School started this week. Excitement reigns (or maybe not).
Schools and classrooms are a beehive of activity. Books are distributed. Bulletin boards decorated. Rules posted. Phones are ringing. Texting and tweeting are rampant. Tears and laughter shared. Teachers worry about the kids they have been assigned. Parents and kids have the same worry but in reverse.
Last year at this time I posted a blog noting that teachers needed a “sense of humor” to make it through the year. Having a “sense of humor,” as you might guess, is not enough. You can’t laugh your way towards being a successful teacher.
Social-emotional authorities offer additional suggestions about how to begin your new school year.
First, save the “get down to business” façade for another time. Meet your new students, greet them, and welcome them in a festive and positive way.
Second, those who care share! Let your students share their summer stories, something about themselves, and what they are looking forward to in this new school year.
Third, have students participate in establishing class rules – the do’s and don’ts, their choices and consequences, and the routines and responsibilities.
Fourth, encourage your students to use a personal journal to record three things they are taking away with them at the end of each school day.
And, fifth, involve the parents—they are your best hope for continuity and reinforcement of school and classroom messages.
(See the reference below for the full text and a video)
Here are a few of my favorite suggestions that you might want to share with your students and their parents.
- “What is modeled is imitated.” – M. Borba
- Behavior rewarded is behavior repeated (good and bad).
- There is never a wrong time to do the right thing.
- “What we allow we teach; what we accept, they will do.” – M.Borba
- The classroom is as much a social setting as it is an academic one.
- Character is about second chances but only if you learn from your mistakes.
- “If it is not right, do not do it; if it is not true, do not say it.” – Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius
- Take the Pottery Barn Oath: You break it, you own it.
- “Negative attitudes drain, positive attitudes fuel.” – M. Marshall
- “Relationships are to learning as location is to real estate.” – J. Comer
- Tell them and they will forget; teach them and they may remember; involve them and they will learn.” (Paraphrase of a Benjamin Franklin saying
Ronald Ferguson, a professor at Harvard University, has been studying effective teaching factors that make a difference in the classroom’s learning environment. Let’s add his “Seven C’s” to our “What’s Up Front” suggestions.
- Caring – nurturing positive/productive relationships
- Controlling – creating behaviors that are cooperative and supported by peers
- Clarifying – make success seem feasible, help with confusion, promote understanding
- Challenging – press for effort, rigor, hard work, use of thinking skills
- Captivating – make learning interesting, relevant, capturing student attention, eliminating boredom, don’t waste student time
- Conferring – take time for student feedback, respect their ideas, listen
- Consolidating – summarize, connect, integrate ideas and learning.
You are the one “up-front.” Use these suggestions! Keep your “sense of humor!” Tape these on your desk, read them everyday, have a successful teaching year, and remember:
The best teacher is not necessarily the one who possesses the most knowledge, but the one who most effectively enables the students to believe in their ability to learn. – Norman Cousins
References
View: 90-second video on three key facts about emotions: http://www.6seconds.org/2013/04/10/three-essential-facts-about-feelings/
Read: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/social-emotional-learning-tips-school-starts
deroche@sandiego.edu