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Ending the School Year with a Bang!
Ending the School Year with a Bang! What are some ways to end the school year on a high note academically, sending scholars wit...
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Achieving Work-Life Balance Healthy Work Habits Healthy Home Habits Remote Balance
I love the beginning of the school year! I always have, I love getting school supplies and organizational items.
ReplyDeleteOur school is having us call our scholars prior to instruction. I have had some awesome conversations, and individual face to face time with my kiddos.
I’d be interested in some virtual classroom management tips.
Sorry! I’m Dana Patrick, 4th grade @ Jones Clark
DeleteI too love getting organized and getting things ready and set up!
DeleteOUR School is in process of making all out scholars have their virtual equipment and making sure organized, I can't wait to personally meet the students. I would like to see topics about virtual learning breakout rooms. Yashikia willis @PLA93
DeleteI’m excited to meet my students in person and get to them in the beginning of the year! I also love getting organized with a fresh start. I think ways to build relationships with the students is ice breakers, journals, and being inclusive of them. For example including them in creating the classroom expectations. I’m Interested in transitioning from virtual to in person classroom management.
ReplyDeleteMeliah Jeffries, 3rd grade, GVP
The transition from a virtual classroom to in person classroom is something I've been thinking a lot about as well.
DeleteBrianna Bennett, Teaching Intern, PLA 93
Meliah,
DeleteI too have been thinking about the transition from virtual school to brick and mortar...I cannot wait to see our scholars in person, yet it makes me a little nervous as they haven't been in person since March. And leaving the way we did probably has a lot of them in limbo. But, again I cannot wait to see their smiling faces in person :).
Jenina Sorenson PLA@103
Hola
ReplyDeleteMy name is Arlene Mojica and I am a High School Spanish teacher at Thea Bowman Leadership Academy. My first language is Spanish. The most I like about the beginning of class is connecting with my new students. I would like to be able to learn about other virtual tools to strengthen the teaching of Spanish as a second language.
Bonita semana,
Arlene Mojica
I believe virtual (elearning) tips would help many of us. Please share any virtual tools and tips if possible. Thank you
DeleteI'm excited to get to know my students and fellow teachers. It's harder to build relationships virtually, but I'm trying to be as engaging in the virtual room as I would in the classroom. As a new teacher, I'm interested in the different websites and resources that other teachers are utilizing outside of blackboard.
ReplyDeleteBrianna Bennett, Teaching Intern, PLA 93
Hello, Brianna! I agree that building relationships is harder virtually. There are so many websites out there with great material. I think you just have to know what you are looking for before you begin searching or asking.
DeleteBitmoji Craze for Educators is great for virtual! Also, checkout Classroomscreen.com!
DeleteThe thing that excites me most about the beginning of the year is learning and growing as an educator and meeting my scholars and forming those positive relationships. I built my relationships off of communication and connecting with scholars, parents and colleagues right off the bat. It is important to start off with positive relationships.
ReplyDeleteFriedly, PLA103
I fully agree with you that communication is key!! We need active parent participation to ensure success for our scholars. Keeping parents, colleagues, and scholars informed is a key to success!!
DeleteI'm curious to know- what forum do you use to communicate with parents? Do you use Remind, personal phone number, or a different app?
Delete-Samantha Burns PLA @93
I am excited about collaborating with my fellow teachers. We did a lot of get to know you and show and tell for the students to connect with them. We are also returning to person after the weekend so that does stress me out some. It will be nice trying to do some new programs.
ReplyDeleteMelinda Manges, GVPLA
Hello, My name is Janis Macey and I am a kindergarten teacher at GVP. I am so excited to be transitioning into the classroom from virtual learning and I cannot wait to be able to have a smaller class size for more intense learning this Fall. I think that classroom management will be easier in person versus virtual, as I can control the distractions. Lots of televeisions and siblings around during Elearning to distract my scholars. I plan to engage them in school with Kickboard and fun activities.
ReplyDeleteHi Janis,
DeleteI like that you mentioned looking forward to smaller class sizes in the Fall. I, too, can relate to this effect of the pandemic. I teach visual arts and currently have quite large class sizes, as this can be challenging when having to teach fine skills along with the overall daily functioning of students and supplies. Developing smart systems for effective time usage is the goal.
