Back to School Tips and Ideas

I go back to work in 13 days.
My students start school in 20 days.

It is this time that my excitement goes into overdrive.

I've spent the summer reading PD books to inform new things to try, slowly but steadily buying supplies, books, a printer for my room. I spent $250 on Prime Day of supplies. But as I posted on Twitter, I'll spend more these next few weeks as my excitement outweighs my concern over credit card debt.
I'll buy a whiteboard so students can write book recommendations.
I'll stop at the Dollar Store and buy new stress balls and toys and Play-Doh that will go in group bins for students to use during class. I love watching students faces those first days, as they sit in groups, and see the bin at the center of each full of crayons, markers, colored Post-Its, toys, stickers. To me, this sets the tone of what my class will be.
Pens. Markers and highlighters if I need to replace the bunch from last year. Paper.  A teacher who left last year, left me their Clorox wipes and tissues, so I'm set for a while.
But I'll also buy granola bars to keep in my desk, because no one goes hungry in my room.

I know we spend a lot of our own money. And we shouldn't have to. But please, I ask you to consider, DO NOT ask your families for things. Some may not be able to afford it. It will call out students, shame them the first day. It's an awful precedent to set. During holidays, I will tell my parents that if they want to give to the classroom, we need X, Y, Z in lieu of gifts. I tell my AP students what books we'll read, and provide links to used copies on Amazon in case they want to purchase cheap so they can write in them. But I always provide the books, the materials. Students should not begin the year feeling less than in your classroom.

I am ridiculously excited about getting in my room, and rearranging it, to reflect new things I'll do this year.

So, I thought I'd share just some of the things I do to make those first couple of weeks really work for me and set a good tone with my students:

• Color code your handouts/materials by class the first couple of weeks. Students will get A LOT of paper during this time, and it will help them if they can tell just by looking at something what class it is for.
• Make the first day about getting to know your students and starting the type of work that you'll do in class all year. Don't read the syllabus or rules. I like to break the syllabus up into chunks, over those first weeks, reviewing them as we need it, so it's in context.
• My classes are going to view and respond to "The Dangers of a Single Story."
• This tells them that our class will be different from others. That our class will challenge what they know. We spend a lot of time that first week on representation, and where they are in our class. 
• I like to use this clip about representation from Riz Ahmed
• In the past, I've also used "I Can't Read"
• The first week I ask my students to fill out a form so I know what pronouns they use, contact info (school information is rarely accurate), and where they are with tech. The Google Form exports to an Excel sheet which I use to track parent contact all year.
• Call every single one of your parents the first couple of weeks. I generally have 150 students. I try to knock out half a class a day that first week. I just introduce myself, tell them I wanted to say hi, let them know if they needed anything to let me know, and tell them about weekly class emails and Remind app. I want my parents to be informed, feel comfortable with contacting me, and it lays great groundwork for the year.
• Schedule a day to walk your students through whatever tech you'll use. I spend a day setting up gmail, Google Docs, Google Classroom, our Remind app. If you expect students to use something, you have to teach them how to do it/introduce them to it. I then use it regularly in class those first couple of weeks so they get used to using it/accessing it.
• Even if you don't use a lot of tech, if nothing else, think about setting up a class webpage that offers basic information for parents/students. This helps with accessibility.
• Work time in those first few weeks for students to talk to you. Use exit slips about how they're doing. Give them your email or Google Voice number. Set a culture where asking for help is part of your class culture from the get go.
• One of the biggest changes I've made in the last few years, after over 17 years of teaching, was to stop policing behavior, and telling students I don't want to police behavior. Those first days we'll write class rules- they write things they think are important for class to run on Post-Its, that we put on giant Post-It in class. I start, with "Be Kind." That for me is the most important thing. I phrase our guidelines as things that make us feel good in class, able to work, and not as "rules" per se. Since I've started doing this, I have less issues, and a better class environment.
• No matter what content or grade you teach, think about shifting your classroom to focusing on the students. I know student centered is a big buzzword. But consider this graphic:

• This means students choose. It means you work with them, listen to them. I like to do this by letting them sit anywhere they want the first day in groups, but they have to leave one empty seat. This means that as I walk around class, there is always a space for me to sit down, listen, take notes, talk to them, clarify, do the work with them. It is a way to set a structure that creates a tone.
• This also means that it's easier to do station rotations, where the focus is one the students.
• Model what you want. Notebooks, writing, think aloud analysis. Don't assume students know something if you haven't taught it.
• I keep Daybooks for each class, modeled like the students keep. I do the same in Google Docs. My Google Slides for class and the Daybook outline what we do in class each day, and students can always access them. I take pictures of board notes and post them in Google Classroom.
• Doing the work with the students also means you can see where the disconnects and misunderstandings are.
• Consider how your environment affects your students. One of the things my students said they loved best last year was all the posters, information, giant Post-Its that were in our classroom- how colorful it was. Again, class layout is another way to have the structure of your class set the tone.

 Please feel free to share! And add to!
Have a great start to your year!