Creating a set of classroom expectations for your students is more challenging than it seems at first. When I first started out teaching, I tried to stick to the same rules my own teachers had for me in high school. The thing is, kids today are not the same as they were back then. And there’s a lot of science and cultural understandings that show us that those old school “rules” like no chewing gum and don’t you dare be late are outdated and insensitive to the needs of our students. Yet not setting clear expectations is setting yourself up for a pretty miserable year. Keeping this in mind, crafting…
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Teacher How To: Backward Planning Your ENTIRE School Year
There are endless aspects of teaching that cause me stress and anxiety over the course of the school year. Managing each student’s needs, developing positive relationships with parents, clubs, meetings, grading, duties, extra demands from admin… you know, all those things that pop up during the school year that are mostly beyond my control. I realized that I needed to really focus my energy on the things I CAN control, which is why I started backward planning my entire school year. Why I Backward Plan So Far In Advance What I’ve learned from backward planning is that it’s counterintuitive, but if I have a detailed outlined plan for each quarter…
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10 First Day of School Activities that aren’t Cheesy
I’m going to be honest, I hate first day of school activities. I hate icebreakers, I hate choosing a starburst and sharing facts about myself. I hate talking to strangers to figure out what squares we have in common on a bingo board. In my opinion, the classic icebreaker or introduction activities we’ve been subjected to for years are the worst part of meetings, professional development, and back to school. I’m an introvert, and I’d rather get my teeth pulled than do forced mingling with strangers. For students, these activities are so often too big of a social risk on the first day, and they don’t actually help kids get…
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Teacher How To: 5 Proven Steps to a Positive Classroom Culture
My first week of school as a brand new teacher was an utter disaster. I had just finished my student teaching but had never actually practiced the first day of school. I hadn’t really thought about what 8th graders need on the first day of school. So I did what I thought I was supposed to do: I handed out a copy of my 3 page syllabus (facepalm) and read it to them (double facepalm). After I finished, I looked at the clock and my eyes grew wide… I still had 20 minutes left of class and nothing to do. I looked out at the glazed- over eyes of my…
