Think About This! // 1

PRACTICAL BACK TO SCHOOL TIPS FROM AN EXPERIENCED TEACHER

1. Plan the year in advance, map out the entire calendar with major expectations and outcomes - be clear on what the essential outcomes are so you don't get caught on tangents that soak up valuable time. 

2. The systemic approach to teaching and learning creates a fence around the growth area so that students feel confident and safe within expected parameters. Real genius blossoms in these situations. 

3. Take out the unnecessary daily drip of common questions that can be eliminated by simply creating the strong systems that students will natural assimilate into their learning and better yet, into their lives. For example, the child who is expected to make his/her bed each morning simply does. There is no need to negotiate, and furthermore better sleep occurs scientifically if we climb into a bed that has been made. In a classroom, if the expectation is set that all essays follow a pattern and are submitted in a particular form, then you as a teacher will have instilled this instruction significantly at the inception of essay writing and will not need to repeat yourself over and over and over again. 

4. Building the foundation takes a lot of time at the beginning of the year but there care no short-cuts to a strong foundation. Consider the non-negotiable systemic needs for your classroom and install them strongly at the inception of the year. By the middle of the year you will have surpassed your curriculum outcome forecast because of less wasted time and unnecessary repetition. 

5. Finally respect, quiet, order, clarity, system are not bad words; they open the door for peace, close the door to turmoil and grant you the opportunity to truly listen, to truly think and to give students an oasis in what might be an otherwise chaotic world.