Tips for getting your school-year off to a relaxed and productive start.
Gearing up for back-to-school can be a bit overwhelming; there is a lot to do, a lot of transitions to navigate, and often a sense of blues as the realization that summer has, once again, gone by too fast. However, you can easily turn back-to-school anxieties into positive anticipation for a great school year with the following action plan. Plug these steps into your calendar right now and see what a different they can make!
One Week before School: Week of Preparation
Day 1 (seven days before school): Ease into a "school" bed-time schedule. Slowly transitioning into a "school" sleep schedule ensures proper rest and encourages a positive attitude towards going back to school.
Day 3: Create a place for everything, so everything will be in its place. Designate one basket for each child to store his shoes, bookbags, and jackets. Give each child a container filled with standard homework supplies that can be transported from, for example, the kitchen to the computer room. Finally, establish a place for each child to store extra papers from school -a section of your file cabinet or a designated box under his bed.
Day 4: Purchase supplies. Keep the supplies minimal and simple. Fancy folders and notebooks are bulky and hard for students to use. The best system to use is a one-inch binder with a plastic folder for each class, keeping all folders in one place.
Day 6: Set goals with your children. Help your children look forward to the new school year by having each person (including you) share at least two goals for the new school year: one academic goal and one "fun" goal.
First Week of School: Week of Routines
Day 7 (night before school): Have a "Sunday Night Meeting" every week! Each member of the family should grab their planners/calendars for a 10-15 minute "meeting." Ask your children what they have scheduled for the week (such as sports practices), share your plans for the week (children like to know what to expect, so tell them if you will have a late night at the office or will have to attend a meeting at school), arrange rides home from after-school activities, etc. Your week will be much less chaotic because everyone will be on the same page!
Day 8: Establish a routine for papers that need your attention. Purchase magnetic clips for each child and post them on the refrigerator. Have your children clip papers here that you need to fill out, sign, etc. (Expect to spend four hours filling out back-to-school papers this week.)
Day 10: Get ready for school at night, before you go to bed. Avoid chaotic mornings and forgotten school supplies by having everyone pack up their homework, bookbags, lunch/lunch money, etc. before they go to bed. They should also set out their clothes, shoes, and jacket at night, too.
Day 11: Is everyone using their school planners? All students need to use a homework planner! Check planners every night until they are part of everyone's routine.
Day 12: Clean out bookbags once a week. Cluttered book-bags are the root cause of lost assignments and must be cleaned out regularly. (The Sunday Night Meeting is another good time to do this.)
Second Week of School: Week of Cooperation
Day 14: Hold your second "Sunday Night Meeting" of the school year.
Day 15: Give each child a choice about something today. The more you can give your children choices, the more cooperation you will get from them, especially when doing homework. Some choices may include giving two options for dinner or two different times to do their homework. When you give choices -and honor their choices- your children feel empowered and will be much more cooperative.
Day 18: Catch your children being good today! Improve cooperation by giving compliments to your children. Keep them specific and succinct (most children are embarrassed by mushy-gushy compliments). For example, "Thank you, Kristen, for coming home and starting your homework right away. I appreciate that." Positive praise works wonders!
Day 21: Give yourself a break! Congratulations, you have survived the first two weeks of school and you are well on your way to a happy, productive school year. Celebrate by scheduling some time for yourself. You deserve it!
(c) 2008 Susan Kruger, All rights reserved. You are free to reprint/republish this article as long as the article and byline are kept intact and all links are made live.
What is heart? Passion, desire, and drive combined to form an intense intrinsic motivation to act. This is the foremost quality of a good teacher and the first thing I look for in a teacher on my staff.
As I conducted countless professional development sessions, created numerous growth plans, and counseled teachers in coaching sessions, it became apparent that the heart of a teacher is what matters—everything else can be taught. For some reason— maybe the seemingly short workday, frequent vacations, or job stability—professionals flock to the field of education. These newcomers to teaching are from all professions such as accounting, business, engineering, and some are even new graduates from college. Not all of these transitions are willing; some are desperate in light of harsh economic times and they feel, “Since I have a degree, I can teach”.
Unfortunately, the salary of a teacher hardly makes the job worth it. Therefore, in the schools we see apathy, burnout, and despair in teachers who really did not want to be in the classroom in the first place. Yet, we are stuck with them. Despite advanced degrees and certifications, no amount of professional development and coaching could make these teachers better because their heart is not in it, though they keep teaching year after year.
