3 Tried & True Tips to Start the Year Off Right

Eek! I think I've been in denial that school is starting in just a week! I may be frantically planning my curriculum, but here are 3 tried & true tips to start the school year off right!

Learning doesn't happen until there is trust between child and teacher. Develop relationships with your students; get to know them as a person not just as a student. Creating a quick chart the first week of school is a great way to learn about each child. It will provide for conversation talking points, connections between students, topics for writer's workshop or journaling!

You can read a more detailed post on developing relationships  HERE. 
Develop relationships with your students' families. Parents want to feel confident that their child's teacher is competent, confident, and communicative. You can read more details about tried and true teaching tools to help with parent communication HERE.

Learning to collaborate with others and use teamwork helps to develop community. Creating a safe, risk-free environment sets the tone for your students. A very fun (and silent!) team building activity is the Cup Challenge. This is a great first day of school activity! You can read more about that HERE.

Read about a couple more team building activities HERE.

Take care of YOURSELF! You know that oxygen mask on the airplane analogy: take care of yourself or you can't take care of others! I wrote a book study series on The Well-Balanced Teacher. There are tons of fabulous tips and specific strategies! You can check out the series HERE. (That is part 5 of the study; links to parts 1-4 are listed in the post)

We are so excited to get this school year rolling and helping you focus on easy classroom management! Check out these other classroom management and organization ideas for upper elementary!

Managing Your Science Labs // The Owl Teacher

Six Classroom Management Ideas for the Science Classroom // Samson’s Shoppe

Organizational Tips for Reading Conferences // Think Grow Giggle

3 Tried & True Tips to Start the Year Off Right // Tried & True Teaching Tools