The early weeks of each new school year offer teachers
distinct opportunities and challenges. It is during this time—when expectations
and routines are established, rules generated, and goals articulated—that the
foundation is laid for a productive and cooperative year of learning.
As teachers, we work hard to convey, from the very first day
of school, the important message that we will do high-quality work in our
classrooms. We also work to convey the message that we will do this
high-quality work in an atmosphere of support and collaboration. But this
atmosphere does not just appear by our decree. It must be carefully constructed
upon many small, but critical, building blocks, and the first six weeks of
school is the time to do it.
The goals
of the first six weeks of school
Though the details differ with different age groups, with the
content of the curriculum, and with the organization of the room, there are
four broad aims in the first six weeks curriculum.
Create a climate and tone of warmth and safety. Students can
come to know each other and develop a sense of belonging through activities
that help them define their commonality and their differences. Deliberately
focusing on group-building activities during these weeks helps create the trust
and safety essential for active, collaborative learning. However, this sense of
trust is not built solely on warmth and friendliness. It is also built upon
students’ assurance that there are reasonable limits and boundaries for
behavior and that their teacher will enforce them. They must see that their
teacher will exercise vigilance and good judgment to keep everyone safe.
Teach the schedule and
routines of the school day and our expectations for behavior in each of them. A
sense of order and predictability in daily school life is important. It enables
children to relax, to focus their energy on learning, and to feel competent.
When we enter a new culture, we want to know its rules so that we don’t
embarrass ourselves or, through ignorance or misunderstanding, hurt others.
In the first six weeks of school, we name the global
expectations we might hold for the year. For example, “Our room will be a place
where people try hard, take good care of themselves and others, and take good
care of our materials and our school.” Children are then involved in applying
these broad, nonnegotiable expectations to everyday situations. “How will we
walk through the halls if we are taking care of each other?” “What does trying
hard mean during math group?” “What will clean-up time look like if we are
taking good care of our room?”
Introduce students to
the physical environment and the materials of the classroom and the school, and
teach students how to use and care for them. In order for students to feel a
sense of ownership for the school environment and materials, they must become
familiar with them and have time to explore them. Through school tours for
young students and new students, and scavenger hunts and mapping exercises for
older ones, we encourage them to get acquainted or reacquainted with the school
environment and to feel comfortable in it. Using the technique of guided
discoveries, we extend children’s ideas about the creative use of space and
materials, develop guidelines about sharing particular resources, and teach
children how to care for them.
Establish expectations
about ways we will learn together in the year ahead. We want to generate
excitement and enthusiasm about the curricula we will engage in this
year—complicated new math concepts, engrossing novels full of dilemmas to
explore, beautiful art materials and techniques for using them, microscopes to
observe a previously invisible world. Our learning—whether we are wrestling
with an ethical dilemma presented in a history lesson or considering a complicated
question about collecting data for a science experiment—requires participation
and focused effort, thoughtful questions, and the ability to cooperate and
collaborate. We pay attention to the process as well as the products of our
learning and hold high standards in both areas. It is our job as teachers to
help students achieve these high standards as we learn with and from each
other.
Enjoy,
Ms. Nora Sierra
EC Assistant Principal
nsierra@discoveryschool.edu.hn
(504) 95001720
