Undoubtedly, you are reading this while relaxing in your stretchy pants sometime during Christmas break. You are not even sure what day it is. Somewhere, lurking in the back of your mind, is that little worry that you will eventually have to go back to work. And it needs to be better this semester. YOU need to be better this semester. I can't even begin to hope that I can solve next semester's challenges for you. I can't. But I can offer you four items to consider as you reset and head into this blank slate called "second semester".
Reset Your Pacing
You know your kids now. You know where they struggle. You know where they shine. Make sure that you take the time to reset the pacing that will best meet your students where they are at. And here is the bad news. It won't be the same pacing as last year. That's because you don't have the same students! It sounds cliche, but you do not teach a subject. You teach students. And while the subject changes only slightly each year, the students change completely. They are entering your class with their own unique strengths, weaknesses, challenges and passions. And you KNOW what those are now. Use this time to set your pacing to these students. They will accomplish more, have better success, and be more ready to build a culture of striving in the classroom when the pacing is tailored to them.
Reset Your Connections
I just scrolled back through my phone. Since Christmas break started, I have carried on 13 conversations with current and past students. (Please, this is not a discussion of whether or not students should have your phone number. Follow your district standards and own personal convictions.) Do you know why past students get ahold of me at Christmas? Because we are connected. They want to share something. They want to walk with me. And I want to walk with them. You have just spent a semester learning about your students. You know what they like. You know what makes them laugh. You know what they do after school. Leverage this knowledge!
People are made to know and to be known.
You have scratched the surface of knowing your students. It was a lot of work. Now build a relationship that causes the kids to be drawn into the culture of striving in your classroom. They will follow you as a leader when they fully believe that the leader is looking out for the followers. Prove that by reinforcing connections. And if you haven't built relationships. Now is the time to reset that as well!
Reset Your Expectations
I learned early in my career that I should never give away something in September that I would want to sell in December. I can't even remember what privilege it was, but I had given it away. Then as the year wore on, I realized that I had to dial the kids back in. I had to shorten the leash. I had to be the bad guy. And all of a sudden, I was trying to sell the privilege based on behavior. And the kids looked at me like I was one of those tricky online salesman who promised a free subscription, and their 60 days had elapsed. Now I was charging their credit cards.
But it may have happened to you. You may have been too lenient. You may have turned a blind eye to behaviors that needed to be dealt with. You may have handed out too long a leash. Now is the time to pull it all back in. When you reset your expectations surrounding classroom management, be transparent. It is OK to tell the students that you aren't satisfied with the way that you ran the classroom. You aren't satisfied with letting them not reach their potential. You aren't satisfied with you. And this is the amazing thing: YOU can change. Don't be sneaky. Be forthright. Tell them to hold you responsible for all these classroom improvements that you want to make. Tell them that you can't wait to see the results on the other side of these changes. Then toe the line. Hold your ground. All while being true to yourself.
Reset Hope
Every year, I draw the same graph of time versus learnedness on the board. The kids know that there is going to be a stretch of class where the learning is steep. It is going to hurt, because growth always does hurt. We are currently about 2/3 of the way up that precipitous climb. They need to know that! They need to know that they have been climbing and they are somewhere now that they weren't in September. The start of the new semester is time to reset their hope. Maybe they got a grade last semester that they weren't proud of. The slate is blank. They can choose self-discipline this time. And you will be there to help them. Here is a little fraction of a conversation that I had with a student during finals week. He has an IEP. He gets special help. He got a 61% in my class. He was lucky to get any credit. Now he gets a reset. And I want him to know that I will reset with him.
Kids are resilient. He figuratively spent the first semester eating dirt. Now his immune system is built up and he is ready to grow.
Here is the challenge: kids will lose their reset momentum in about two days. As soon as you assign the first bit of work, old habits will reappear. You have to be the constant in their world. Hold them accountable. Give them goals. Keep the reset going. Scripture says that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance character, character hope, and hope does not disappoint. Communicate this chain to them. They need to know that the suffering of the first semester can have a payoff in hope. And ultimately the more they believe in the hope, the harder they will strive. Give them that opportunity.
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