Four for Fall: Encouragement after the first month of school

The leaves of the trees are beginning to turn, the air is turning crisp in the evening and you have survived your first few weeks of teaching.  Fall is in the air and hopefully, your classes are off to a great start! I want to encourage you to keep up the good work!  Below, I have some tips that I use to keep my year running smoothly.  So, pull up a chair, add some Pumpkin Spice to your coffee and continue reading!

1. Stay diligent with your classroom rules.

All the rules that you told your students that you would be following on the first day… make sure they keep following them.  I know this sounds like a no-brainer, but if you are in the daily hustle and bustle of the classroom you know how easy it is to let behaviors slide. If you are like me, you get so excited about the things you have planned for your students that day that you do not want to take time out to deal with minor infractions.  However, I have found that if you will “nip it in the bud”, those small behaviors do not turn into giant problems.

2. Use non-verbal cues instead of raising your voice

Since I am a science teacher, I have many lab activities and assignments where my students work in groups.  I tell them that they can talk, but the noise level has to stay low enough that at any given moment, I can talk to them about a new direction or something I need to emphasize.  If they get to a volume where I cannot easily get their attention, I have a metal coach’s whistle that I will use.  I will blow it softly at first.  If they do not get quiet, then I will blow it louder.  When I put my fingers in my ears, they know the whistle will be “epic”. I only have to blow the whistle with the epic proportion one time.  Truly…only once!  Thereafter, when they see me raise it to my lips, they quiet down immediately.

This keeps me from yelling or raising my voice every time I need their attention during a lab or group activity.

3. Try to “catch them being good”.

By now you have figured out which of your students have more issues following the rules than others.  I am sure there are students you are constantly guiding back into bounds. This can get frustrating both for you and for the students.  This is when I try to get my “radar” going so that I am purposely looking for times when they are on task. I then make a special point of letting them know how much I appreciate their behavior at that moment.  I do not use it as a time to contrast it with former infractions; instead I just concentrate on that one moment and try to truly encourage them.

This also helps with my attitude toward them. I find that I can start to focus on the small victories and hope toward a brighter future with that student.

4. Be a confident tour guide.

You spend your time making your year-long lesson plans and then your weekly and daily plans.  Only you know the things that need to be accomplished starting day one and ending with the last day of school.  The students have no idea where they are going, but you are their leader.  I like to think of myself as a tour guide.  While on a tour, you are listening to the guide who has studied a particular area and is imparting information that is interesting and useful.  It is easy to let a loud student take control of your class or to give in to the complaints of the students, but be confident. You know where you need to be in May and you know the best route to get there. It does not mean that you may not take detours along the way. Sometimes when students express an interest in a particular topic, we will delve in to that a bit more deeply than I originally planned.  Conversely, when a topic is really bombing, I try to find new and different approaches to get the content across to my students in a more interesting manner.

So there you have it! My Four Fall Encouragements! On a personal note, I am having a particularly challenging year in the classroom, so I have written these four things to encourage myself as well as to encourage you! I hope you enjoyed them. If you have things that have been an inspiration to you this Fall, I would love to hear about them! Please tell me about them in the comments section below.