5 Tips to Start the School Year Off the Right Way

The fresh pencils (or erasable pens..my favorites), clean paper and pristine notebooks mark the beginning of an awesome school year. I've always been one who loves school supplies even from an early age of picking my Lisa Frank binder. All these things are reminders for all the wonderful things to come in a school year.

Just as we prepare our supplies, we need to prepare our classrooms- whether homeschooling or schools. Both settings require students to know what's expected of them as they work throughout the year. And when clear expectations are presented in the beginning...there's less chance of a breakdown later in the year!

I usually work A LOT over the summer months helping educators at conferences and schools to learn more about the Singaporean teaching method and how to make classrooms come alive. Educators leave the sessions pumped about their school year ready to go. But educators are so excited to begin the process, they often fail to set the stage with clear expectations. Then, I often get emails, phone calls or even requests for further training when the basic principles are falling apart.

This is totally normal and not something to feel bad about happening. It's happened to the best of us! I can tell you horror stories of my first few years trying to implement these strategies. But it is completely avoidable with the right steps. Let's take a look at them right now!

Before diving into your first math lesson, take a moment to spend time exploring your expectations. Consider:

• How do you expect students to interact with the materials?

• What do you expect students to do with the math manipulatives?

• How should students interact with each other?

It's important that you be extremely blunt about each of these. I consider these to be done in 5 quick lessons that I'm going to outline right here right now so you can begin using them right away. Even if you have already started your school year, you can back track and use to get the best results as possible. I call these Day Zero: The First 5 Lessons for an Effective School Year. (Don't forget to snag your free cheat sheet at the end of this blog post! If you want more detailed information including lesson plans, games and so much more, be sure to check out Day Zero in my SHOP!)

1. Get to Know Your Materials: Take the first day of your math instruction to get to know your space. Where will materials go? Where are the sharpened pencils? How will manipulatives be stored? Include your students in this process so that they can find things (and put them away) without needing you 100% of the time.

   
   

2. Develop Procedures for Math Manipulatives: Math manipulatives can be math tools or become toys very quickly. Spend your second math session developing procedures in place to show how you expect students to interact with them. Should students move away from them when you are talking? Is it OK for them to fidget with them during instruction? How would you like them to put them away? Remember that each teacher has different procedures and levels of tolerance for materials, and it's important for students to develop those procedures in the early days of class.

   
   

3. Train Students How to Interact in Groups: This one is mainly for classroom settings but should also be addressed in homeschools. Consider how students will work together. Developing strong partnerships are essential for allowing you to work with other students while they engage in an activity. I use this math session to let students play games while I see how students work well together. Essentially you want partners who can talk and work on similar levels. Create routines that will help students to know what to do when you are not accessible at the moment.

4. Developing Math Talk: I actually begin my first actual math lesson during this time by having students access prior knowledge through a Chapter Opener or Recall. During this activity, we discuss what it means to have meaningful math conversations. We discuss using vocabulary, the correct volume and how during math class, our conversations should revolve around the mathematics.

5. Lesson Structure: Knowing what is expected during each part of the lesson can save your sanity in so many ways. During the very first lesson in our mathematics textbook, I model what each part of the lesson will look like for students and for the teacher. I explain when I expect them to work independently and when they can work together. We go through this as detailed as possible so they know exactly what to do.

And that's it! Simple, right? Now you have everything you need to have an amazing school year! If you want to add these to your lesson plans, grab my free download below with an easy checklist.

If you want lesson plans, games and charts already created for you, NO PROBLEM! I have three different grade levels and homeschool options of Day Zero in my SHOP for only $9.99. Back to school has never been so easy. Head on over to the SHOP and make your life so much easier!