August, Great Start!
I’m hoping you had a chance to rest and recharge this past few months! Sometimes we can feel just as busy as school time because we try to pack in so much travel and family time.
Transition - Don’t forget to stop and appreciate the activities you experienced during your Summer Break. Choose your favorite, most relaxing moment and write that down somewhere - in your phone notes, or even on a sticky note that you can post on your school computer. You can close your eyes and return in your mind to that place and time to help you de-stress, if needed. You might need to practice this before returning to school, so you have that as a tool in your “pencil box” for school.
Anticipation - Some of you spent much time this Summer thinking about and planning for your next school year. I always thought so much about it, and if I’m being honest, worried way too much. As an itinerant elementary music specialist, I would have multiple schools, which were not of my choosing, and many times not the same as the year before. New school expectations and people and students to figure out every year. I really needed to do some Great Start planning in this situation, but I didn’t always implement or get the results I was planning.
Some of you (especially veteran teachers) probably have waited until the last possible day to plan, wanting to milk your Summer for all the moments you can. Honestly, after many years of teaching, you know how you will start your year and set up your classroom. I’d still recommend some Great Start planning, though.
Most of you probably are getting back to the Anticipation Stage with a very positive feel. You are excited to set up your classroom(s), meet your students and parents, and get to making music with them! You have a vision of what you want your classes to be and feel like, for you and for your students. Have you written down this vision? This is your Great Start Classroom. Loads of work and thinking can go into your classroom set-up, your concert schedule, getting materials ready. However, many times we don’t work on this vision.
I always wanted to have a great start to my school year and to help my students have a great start, too. Some years, I had great success with shaping that Great Start Classroom, and some years I didn’t. Teacher strikes, brand new buildings, moving students around, new administrators, procedure changes and new district level supports all ended up altering my plans. Factors in my control, and those not in my control, all contributed to how the year started. It is VERY normal to have widely varied starts to our school year!
So, as music teachers, how do we plan for a Great Start Classroom?
Planning - Get paper and pen/cil ready and let’s start with writing down the Great Start Classroom vision.
What is the vision I have for my classes? How do I want them to look and feel for me? How do I want them to look and feel for students?
If you have experienced this type of classroom with your students before, what things did you do to develop that feel? How did you involve students?
If you have NOT experienced this type of classroom, break down each way of being and doing. How can you set these up from the start?
Map out your first 5 days with students. How will you create this vision? Lessons, activities, games, videos, performing for students, questionnaires or conversations for student input and buy-in?
I know this seems simple. This is just a start, and creating your vision will take continual shaping throughout the school year. If you’re still needing ideas, find a colleague or a mentor to talk to. If you can’t find anyone, please reach out to me. Click here to send Amy a message.
I’m also hosting a FREE Zoom event about this topic on August 9th, 2024 at 3 pm Pacific Time. Click to visit the event page and make sure to register through the Calendly link.
My best wishes for having a Great Start to your school year!
Amy