Three Tips for Starting the School Year with Community and Connection

"Over the years, I have learned – and had students tell me – how uncomfortable the first day and week of school are," observes Facing History and Ourselves (Canada) Teacher Fellow, and B.C. high school teacher Lindsay Hutchison. If this feels familiar, read on to see how Lindsay helps students ease in to the school year and how she builds trust and relationships for teaching and learning.

"Relationships and expectations are the two most central considerations that shape how I start the school year." 

 

1.  Greet each student and learn how to pronounce their names  (without embarassing them)

The first thing I have students do when they enter my classroom is to grab a blank piece of paper and make a name tent. Rather than call out attendance verbally, I do a quick scan of the tent cards to take attendance. There’s nothing worse for a student on the first day than a teacher struggling with the pronunciation of their name.    Over the course of the remainder of the class, as students are working, I go an introduce myself to each student individually: “Hi my name is Ms. Hutchison, nice to meet you” and they respond in kind with their name. In doing so, I’m making an individual connection on the first day and learning the correct pronunciation of names.    

"Tent cards" sit at the front of students' desks, inviting teachers and fellow students to get to know each other by name. [ Photo courtesy Nick Kozak for Facing History and Ourselves]

• Discuss the importance of pronouncing names correctly with students using the lesson "Pronouncing Names" from Facing History and Ourselves' "Activities for the First Days of School"
  
   

2.  Get to know each student through one-on-one conversations

Teacher Robert Flosman leans in to speak one-on-one with a student in his class.  [Photo courtesy Nick Kozak for Facing History and Ourselves]

In the days that follow, I will continue to build relationships through regular conversations with students. One thing I’m excited to try this year are student interviews. Throughout the first week, I’ll be individually interviewing students to get to know them better. Students will receive a set of questions and choose 5 to talk about in our mini-interviews. Questions include everything from pets to academic needs and everything in between. Because we will be verbally conversing about these questions, it makes it easier for me to ask follow up questions.

• Take a look at these "looking back, looking ahead" and "Create a Goal and Discover your Why" lessons to get ideas for interview questions that can help you get to know your students' needs and hopes for the school year

3.  Weave classroom contracting into curriculum learning

Contracting is central to the well-being of my classroom community. Since I often end up teaching some of the same students in grades 10, 11 and 12, I want to be mindful not to contract the same way with them each year. Doing so could encourage students to view the process as a ‘check mark’ rather than something central to their learning journey and success.  

I also try to connect the type of contracting I do to the subject matter and topics unique to the classes I teach. For example, in Social Studies 10 I often begin with a Canadian Government and Governance unit. This topic lends itself well to contracting through a lens of rights and responsibilities. Here’s my process: 

Step 1: What are rights?

• I give students a list of rights from various pieces of legislation such as the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the UN Declaration of Human Rights, and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
• Students work in groups to develop a working definition of “right”.
• In table groups, students reproduce the graphic organizer below on a piece of chart paper.

• As a class, we brainstorm a list of rights students have in our classroom and groups add the ideas to their chart (e.g. I have the right to learn, I have the right to ask questions, I have the right to make mistakes, I have the right to be safe, etc.)
  
  

• Access a UDHR Infographic you can use in the classroom to prompt dialogue here 

• Find Facing History and Ourselves' full lesson on  teaching about Human Rights, including classroom slides

Step 2 – What are responsibilities?

• I give students some examples of responsibilities related to the example rights they were given in Step 1.
• Students work in groups to develop a working definition of “responsibility” as it relates to rights. 
• In table groups students brainstorm the associated responsibilities both students and I as their teacher have to uphold their classroom rights. They record these ideas in the appropriate column and next to the associated rights in their chart. 

Step 3 – Gallery Walk & Classroom Charter

• Students circulate to explore the ideas from other table groups. They are looking to notice both similar and different ideas. 
• We then come back together as a class to contribute and refine ideas into a final version of our classroom charter of rights and freedoms.
  
  
• Find the Gallery Walk teaching strategy and other active kinesthetic learning strategies for engaging students 

Students at a Facing History and Ourselves day of learning brainstorm shared responses on large paper pads in advance of a "gallery walk" [photo courtesy Nick Kozak]

Step 4 – Exit Ticket

• At the end of the class students answer two questions on an exit ticket: 
  • What classroom right is the most important for your success in this classroom?  Why?
  • What classroom responsibility will be the hardest for you to fulfil?  Why?
    
    

• Learn more about the 8 Components of a Reflective Classroom before you begin contracting to ground your contracting activity with purpose and intention
• Check out other Contracting prompts and ideas for your classroom
• Find a variety of Exit Ticket prompts and strategies you can use here
• Get the whole Back-to-School Toolkit and access the recorded webinars here

Establishing Agreements that Last

Regularly returning to the classroom contract or norms throughout the year is central to ensuring they are honoured and upheld. Not only do I post a copy in the classroom where it is visible, I also give the students a typed copy for their binders. If I ever need to have a conversation with a student about their conduct, I’ll often have a copy of the contract with me so that we can discuss the expectation that was broken. Or if I know that we’re moving into challenging topic or lesson, I will ask students to take out their contract and identify the expectation that we need to be particularly mindful of.     

If you are looking for more strategies and ideas for preparing yourself and the students you teach to have personal, reflective or contentious and difficult conversations in the classroom, join Facing History and Ourselves on September 18th, 7 - 8:15 EDT for a free webinar, "Building Foundations for Crucial Conversations".  Registration coming soon!