On the other hand, take a new teacher, one who has always wanted to help children and teach, yet has little or no experience and may not even be certified. Who would you rather on campus? Many would choose the veteran who has experience, but at what cost? In this age of society, education is continually changing, evolving, moving steadily towards putting (and keeping) the student first, and campuses need teachers who are willing to do the same, teachers with heart.
This “heart” that good teachers possess moves them to continually put students first. This naturally leads these teachers to attend whatever professional developments, listen to whatever advice, and employ whatever strategies necessary for the benefit of their students. This motivation to adapt and evolve cannot be taught and does not automatically accompany a certificate of certification.
Teachers who possess heart take heed to counsel and advice. They embrace new teaching models, such as co-teaching and technology in the classroom. They self-evaluate, study, research, observe, and adjust, all without prodding from department heads and administration. They are thirsty for information and seek to not only hone their skills, but to share them with others. Students cannot help but benefit from these teachers who are open, resourceful, and ready to learn.
Where do you find teachers like this, ones who possess the heart of a teacher? They are probably already on your campus, waiting for an ignition to their fire by supportive administration and staff or are already taking the lead in producing student achievement and simply making good things happen. Otherwise, they are fresh out of school or working an unfulfilling job in another industry, seeking to get onto your campus as soon as possible. Keep your eye out for teachers like these because only this kind of teacher, a teacher with heart, will ultimately bring about student achievement and success.
Imagine a classroom busy with children, arriving one by one to attend a day's class or workshop, as in the home school set-up. At the door way, a child lingers and hesitates to come in while she or he hangs on to mom's skirt or dad's shirt. Teacher looks on, approaches the child and encourages the child to come in , hoping that the child will readily agree to enter the room, hoping that not too much time will be spent doing this. There are children already inside the classroom and cannot be left for long. Imagine this scenario happening over and over during the first few weeks of classes. It is at this crucial period when, sometimes, even the teacher may be the cause of a child refusing to go to school for good! This kind of teacher - child struggle is so common in the regular school setting. And yet, year after year, this event becomes an anticipated ritual, a dreaded one by the teacher and child. How creative should a teacher be to avoid this kind of school opening "rigodon?"
To a child who is about to enter an unfamiliar environment, bringing along an item that belongs to a special family member like mom or dad, will feel more secure. That special item provides the link to the familiar upon entering the unfamiliar. It provides the child some degree of comfort and assurance that the familiar is still there. The very wise teacher, therefore, would best let the child hang on to that special item to keep the tears from flowing. And so during the rest of the day, this special item becomes a fixture throughout the child's activities among the rest of the children.
Imagine if all children , on their first few days of classes would have to bring a special item from their home. This is perfectly alright! What a sight to behold to see the children with all kinds of personal items attached to themselves. Won't it make you, the teacher curious enough to ask about such items? If it does make you curious, don't you think each little child would also be just as curious? I have seen such curiosity occur time and again ! And I have seen a child or two attempt to hide their precious items from overly curious classmates! I have not mentioned grabbing yet! But when grabbing occurs, the already settled child once again gets unsettled and cries. Now the teacher has to find ways once again to deal with a new situation in the classroom. It seems like an endless cycle.
Show and Tell ! Children simply love to show off their personal effects and they also love to tell about these! On the very first weeks of classes,engage the children and their families to show and tell about their favorite items. Before the children show up for a class or workshop, notify the family that they would be encouraged to bring a special object, safe and manageable, to show and tell about. Just the prospect of bringing a favorite toy or item would already excite the child about going to school. The thought of having new friends be curious about something owned by the child already adds to the confidence the child should muster to enter the room full of new friends. The attention given by the teacher and classmates to each child and that special object , turn by turn, would significantly contribute to the child's growing self-esteem in that new environment.
Teacher now be very careful about this important event in the new classroom. The goal of show and tell is to help each child settle in with a growing sense of confidence in his classmates, teacher and environment. It is not a show off and tell about event, it is not a competition. A child who brings in mommy's handkerchief should receive significant attention as would the child who brings in a colorful book. Whatever item brought in by each child must be used as a springboard for the child to feel more secure about the environment and thus, be eager to come back the next day, the next day, and so on...
Oh by the way, teacher must also join in and show and tell !
After a day's event of show and tell, each child has not only learned about and appreciate their classmates' uniqueness, but each child has also learned to speak in front of an audience. Each child has also learned to be an attentive audience.But the most significant lesson of all after a show and tell event, is that the child feels valuable, important among his group of friends and teachers.
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