WRITTEN BY ALICE VIGORS Here are my top tips to help you start the 2022 school year strongly. Classroom Environment
The walls of a classroom should be grounded in learning. After all that is our core business. Everything that goes up on one of the walls in a classroom should be:
Classroom Example: Here is an example of what my classroom looks like at the beginning of the school year. Read more about why I do this in The Walls Are Empty blog post. Learning and Behaviour Expectations
There's a reason I haven't used the term 'rules' and instead opted for the term 'expectations'. In my classroom I work with students to build our expectations of the way we learn, the way we behave, the way we reflect and the way we hold each other accountable to these expectations. You see when we build these expectations together, students have a voice in the way we operate in the classroom. I use the thinking routine Chalk Talk to build this discussion with my students so that I can capture every students' voice in this important conversation.
We collate our ideas, looking for common themes and display our final expectations for all to see. We revisit this regularly, looking at what expectations we are nailing and ones we need to work further at. These become our goals as a class and we focus on only one to improve in a week. Read more about this idea in the blog post Building Classroom Expectations Routines
Do you want things done a particular way in your classroom? Take the time to 'train' your students how to do it, but don't stop there. Just because you have shown them once or twice doesn't mean they can do it consistently the way you want it. It is certainly not a waste of time to focus on getting these routines right from the very beginning. You are setting yourself up for success by investing the time now. Some of the routines you might build with your students include:
Learning
Top Tip: Undertake a small unit of learning that supports the routines, expectations and culture you want to foster in your classroom. At the beginning of the year I often use an animation like Soar as an integrated literacy unit to build in growth mindset and perseverance discussions. It's what I use to begin chunking my literacy routines and the expectations for working collaboratively with others. This puts us in good stead for moving forward with our learning as I have taken the time to lay the foundations and then continue to build upon it as we continue on our learning journey. Relationships
The reality is, kids don't learn from people they don't like, trust and know. From day one build opportunities to engage in getting to know you activities and team building exercises. This helps you to learn more about each of the students and to also help in fostering a positive classroom culture, especially with those students who are a little quieter than others and ones that often fly under the radar. Communication
Share with parents, an overview of the learning their child will be undertaking over the term and ways that they can contact you if needed. Make sure you are regularly contacting parents throughout the term for positive as well as areas of concern. A formal written report shouldn't be the only time the parents hear from you. Using a digital learning platform, such as Seesaw (not a paid promotion) is a valuable way to give parents a snapshot into learning in the classroom. It allows them to see what their child is doing and opens up communication lines between parents and child as well as between parents and teacher around what they created and how they are going. Data
Use a ntoicing and wondering routine to examine your data without drawing inference into it.
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AuthorHi, I am Alice. I am a primary teacher and leader in New South Wales, Australia. I have been teaching for the past 14 years in both the Public and Catholic school systems. I am passionate about supporting and mentoring colleagues to think deeply about their efforts to cultivate thinking and learning opportunities for students. Read more Archives
August 2023
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