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In Your Corner, Teacher Learning
Four Supports Teachers Crave in the First Weeks of School
Launching a new year is a complex, multifaceted challenge. So much needs to be planned and implemented. Orienting new students, onboarding new staff, and establishing new structures and procedures are just a few examples. One thing is clear: A successful launch to the new year requires a focus on students and their needs. Since teachers are the primary interface with students, their success, too, is crucial to getting off to a good start. If we want students to succeed, we need to ensure that teachers succeed.
It is also true that the success of leaders in a new start is dependent on teachers having a successful start. Of course, we may not be able to remove every challenge our teachers will face or prevent every problem they will encounter. However, there are several crucial ways in which we can provide support that will help them deal successfully with the problems and challenges they will face. Here are four important ways in which we can provide the crucial support that teachers crave in the first weeks of school.
First, we need to provide time, permission, and encouragement to form relationships with students. We know that forming relationships is an important component of the start to a successful year. Still, teachers can feel pressure to focus on curriculum content and skill development, especially with the current focus on “catching students up.” Yet, until students feel supported and that they belong, focusing on academic learning is often a second level concern. In fact, spending time early in the year to build relationships and create community can lead to more effective learning and a faster learning pace as the year unfolds. By communicating that relationship building is a priority, we can relieve stress for teachers and improve student behavior and learning.
Second, we can commit to ensuring that teachers have the crucial tools and supplies needed to be successful. Few things are more discouraging than to begin the year without the essential supplies and equipment necessary to present lessons and engage students in learning. Checking in with teachers, following up on deliveries and work orders, and even bartering for needed supplies and equipment can make a big difference in reducing stress and increasing success in the first few weeks. Of course, we will not always be able to provide everything that staff members may desire, but we can be advocates and problem solvers on their behalf. Our efforts can make a big difference in the support teachers feel.
Third, we can prevent disruptions and distractions that interfere with early learning. The beginning of a new year typically brings a variety of information we need to communicate within the school community. New procedures and expectations deserve attention. We also may want to collect the student body for programs and activities to build community and school spirit. However, we need to be cautious about interruptions and disruptions that can get in the way of students and teachers developing learning rhythm and routines. We need to look for alternative venues and strategies to accomplish essential tasks and communicate key information in the first few weeks. Short videos, email briefings, podcasts, and other means of communication may allow us to accomplish our goals without getting in the way of learning or becoming an avoidable distraction. Teachers especially crave uninterrupted opportunities to build learning routines and create momentum as the new year begins.
Fourth, we can provide support by being visible and present. We know the value of being visible. When people see us in hallways, during informal walkthroughs, sitting in on meetings, and at school events and activities, we send a message about our commitment to be physically present. This is an important message, but our physical presence is just the first level of impact. People need to see and feel that we are emotionally and intellectually present if we want to have maximum impact. When we greet people by name, ask relevant and insightful questions, and offer encouragement and support, we add our interest, engagement, and commitment to the messages we send. During the first weeks of uncertainty and potential confusion, our physical, intellectual, and emotional presence can go a long way toward satisfying teacher cravings for support.
There will always be “bumps in the road” during early weeks of a new school year. We cannot expect to predict or plan for everything that will happen. However, we can provide the support and reassurance that we are ready to do what is necessary to protect learning and provide the essential support that teachers crave.
In Your Corner, Student Learning
Six Tips for Building Learning Momentum and Rhythm
This is a particularly confusing time for many students and educators. We had hoped to begin the new school year in a post-pandemic world. We knew that there would still be a need for some precautions and mitigations, but few would have predicted when we left for the summer that we would face rising COVID cases, increasing hospitalizations, and emergence of new and more contagious forms of the virus when we returned in the fall.
Still, our mission is to nurture the learning of our students. We need to remain focused and diligent despite the background noise with which we may have to contend. We need to devote our energy and attention to building momentum and propelling learning forward, especially in the early weeks of school. Here are six tips to consider.
Create time for students to socialize. This may seem like surprising advice for building learning momentum, but many students need opportunities to connect with classmates and experience the social aspects of learning, especially now. Socializing is an important part of relationship and community building. Further, if students feel the need to socialize, they will find a way to do it. We will be better off, and learning will be more successful, if we give them some time and permission to socialize for a few minutes before focusing on academic work.
Honor and leverage non-academic skills students have learned during the pandemic. We hear a lot about what students have not learned over the past year. However, they also learned a lot that may not be included on a standardized test or appear in a formal gradebook. Whether it is how to better use technology to support their learning, develop independent work habits, or connect with classmates virtually for real time help, students learned a variety of important skills and techniques over the past year that can help them to succeed now. Meanwhile, don’t forget what you learned about classroom management and engaging students remotely. Those skills and practices can provide a wider array of options and be even more effective at engaging students in an in-person setting.
Form a class-wide team. There is power in defining the pandemic and its impact on learning as a common enemy we and our students face. We can build a sense of “being in this fight together” as we focus on learning that was not finished last year and build learning momentum to overcome the shared challenge we face. Identifying a common challenge and working together to defeat it can represent a significant strategic advantage over leaving each student to work alone to “catch up.” Developing plans, defining progress markers, and celebrating successes can be shared energy generators and pride builders.
Engage students in learning where they are. Obviously, we need to focus on what students need to learn. We can “slim down” the range of content and key skills we ask them to learn and focus on acceleration, but we need to remember that their learning starts where they are, not where we want them to be, or the curriculum imagines they should be. Choosing to begin this year like any other, assuming students come knowing what is typically taught in the previous grade can lead to frustration and failure for our students and for us. Finding where students’ learning is now needs to be our first step. Once we understand what students know we can plan what they need to learn next.
Keep parents informed and engaged. Throughout the past year, parents were often more engaged with and better informed about their children’s learning than in previous years. Many parents may be open to continuing this new and higher level of engagement as the new year begins. We can share tips and tasks parents can use to support their children’s learning. Their ongoing involvement can add energy to and build momentum for ongoing learning activities at home and school. Of course, we also need to ensure that parents remain as informed about learning progress and related activities as they were when their students were learning at home.
Maintain a focus on the future. While these may be difficult times, they will eventually pass. Our optimism, future focus, and confidence in our students can go a long way in helping them to see beyond the present and imagine their futures. The goals students set, the progress they make, and confidence they gain can build learning momentum that can carry them through the remaining pandemic and propel their success in the months and years ahead.
In Your Corner, Leadership and Change Management
Climate and Culture, Communication, In Your Corner, Student Learning
In Your Corner, Leadership and Change Management
In Your Corner, Leadership and Change Management
Share Your Tips & Stories
Share your story and the tips you have for getting through this challenging time. It can remind a fellow school leader of something they forgot, or your example can make a difficult task much easier and allow them to get more done in less time. We may publish your comments.
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In Your Corner, Leadership and Change Management
In Your Corner, Leadership and Change Management, Student Learning
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In Your Corner, Student Learning
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Artificial intelligence can do many things, but it cannot lead—not in a classroom, not in a school, not in a district. Leadership is a complex, uniquely human behavior, and now is the time to really, truly lead.
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