Reflection and Preparation for the New School Year

It's still summertime for a few more weeks, but like most of you, I'm starting to think about the new school year.  Before we know it, we'll be back in the swing of things. Ah, the smell of crayons and glues wafting through the air, sticky fingers grasping our pants accompanied by requests for another ketchup packet, the sound of the pencil sharpener whirring as we try to explain an important concept. These are the sights and sounds of an elementary school and I can't wait to see all of those little faces, freckled from the beach or too many hours outside, smiling up at me as they march down the hallway. While I've certainly enjoyed the time spent with my two little smiling faces at home, I've missed my other children oh so much and I can't wait to hear how their summers have been.

These smiley, precious faces are on their way back to school soon.  Are you ready?

As we contemplate those first few days back, we need to reflect on the lessons we learned last school year. We need to consider all of the professional developments we've attended this summer, all of the books we've read, and figure out what we can do to incorporate those important pieces into the puzzle that makes up our school year.  Going back to school is exciting because everything is new, we have the opportunity to make corrections and re-write who we are as instructors.  If we've always done things a certain way and it has left us feeling incomplete, we don't have to do it that way anymore.  There is no routine or procedure set in place--yet--we still have the opportunity to establish what that is going to look like for this set of children. While they are spending these last few fleeting days playing and enjoying the sunshine, we are constructing a framework that will determine so many crucial portions of their futures. It can't be taken lightly.  Our planning, our preparation, or lack there-of, sets the course for the rest of the school year and if we don't take it very seriously, our students' year could be misdirected because of the choices we make now.
That's heavy stuff!  Luckily, we are all professionals who take our jobs very seriously and we are willing to do whatever it takes to insure our students are successful.  So, let's take some time to reflect and really consider what we need to do differently, what can stay the same, and what we need to find out before we ever have one teeny-tiny foot cross the threshold into our classroom. The following is a set of questions designed to get you thinking about last year, reflecting on your teaching skills, and considering what you might need to change.
1) In thinking about the physical layout of my classroom, what really worked for me?  Were students desks placed in a good proximity from each other and the things they needed?  Was everyone able to utilize all of the materials available to them?  Was there ample access to the word wall and classroom library?
2) What about my classroom layout was confusing, messy, or chaotic?  Were there any pieces of furniture constantly in the way? Did students have trouble accessing anything they really needed?  Were students constantly asking for my help with certain items? How could I rearrange furniture or materials so that this isn't a problem anymore?
3) During what types of lessons were my students most often authentically engaged? Did they seem to prefer hands-on activities?  Did they really like technology?  How did they react to my style of direct-teach? When I begin planning for the upcoming school year, how can I incorporate more of these types of activities into my lesson plans? Did I plan ahead by writing higher-level-thinking questions into my lesson plans?  Did children leave my classroom with better knowledge of how to think and problem solve?
4) When did my students tend to check-out or act-up?  Was it during a particular type or types of lessons?  Did I "stand and deliver" too often?  Did my students tend to yell out because they were bored? Did I challenge my higher students often enough with independent studies, differentiated lessons, or projects? Did I make lessons too difficult for my lower students because I didn't differentiate? How can I be better prepared this year so that I can avoid teaching to a classroom of disengaged students? What strategies can I use to re-engage students once I've lost them or prevent those students on the brink from slipping away? What activities could I put in place to create a better sense of community within my classroom?
5) How did I meet the needs of all students through my small group instruction?  Did I do enough differentiation? Did I challenge my high students?  What resources did I do a good job of utilizing last year for small group instruction?  What other resources are available?  How can I insure that students are using their time in small group most effectively?
6) Did I do a good job of using my data to drive my instruction?  How often did I disaggregate data or study data that was disaggregated for me?  Did I have a firm grasp of what I was looking at and if not did I ask appropriate questions?  Do I understand why it is important to use my data to guide my instructional practices?  If not, who can I discuss this with?
7) What types of discussions did my team most often have during planning sessions?  How much time did we spend off-task, if any?  How many of our discussions were truly meaningful?  Did we talk more about the "what" or the "how" of teaching?  What can I do to contribute more to team planning?  What types of conversations would it be most beneficial to have?  What items could we bring to planning to help facilitate better discussion?
8) Did I utilize all of the resources that I had available to me during the last school year? Did I do a good job of asking my teammates for assistance when I needed it? Did I rely on my team leader to help me when I wasn't sure what to do? What kinds of conversations did I have with other staff members who also teach my students, such as special education teachers, dyslexia teachers, reading coaches?  Did I meet frequently with specialists, such as Academic Coaches or Master Teachers, to talk about my lessons and how I can improve my instructional practice? Did I discuss areas where I can grow with my administrator and ask for advice about workshops to attend or literature to read?
9) How was my communication with parents?  Was my newsletter effective or was it just something I checked-off on a list of "things-to-do"?  Did I call parents for good behavior as well as to discuss problems?  Were we able to work together to problem solve or were we often defensive?  What could I do differently to create stronger bonds with parents and work more effectively?
10) What steps did I take to create lasting relationships with my students? Did I greet them all warmly each morning? Did I take an interest in their lives outside of school?  Did I have meaningful conversations with them about non-academic subject matter? Did I instill morals and values in each of them? Did I teach them to love learning and to always strive to learn more? Would they say they had a great year and that they learned a lot or were they happy to be rid of me at the end of the year?  How can I work towards building better relationships with my students this year?
As you read over this extensive list of questions, there may have been one or two that really stood out to you.  Of course, you could take the time to sit and reflect on all of them, but that would be very time consuming.  If you noticed a question or a set of questions that really stuck out in your mind, chances are, there is some room for growth on this particular topic.  I suggest you actually take out a pencil and paper and write down your answers to these questions.  Taking the time to write out your answers will help you reflect in a more meaningful way then simply thinking about it.  Through reflection, we make discoveries about ourselves that lead us towards being even better at what we do.  If you don't have the answers, reflection can help you realize this as well, and it can guide you to the person or people who can help you find the right answers.  I think many teachers are under the impression that they have to be perfect and that's unfortunate because it's only through embracing our areas of difficulty that we can truly grow and become stronger, better teachers.  Take the time to reflect, to think, to plan, to build a strong foundation and framework. Those cute little smiling faces will thank you for it later.  They might have sticky hands, but they also have warm hugs, and warm hugs trump sticky hands any day.

