Back to School

To develop classroom communities that emphasize relationships and care, educators need to start with themselves. This process comprises of self-reflection on your identity as an individual (and considering how your identity uniquely impacts your lived experience) and then becoming aware of your beliefs, values, biases, politics, and emotional responses. The self-reflection empowers educators to be cognizant about how these forces and factors influence their interactions with and expectations of their students. ¹

Students bring a range of life experiences into the classroom, especially from the past year. Incorporating social-emotional learning strategies to build relationships and develop empathy will aid in students' ability to feel connected to their learning as well as one another. This is particularly imperative for students who have experienced trauma in their life.¹

Connectedness:

When students have a strong relationship with their teachers and fellow classmates, it becomes easier to support their emotional well-being as well as respond to the students' needs as they arise. Students need frequent reminders that their teachers care about them, and they need opportunities to connect with one another in both informal and academic contexts.¹

Predictability:

By developing predictable routines and structures, educators can help their students feel safe and emotionally secure. Utilizing routines such as check-ins and journaling can assist the student’s ability to engage with learning while supporting their emotional well-being.¹

Flexibility:

Integrating best practices in culturally responsive teaching and differentiation by adopting a flexible approach to instruction and assessment. Through prioritizing engaging students in the process enables the student to feel a sense of agency over their own learning.¹

Empowerment:

The classroom environment should consider the social-emotional needs and the wide range of experiences that each student brings with them. Through cultivating this awareness educators can empower students by including them in the class decision-making and provide them with authentic choices and tasks. ¹

Returning to school this fall after an unusually unpredictable and traumatic period for educators and students is going to be an adjustment. It is important to set aside time for personal reflection and self-care by making time for people and things that bring you joy will enable you to recharge so you are intellectually and emotionally available to your students and loved ones this year. ¹

Sit in a circle. One person starts by using an adjective starting with the same letter as their first name, followed by their first name and their pronouns (i.e. Silly Sally, she/ her, Joyful Jessie they/ them). The next person and following will repeat the first person's adjective, name, and pronouns and then add their own. It goes around the circle and the last person has to repeat all other names in order and end with their own. ¹

Knowing your students' names, how to pronounce them, how they are spelled and the history can set the overall tone for how the year is going to go. Students develop short presentations featuring their name, nickname, pronunciation of their name, history of their name, meaning, and a creative acrostic. This enables the students to express themselves while doing some research to learn more about themselves. This process enables both the teacher and classmates to get to know each other better and develop a sense of community. ²

Have your students sit in a circle. Explain that you have a beach ball with questions written on it, and participants will be answering these and sharing them with the class. Tell them you will toss the ball to another student, and whichever question their right thumb lands on, they will share their answer with the class. Have the student say their name before answering the question. Once they have said their name and answered the question, they will toss the ball to someone else in the class. They cannot throw the ball to someone on their immediate right or left or to someone who has already had a turn. Continue to toss the ball around the circle until each student has introduced themselves and answered a question. ³