Kei'Anna Anderson- James and Rosemary Phalen
My favorite thing about the beginning of the school year is getting my classroom ready. It is almost like you get to choose how you want the year to go just by how you organize. Also, going from virtual to in-class, I am looking forward to actually getting to see my kids that I have been teaching online. I build relationships and connections through activities and morning meeting. I got to know each one of my scholars from the interactions we had not only in our morning meetings but also throughout the day. Some topics I hope to see in the blogs are classroom management skills and ideas as well as appropriate consequences.
ReplyDeleteAbigail Wade, GVPLA
I 100% believe if you create a space the students love/respect/enjoy being in...they will work harder for you. Create a space they want to be in
DeleteI keep forgetting to add my name....Teresa Pope, Jones Clark Elementary, Art Education
DeleteI love to get organized too! It really makes a difference when you start off the year fresh.
DeleteI love to get organized too! It really makes a difference when you start off the year fresh. -Megan Skaggs GVP Grade 2
DeleteI am excited about this new school year in general, as I am a first year teacher. Building relationship with our scholars will be done by letting them know I am a father, member of their community, and I am relatable. I would like to see tips on how to help the students that are shutting down emotionally.
ReplyDeleteI am also a first-year teacher and I think that has been an area I'd like to grow in as well. I'm curious to see how the transition back to in-person school after 6 months or so will go with our scholars. I want to be able to emotionally support them through that process the best I can.
Delete-Samantha Burns PLA @93
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI especially love the start to this school year because I am starting at a new school teaching a new grade that I haven't taught before. I like challenges because they are an opportunity to struggle and grow just like my scholars!! i build relationships with my scholars and their families by sending an all about me letter home. i also have the scholars complete a survey that gives me information about them. I would like to see some using Kickboard as part of classroom management/rewards in a virtual setting.
ReplyDeleteFrederick Pittman 5th/6th math & social studies H.I.A.T
I am excited to be back teaching high school. I have taught at BSU for the last 4 years. I love meeting all the new scholars. (Although, I wish I could do it in person.)
ReplyDeleteWe did a low impact assignment called “Who are you?”. The students submitted a picture of themselves and 3 facts about themselves that they wanted me to know. Then every Friday we have a student spotlight where one student is picked and everyone must pay them a compliment on our discussion board.
I’d love to see some virtual classroom management tips or links to online laboratories. I’m finding doing quality labs online is quite difficult.
Forgot my name... Dr. Katie Lawrence, JRPLA
DeleteThe first day of school....
ReplyDeleteMy fave part of the first day is honestly seeing the expressions on everyone's faces. For the most part, students are all smiles excited to see their friends/classrooms, who their teachers are, and catching up with what everyone did over the summer. Parents of older students joking about their freedom and chance to relax with out their kids. While the Parents to the younger students are fighting back tears because their babies are growing up. You only get the chance to experience this wide range of emotions ones a year...the first day of school. This year, I will have to wait until we get the opportunity to meet face to face
I completely forgot to add my name....Teresa Pope, Jones Clark Elementary, Art Education
DeleteHello, I'm Melissa Sheriff from JRP. I teach high school ENL. The thing that excites me the most about the beginning of a new school year is learning about the students. I like to do various activities that shows everyone that we have more in common than what we think. These can be a bingo or would you rather game. I would like to see a topic on accommodations and modifications.
ReplyDeleteI think the topic you suggested is great! I am currently teaching virtually still and I'd love to see something like that! Thank you for sharing!
DeleteAudree Zabel GVPLA
I miss the classroom...
ReplyDeleteBruce Quilling, JRPLA
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite thing about the beginning of the school year is meeting the scholars in person and learning more about them and their personalities! I am teaching virtually for the kindergarten and first grade students at GVPLA so during class, I like to give the scholars each a turn to share something about themselves whether that is their favorite food or something fun they did over the weekend. Since I am still teaching virtual, a topic I'd love to see is classroom management and motivation for scholars while learning virtual.