Specific Questions for Classroom Management

Yesterday, I discussed the importance of asking our students introspective questions when we are assisting them in correcting misbehavior.  Today, I would like to talk about 4 specific questions that you can use to improve the over-all environment of your classroom. I wish I could take credit for them, but these four questions originate with Capturing Kids' Hearts by Flip Flippin.  If you ever have the opportunity to attend a training session, I highly recommend you go.  CKH totally transformed my already well-managed classroom and made it an even more engaging place for my students to learn and feel connected to each other. 
CKH isn't just about discipline or behavior management, it's about building relationships. If you look at classrooms where teachers are highly-effective, where students are authentically engaged, and where data shows high-leveled thinking is occurring, you will almost always see a teacher who has very strong relationships with all of her students.  This doesn't happen by accident and it doesn't happen because we want it to. It takes conscious effort on our parts and a lot of work. It takes time. We cannot expect for these kinds of relationships to come without a lot of work on the front end.  CKH gives a lot of suggestions for activities and team building games that we can incorporate into our classrooms to help create this environment.  In fact, they suggest you don't even start on the curriculum until week 3.  That's right, 2 weeks at the beginning of school just working on getting to know each other.  Some teachers--and certainly some administrators--may think that's crazy but the time that is missed with the curriculum at the beginning of the year is more than made up for when the teacher doesn't have to waste time redirecting, going back over things students missed when they were misbehaving, spending time "waiting" on students.  It's shocking how effective this strategy can be when it comes to transforming a group of students into a functioning family.
One of the key elements of the CKH philosophy are the Four Questions:

What are you doing?

What are you supposed to be doing?

Are you doing it?

What are you going to do about it?

These are the original Four Questions recommended by CKH.  I actually ended up modifying the last one because it worked better for my little ones but certainly,"What are you going to do about it?" works well for thousands of teachers.  I ask,  "Can you fix it?" instead and that usually does the trick.  The premise is that, we want students to know that they are making bad choices, that they are missing out on what they are supposed to be doing, that they have come to school to learn and to do their work and that if they are doing something else, that's not acceptable. In order to be affective, the questions have to be asked in a calm tone, they must be answered, the teacher cannot stray from the questions when they are being asked, and the teacher must ask all four of them each time in the same order.  In my classroom, it got to the point where the student would see me coming and start asking them themselves or would answer them all at the same time.  They knew exactly what I was going to say and, perhaps more importantly, they understood why.

It's easier to teach a student once you've captured his or her heart.

I've never taken just this one component of CKH and tried to apply it in a classroom where other key components, such as a Social Contract, morning greetings, and warm fuzzy circles were not also implemented but if you are having difficulty keeping your students on-task, try implementing this strategy and see if it helps. I would like to discuss the other elements I listed above in upcoming posts so that those teachers who cannot attend CKH can still hear some of their great ideas. It will definitely not be the same as attending training but it can go a long way toward improving the management of your classroom.

One more thing, in order for these questions to create results, there are two things that must take place, and they are both on the teacher-end. 1) You must have relationships with your students.  If you don't have a good relationship with your students, then start there.  Get to know them, let them know you care about them. Take time to talk about the things they are interested in. 2) You must believe in the power of the questions and you must follow through. If you half-heartedly rattle them off and don't wait for answers, then, no, it's not going to work.  If you truly believe that asking your students reflective questions about why they are off-task and how they can rectify this problem will assist them in growing as students and individuals, then the questions will work.

If you've been to the training or if you have experience with this sort of strategy, please leave a comment. We'd love to hear from other educators!