learning environments in which students can thrive. Be the Flame focuses on building communities in different areas of an educator’s professional realm:
Kindling rapport with students one-on-one,
Igniting a community among your students,
Catching support from the families of your students,
Fueling relationships with teammates and coworkers, and
Establishing an online community to spread ideas, learn, and grow.
In this book, you’ll learn how to become a “teacher flame” through community-building practices that can be implemented the very next day. From step-by-step directions for relationship building activities to easy-to-implement routines to encourage community and strengthen partnerships, this book is an elementary teacher’s guide to starting their classroom community from the first day of school. Teachers will learn not only how to build relationships with their students, but also with families and coworkers in order to cultivate a cohesive community of support. It takes a village to support students and create a safe space for them to learn and grow. It is our job, as educators, to build strong foundational relationships with students that will inspire them to achieve academically and become the best people they can be. Be the Flame in your classroom and spread your light to impact your students in a positive way!
After only one week in print, Be the Flame has become a huge bestseller on Amazon. See what everyone is talking about by checking our Shane’s new book, available here
FEATURED BOOKS
L.E.A.R.N.E.R. Finding the True, Good, and Beautiful in Education by Marita Diffenbaugh
This book is for hope givers who thrive when helping others develop their full potential. Marita Diffenbaugh identifies seven essential components to consider when providing education as a service to learners, along with a remix for measuring learning success. Throughout each chapter, look for the True, Good, and Beautiful, for when all three of these are present, we can be sure that students are learning how to learn, learning how to help others, and learning how to contribute in their communities and in our world. This book was written for difference makers like you who strive to create an education service that Listens, Empowers, Analyzes, provides Resources, understands students' Needs, designs Experiences, and offers caring Relationships.
We think you will really enjoy this book; let us know! Check out more here
CONNECTEDD’S TAKEAWAYS
Thought for the Day: “Saying no to something that is not important is saying yes to something that is important.” Unknown
Teaching Technique to Try: Graffiti Boards. Graffiti Boards are a shared writing space (e.g., a large sheet of paper or whiteboard) where students record their comments and questions about a topic. The purpose of this strategy is to help students “hear” each other’s ideas. Some benefits of this strategy include that it can be implemented in five to ten minutes, it provides a way for shy students to engage in the conversation, it creates a record of students’ ideas and questions that can be referred to at a later point, and it gives students space and time to process emotional material. You can use the Graffiti Boards strategy as a preview activity by introducing a new topic and helping students to organize any existing knowledge about that topic. You can also use this strategy to prepare for a class discussion or writing assignment about a text by asking students to share their reactions to the text on the Graffiti Board. Check out this link from Facing History and Ourselves for a step-by-step process for using this technique.
Eyes On Culture: We believe that culture is a true difference maker in any classroom, school, district, or organization. As a result, we focus much of the work we do on creating and maintaining positive and productive cultures. Culture Focus: The 3 C’s of Trust. High performing schools with strong cultures are places in which adults trust each other as well as their students. In addition, students trust the adults and their classmates. In particular, leaders of schools must be trusted by all within the organization if the organization is to succeed. John Maxwell shares the 3 C’s of Trust which leaders must exhibit and embody:
Competence - Your ability to perform skillfully in your role is critical to your ability to operate as a leader. Your team needs to be able to rely on the fact that their leader knows what she/he is doing.
Connection - We all operate better when we feel connected to the mission, our colleagues, and our leader. Connection builds trust and it is a key responsibility for every leader.
Character - Character brings together the compassion, honesty, and authenticity of your organization and shows the integrity of what you do.Without Character, leaders will fail to establish trust among those they lead, even when they fulfill the other two C’s.
What are some other “Trust Words” you believe are essential to cultivating trust within the school community? Please share your thoughts about culture via Twitter: @ConnectEDDBooks We would love to hear from you!