Back to School

Sailing lessons ended last week with a regatta! It was quite a day!  I realized I learned so much about sailing and about learning.  First of all, sailing has taught me that I’m in control of my learning.  Sailing has also taught me that my mindset for the day and an encouraging instructor makes a huge difference in the learning experience. Learning something new is not always an easy task.  Learning something new is what we ask of our students on a daily basis.  I may not love sailing, but I like it and want to keep learning.

So, how can we make the learning experience better for the students in our classroom and help them to want to keep learning?  I want to be the teacher that helps to create a growth mindset, encourage and inspire learning for ALL students.

For me, the successful learning on the water transfers over to my classroom.  Relationships, encouragement, and inspiration are all needed for learning in any setting.  I was sitting in our first staff meeting and the principal was sharing a story about a great coach.  The story truly reminded me how teachers and coaches make a huge difference in a child’s life.  If kids are not learning, if kids are not engaged, educators must think about how we can teach differently to reach that child.  To start the year off right, we must learn about each individual to build strong relationships with our students. 

How will you connect with your students this year to encourage and inspire learning each day?  I start the school year by writing a letter about myself on the first day and ask students to write a letter back about their summer and some of their interests.  I also start the year with a student inventory.  I am already planning lots of brain breaks and teambuilding to create a culture of learning and collaboration among the fourth graders.  Right now my classroom bulletin boards are blank.  Together with the new fourth graders I will be creating anchor charts and sharing student work that is about is connected to the classroom.  As I start the year learning about students, sharing stories and conversations, I believe we will start the school year building relationships and a classroom culture focused on learning.

Have a great start to the school year everyone!

“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” 
― Maya Angelou