December 22, 2024

Starting the School Year

Summer can go by in the blink of an eye and we wonder what we did for 2.5 months. If you can look back at the relaxation and adventures you had without stress, then you lived life! Taking time for you is not a bad thing. I know looking back on my summer it was filled with sports, sunshine, memories, and lots of medical self-care. I do not regret on second of it or wish that I spent more time with “school work”. You deserve to step away and take care of you and your family, without guilt.

The 2021-2022 school year will undoubtedly hold its challenges. As educators, we want to protect and give the best to the minds entrusted to us for the year. When you reflect on how summer felt, how can you bring some of that into your classroom? If less stress or creating a sense of normalcy is what held you together over the summer, why not bring that into your classroom? The beginning of the school year is always my favorite. I mean think Will Ferrell “Elf” jumping up and down! I LOVE NEW BEGINNINGS!

Routines and Procedures

Every year you have a clean slate on how you want to create routines and procedures. Maybe this year you want to try a new procedure for morning meeting or writing notebooks. Try 1-2 new things and keep at it for more than a few days. Habits take time to form and so does the routine. The key to any new beginning is consistency and modeling. It is ok if you don’t get through the entire lesson you had written down. If the students do not follow the routine right away, you practice again. Take 2-3 days to complete the lesson by practicing the routine. You will be glad in a few weeks that you took this time now to develop these routines and mastered procedures!

Here is an example for Writer’s Workshop or Writing Block

What will it look like?

  • Explain the materials needed for your writing block – notebook, pencil, word walls, etc
  • Procedure for entering a journal entry or writing piece
    • Date of entry – where do they write it?
    • Will they title every piece of writing?
    • Every line on the page doesn’t mean it’s a sentence – no numbering the lines!
    • Where will they begin writing – teach them the red line for margins, leave space of illustrations
  • What will they do when they are “done” writing?
  • Will they edit the same piece of writing over and over until it is ready to publish?
  • Is the notebook for writing prompts and genres of writing?
  • How much time is the writing block and what will they do vs what you will do during the block?
  • What do they do when the writing block is over?

If you look at this list you realize that is a lot to cover in one lesson. What is the most important part that you need students to master right away? Would it be the procedure of how to use their notebook? This should be a YES. Spend 5-10 minutes modeling where the notebooks are stored, how to get the materials needed to start writing, and model writing the date and title to your piece for this lesson.

Now it is time for the students to practice.

  • Give them 10 minutes to practice this routine and procedure of writing entries.
    • Notebook-Pencil-Word Walls
    • Entry Procedure: Date-Title-Writing
  • Are they understanding the procedure of dating and titling their writing?
  • Now it is about 5-8 minutes in, give them a chance to have either start writing or ask questions of what to do with the extra time.
  • The lesson shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes, because you need to discuss their observation. Give a signal (bell, chime, clap) to end the writing time.
  • Allow students to reflect on how it went.
  • Model the procedure of putting away your writing materials and then allow them to put away their materials.
  • Each time you have writing build upon this routine to add in more writing time and develop stamina of writing.

Routines and Procedures

Make a list of transition times, center rotations, math talks, reading blocks, small groups, writing that you will need to take more time for modeling and practice. Each one of these routines will need consistency to make your next few months easier. It may seem like it takes forever to get through a lesson, but the key is to have students confident in their ability to work within the classroom without the constant need to ask for reassurance. This would be no different than administration walking in to evaluate you and you not understanding what they are looking for. Give your students the expectations and you will see by November that they can work within the classroom as if you are not present. (It can be done…I was able to accomplish this for 15 years teaching kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade).

  • What routines do you want to establish right away?
  • What routines can you break up into smaller modeled lessons for students to have success?
  • If you are already weeks into the school year can you start a routine? YES!! Model and practice!

Let me know how you are setting up your routines and procedures, successes you are having, and challenges that you would like more strategies for overcoming.

Have a great 2021-2022 school year!