ReplyDeleteAudree Zabel GVPLA
We just started teaching in person today. We have been teaching virtually for the last month. Keeping scholars engaged obviously is the best form of classroom management. Some things I did was take away their options to use tools if they used them incorrectly. I called parents if I had to give frequent reminders. However, I used positive motivation, too. For instance during break out groups scholars had access to all tools. After several sessions of me sharing my screen so they couldn't write on my slides, I let them know I really wanted to give them a turn to use the writing tools. I told them that I believed they were able to follow expectations and I knew they would do a great job. I gave them turns using the whiteboard tools and they did a great job. Another thing I did was have them choose a specific emoji if they thought the answer to a certain question was a certain option. This helped with my lack of participation from scholars who are struggling readers. I suspected they may be struggling writers and it definitely boosted engagement.
DeleteI love setting up my classroom expectations and routines. It can be time consuming and a bit tedious, but I really feel like spending good time on it makes the remaining of the school year run smoother. The scholars can be more easily engaged if they know what to expect. I also love having them create visuals to hang around the room.
ReplyDeleteMegan Skaggs GVP Grade 2
I also love when you know you really taught all routines and things just flow!
DeleteThis is going to help you have a smooth start! Scholars need to be reminded daily about what is expected. If they are not following expectations always remember to reinforce, don't assume they know! I am excited to work with you this year!
DeleteI am most excited to meet my new scholars the first days of school. I build connections and relationships by learning about my scholars interests and incorporating things I know about them into the lessons throughout the day. They enjoy the spur of the moment shoutouts and are excited to learn that I care about the things they care about and that I'm getting to know them. I also give them opportunities to share and make connections to what we are learning about. I'd like to see topics about ways to engage high ability scholars during whole groups lessons.
ReplyDeleteHello! I love the beginning of the school year because it is such an exciting time for all of our scholars to get the chance to meet one another, reconnect, and for us to learn new things. I like to build relationships by establishing healthy norms for the class and giving students time to express themselves. I would love to see some ideas that help scholars engage better with reading.
ReplyDeleteI am new to Phalen and very excited to join the team! My name is Evelyn Bottando and I am at HIAT.
I love the beginning of the year because it feels like a "fresh start." I also love fall so it gets me excited for that. I love to make connections by doing a daily journal for morning work. I like to ask silly questions, but also deeper questions. We usually sit in a circle and share our answers. This helps me get to know my students in a different way and they can also get to know me.
ReplyDeleteChynna Triska PLA@103
Chynna,
DeleteI love the journaling idea. What a great way to get to know your students! I also agree, the beginning of the school always feels like a "fresh start" for me as well.
Jenina Sorenson PLA@103
What excites me the most about the beginning of the year is simply getting to meet all of the new faces, Student and Teacher. It is such a great experience to being a new journey where you get the opportunity to get to know each of these new people. For the beginning of the year, I really like to play games and ask students all about them, in order to get to know who they are outside the classroom, while also building my classroom procedures. Something I hope to see out of these blogs is maybe some advice or brainstorming on what we each see working at our individual schools as we all move into the crazy world that is digital instruction in one form or another. We all have to stick together and work as a team if we want to be the most successful that we can be.
ReplyDeleteRyan Cornell - Timothy L. Johnson Academy
I am usually a little anxious at the beginning of the school year because of the small window of setting the initial tone. You can never redo that first impression, so my every word and action is calculated at least for the first two weeks. I always look forward to later in the year when I and my students have learned each others' expectations and overall personalities. This blog will allow me to see different perspectives and teaching strategies of personalities different than my own. So, I am excited.
ReplyDeleteKei'Anna Anderson- James and Rosemary Phalen
Meeting the students and getting the routines down excite me the most. Because I know once we establish that we can truly get to work after that. I like to take the time to simply be silly with the students to be real with them. You have to walk a line to let them know that you're the authority figure in the room but you don't have to put on some front for them. Be yourself.
ReplyDeleteHello! My name is Kendall Stevenson and I teach at PLA103. The beginning of the school is most exciting to me because I get to start new good habits and start new routines thats I didn't get to the year before. Starting on a new slate with the kids is always enjoyable. I am a big fan of the Morning Meeting book. I take a lot of ideas from that and sprinkle them in not just morning meetings but as break breaks especially during the first month. I enjoy doing show and tells and picking a category like favorite toy, family member photo, or pet photo. I would like to see topics about deescalation.
ReplyDeleteJenina Sorenson PLA@103
ReplyDeleteThe beginning of the School Year always excites me because I get to build new routines, procedures, and most of all relationships with scholars, families, and new staff members. Also, getting to see all the familiar faces that I have missed over our time away.
