Back to school season has arrived! Are you ready to meet your kiddos and for your name to be called/shirt to be tugged 8 million times per day? Back to school might be chaotic, but it’s also so magical. Here’s 3 tips to prepare yourself, your students, and their families for Day 1!
1.) Mail a Letter
Once you have your class list, mail your students a letter! Everyone on Earth loves to get snail mail, especially a child. Addressing a handwritten note (or postcard!) to their name is such a great, simple way to begin relationship building (or reconnect if you have students for multiple years!). I always add a photo of myself either using a photo postcard, or just slipping a selfie into the envelope. For our students who struggle with transition or who need repeated practice to remember names and faces, this can ease anxiety and build familiarity before day 1.
2.) Call Home
One routine I started my second year of teaching was calling my students families before school started to introduce myself. This gives you a chance to do 3 things: 1- ensure that your first interaction with families over the phone is a positive one (that may not always be the case in the future, and maybe was never the case in the past). 2 – Allows you to ask questions like how to pronounce the student’s first or last name, or if there are any cultural considerations you need to be aware of before the first day. 3 – Allows families to ask YOU questions. Often families don’t have that platform until much later in the year!
3.) Don’t Stress Over Decor
Because we live in the time of Pinterest, feeling the stress of decor is so real! When you don’t know your students yet, its fine – and best practice – to wait to decorate the classroom! Add some nice touches like a rug, plants, and necessary visuals, but hold off on the posters, etc. until you know your class. As we know, so many of our students become easily over stimulated and distracted by unnecessary visual clutter. Functional decor really is best! Your beginning of the year activities you create together can be some of the decorations you add in the room – takes the stress off of the decorating process, and makes the classroom more of a community! Win-win.
What are your back to school tips?
