Starting the Year with Care
Welcome back!
As we return back to school, educators feel the weight of creating a learning environment that is safe and welcoming for their students. Whether we’re finding ways to engage students virtually, or protecting them in the physical classroom - or, in some cases both - those priorities are coupled with ensuring students’ emotional well-being.
Many children have faced challenges due to the pandemic, and they may be dealing with trauma from social, family, health, economic, and other factors. Schools can prepare for how to support students coming in with trauma from related issues.
Establish the school-home connection
Conducting wellness check-in calls to families during the first month of school can offer insight and solutions. These calls can be used to ask families to share their hopes and concerns for their children, and to build a rapport with families early. Try these steps to engage families:
Introduce yourself, and acknowledge that the start of this school year is unique.
Use that acknowledgement to ask wellness questions about how students have been coping.
“This school year is starting with many new changes in how we all interact. How is __ feeling about coming into school (or for students learning remotely: having school online)?”
“Have there been any changes that we can support __ with this year at school?”
“How has __ been adjusting to the changes at school this year?”
Share your goals for the class this year.
Sharing with families the goals of the class or the school helps them to have a better understanding of what’s ahead. Sharing this information early also provides an invitation to families to share their own hopes and thoughts for their child in the upcoming year.
“This year, I’m focusing on helping students with their multiplication facts”
“ A major goal for __ grade this year is sharing”
“To help with online learning, a big goal for our class is learning how to use [insert app or program name], this year
Ask families to share if there are any specific goals they have for their child this year academically or socially:
“What is an area for growth you would like for __ to focus on this year?”
Make sure to reassure families of your commitment to work with them to support their children. Highlight and share positive noticings about students early, as it can make more challenging discussions easier to have once a rapport is established.
When contacting families about behaviors that are concerning, speak to the specific behavior rather than characterizing the child. Establish a partnership between yourself and the family, and ask for their support in establishing solutions. Showing that you are seeking a partnership in finding a solution can go much further than an accusatory or deficit-finding approach. Many misbehaviors stem from underlying needs not being met, and the pandemic is causing a lot of stress for children as well - don't jump to conclusions about why a child is behaving the way they are, and be open to listening to parents' perspectives.
Be observant - look for signs of students dealing with heightened stress or anxiety.
Whether teaching online or in-person, taking time to talk with students individually about how they are doing is very helpful. This can be used as a time to forge bonds with students, and also to understand what might be driving certain behaviors.
Some signs that could be cause for concern whether are students learning in person or remotely include:
Lack of engagement socially and/or academically
Overwhelmed by small tasks/light workload
Regular visible frustration (crying, yelling, facial expressions, gestures, etc.)
Extreme tiredness
Lack of hygiene
Some specific behaviors to notice for students learning online:
Students who have their cameras off regularly with no explanation
Emails/messages sent very early or very late outside of school hours
It is important to recognize that each individual students’ circumstances are different, and that any one of the behaviors itself may not be cause for concern. Getting a full picture of what your students life is like can be very helpful in understanding their circumstances, as well as being in communication with families.
Make sure to follow your school’s guidelines for communicating about concerns about students’ health and safety, and reach out to school administrators and/or counselors when you are unsure of how to proceed.
Create and model making space for feelings.
The beginning of the year is a great time for the class community to get to know each other. It’s also a great time to model how conversations should go, including how to talk about feelings. The social curriculum underlies everything else we do in the classroom. Modeling different ways students can express themselves, listen, and share is helpful for fostering a nurturing space for all learners.
One way to model for students how they can share about their questions, uncertainties, and feelings is by sharing your own. You can also start and end the day with an activity in which everyone does a movement, makes a face, or has an analogy to the weather to share how they are feeling. This helps normalize talking about emotions. Another strategy is to share and show students your own “kid-friendly” strategies for dealing with feelings that they can use in the classroom: deep breaths, taking a few quiet seconds, journaling/sketching, and stretching to name a few. After modeling, have students practice when they feel calm, and make a chart or poster in an area of the room where students can reference the tools.
Building in routines that provide ways for students to share their feelings in a constructive way that adds to the community. It also allows you as the teacher to have a better sense of what is going on with students, and it helps them to process what they are experiencing.
In the next post, I’ll share how to incorporate these strategies into teaching math!