There are many ways that I build relationships and connections at the beginning of the school year. I use Greetings, Morning Meetings, Closing Meetings, Games, and just Listening with the Scholars. With parents and family members I call or text them. And not with just behavior problems or issues. I call to let them know who I am and that I am here for them and their child. I let them know that I am available for them with questions or concerns.
Future Topics for the Blog:
* Suggestions, Tips, Etc. on how to successful virtually teach.
* Self Care
I am excited to start this school year and to work with teachers and scholars! Scholars need us now more than ever. We miss the the interaction with one another and need relationship. Remember that when working with your scholars. Try to find the strengths in all of your scholars.
ReplyDeleteI have always loved the beginning of the year. The excitement of what does my classroom look like, who are my students, how am I going to grow this year? Just so much on my mind and especially this year because I was coming back into teaching after having my children.
ReplyDeleteI build relationships and connections by personally calling them. Creating activities to find out their interests, goals, etc. I love asking them questions and having one on one conversations. In class I always make sure I respond to what they are talking to me about. I want my kids to know I am paying attention and I care. Also I always tell them who I am as a teacher that means I love going to watch my scholars in sports or any extracurricular activity. I also make sure to show interest in what the scholars are saying. I feel like this is extremely important for classroom management so I really focus on this aspect in my classroom.
I would love to talk about different activities that have been successful in virtual learning, classroom management, lesson plan help would also be great. I just really want to be the best teacher I can for my scholars so the more advice and feedback the better.
The beginning of the school year always comes with expectation and new excitement, and this year I am excited for the new faces I've been able to meet and the opportunity to set up my classroom for the first time! In order to build those connections, it's important for students to feel that they are part of the classroom community. Allowing them the space to share out during morning meetings (do some check-ins throughout the day), allow them to create classroom rules together, and have one-on-one conversations with them. I also like to give them opportunities to share their interests, through writing for example. This will give me an idea of what I can incorporate into future lessons to engage and interest the students.
ReplyDeleteI would like to talk more about classroom management (especially during this socially distanced school year) and how to manage your time as a first-year teacher without overworking yourself.
This was Samantha Burns- PLA @93
DeleteAbbigail Brantch, 1st year Music at JRPLA
ReplyDeleteEven as a child my favorite part was always just getting everything organized at the start of the year. My birthday was always right before school started so I would spend my birthday doing the school shopping, buying new pencils, color coding my folders and binders, new notebooks, and highlighters of every color possible.
I try my best to just come off as approachable to students so that they hopefully feel they can reach out to me. I also try show genuine interest in them. This year, I had the scholars fill out an introduction survey and one of the questions was who is their favorite artist/group. I told them that throughout the year, we will do birthday biographies on their listed favorites as their birthday comes. Hopefully this shows them that I have a genuine interest in what they like and am willing to learn about things important them.
I suppose I don't have lots of specific topics in mind. Just here to learn and I don't know what I don't know yet!
I also like the weeks before school. Planning and decorating.
DeleteWhat excites me most about the beginning of the school year is that I get to meet my scholars in person. This is my first time teaching so I'm very excited about the impact I will have on the students.
ReplyDeleteThe way I build relationships and connections at the beginning of the school year is by learning names and calling home if the student does not show up to class. Also, at the beginning of my class I ask all my students how they are feeling and if their reaction has been consistent for a few days then I call home and check on them.
Topics I would like to see featured are topics about how the teachers are feeling and transitioning to virtual.
Angelique McClellan
6th/7th Grade Math Teach
What excites me most is learning all the new students in my classrooms. I try to build relationships by asking questions about their interests and hobbies. I would like to see some topics about ways to involve students in the community.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteWhat excites me the most about the beginning of the year is setting up my classroom and knowing how excited the scholars will be when they see it. Also, meeting and getting to know the scholars!
ReplyDeleteThe way I make connections in the beginning is by doing getting to know you activities and spending time talking with scholars and parents. I would like to see topics about collaboration.
Heather Hill
PLA @93
What excites me the most about the beginning of the year is meeting all the new faces and getting to know all the scholars. I ask each scholar to introduce themselves and tell the class something amazing about themselves.
ReplyDelete