Topic of the Month

August/September 2024

Classroom Essentials

Our summer vacation days flew by in a whirl as they always do. I hope you were able to sleep in, carve out days for staycations and vacations, reconnect with family and friends, pick up those novels and hobbies that were pushed to the side from September to June, spend lots of time outside in restorative Nature, stay up later, and above all else, rediscover YOU. 

August rolling into September brings a completely different set of emotions for educators. We begin to feel those all familiar negative stressors nipping at our heels - getting up at the crack of dawn, being “FOCUSED AND ON” for the next 8 hours or so, grading assignments and prepping for the next day which can add two to three hours a night,  figuring out before school and afterschool care for our own children, logistics of packing lunches the night before, keeping up with our own family schedules and obligations,  as well as our own.

September also brings those positive butterflies of anticipation for a new school year.  We open up our new class lists and peruse the names of unknown students who will soon become “our kids - for always and forever”, start constructing our curriculum using new instructional ideas, our iPhones buzz with work related texts from our educational team - not mere coworkers but year-round besties, new academic calendars arrive in the mail and we cannot wait to mark them up with our new colorful markers, we start to pack our trunks with classroom decor and find ourselves checking school emails, a few times a day, for news when our rooms will be open and available to us. All of these emotions and more swirl in educators as lazy summer days wind down and we anticipate a new school year.  As we embark on the 2024-25 new school year do not forget these essentials:

FLEXIBILITY, the ability to change, is essential to a successful learning community. The lesson is not working - ask your students, in that learning moment, what can they suggest to make this lesson better for them- and then try one of their ideas. A learning community is only as successful as their education leader is flexible.

VOICE, the ability to speak up,  be heard, and shape and share in decisions about one’s life. As teachers we hear students' voices all day long but do we listen to what they are saying, and to what extent do their voices shape our management styles, instructional practices, assessments, and classroom social/emotional environment for their success? A student appears exhausted and when questioned privately confides they are overwhelmed with school work, their soccer practices and games, and volunteer hours for Honor Society membership. Your student is using their voice to ask for help and your response must be to immediately lessen their workload, reach out to their other teachers, involve guidance, your school support team and parents. Students must know their teachers hear their voices and will effect change to help them.

INCLUSIVITY, the right of all students to a learning experience which embodies diversity, and allows for participation of all with no barriers. Do your Google Slideshow images present each student on every class roster? Do the characters in the English Honors 8 novels represent these same students? Do Math 7 homework word problems represent real world scenarios that all of your students can identify? Does the roster of scientists for the 7th Grade Science Research Essay represent scientists from diverse backgrounds? Student investment is greater when they see and feel part of their own learning community.

COMPASSION, an understanding of a person’s feelings, situation, struggles, and wanting to help them in an immediate and effective way.  Compassion must be the constant in all we do through encouragement and positivity, awareness of how students are feeling, awareness of student and parent perceptions, respectful language and behavior, and forgiveness - embrace that whatever happened this morning, last period, or yesterday stays there. Student success is higher when they feel deep, positive connections to their teachers.

Infusing flexibility, voice, inclusivity, and compassion into each and every school day is essential for success throughout the school year in our classrooms.