Back to School: Cultivating Joy & Success

​     Anyone who's lasted in teaching longer than 4 seconds has undoubtedly been the beneficiary of some sound advice. Conversely, if you hang out in the profession long enough you're also bound to hear some terrible advice. Among my least favorite is the adage, "Don't smile before Christmas." If you haven't heard this, count yourself lucky. If you have, you recognize it in the context of a conversation related to classroom management. Veteran teachers often pass this advice to new teachers as a means of offering up a solution to the omnipresence of classroom chatter and general student defiance. Believe it or not, those who peddle this phrase are trying to help. They recognize the importance of classroom management, and their goal is to help you set the stage for a classroom environment in which your voice is heard and your authority is unquestioned. Sadly, what they may fail to recognize is the importance relationships and joy have in a healthy and successful classroom culture.
     It is true, you can't teach in chaos. What is also true is that students deserve teachers who value an attitude of "and" as opposed to an attitude of "or". That is to say, those first few months teachers can establish expectations for behavior AND cultivate relationships in a joyful learning environment. I mean seriously, we tell teachers "Don't smile until Christmas" and then wonder why kids hate school. That's like gargling bleach for five months and wondering why your teeth fell out. Sure...the intention is to do good, but the outcome is not. Some out there will read this, and in January point to classrooms of silent and obedient students as evidence of this saying's truth and value. But is that really the goal? Rows of silent kids whose only contributions to the class are to listen and obey? I've been in hundreds of classrooms like this. At first glance they look great, but the sound of consistent classroom silence echoes a level of discontent and student ambivalence that is almost deafening.
     Instead, I encourage all teachers in this first few weeks of school to set expectations that go beyond compliance and are grounded in more than fear. Cultivate a culture of high expectations for behavior in an environment that also offers feelings of safety, support, and belonging. Here are some ways we can do that:

• Safety
  • Laugh early and often. How can we expect kids to love school and feel safe there if it looks and feels like we don't?
  • Set boundaries and follow through with consequences. Every time. The best parents and teachers are experts at this.
  • Encourage failure. The safest learning environments are those where failure is not forever. It is feedback. It is expected. It is a cornerstone of learning.
• Support
  • Help kids understand their lifelines. Create an environment where problem solving is a collaborative affair, and students seek assistance from teachers, peers, and digital/print resources with regularity.
  • Circulate. No child feels supported while they work and the teacher sits at his/her desk. Be available for kids so that when problems arise, asking for help is not a public event.
  • Offer options. The more we differentiate, the more we support kids in the way they learn best.
• Belonging
  • Know your kids. Make it a goal to learn their names in the first week. Yes...all of them.
  • Post their work. Models of success not only allow kids the opportunity to self-assess against their peers, it also creates an environment whereby kids see their products as a vital part of the environment.
  • Establish traditions. What better way to make kids feel like they belong than to have traditions and rituals that are unique to your room

     Above all, smile! Smile often. Smile until Christmas and beyond. Humans are born with the ability to smile. It is one of the few characteristics we possess that is not learned. It is inherent in our DNA. Don't suppress it for the sake of silence. Share it for that sake of positive classroom culture.