Next Year: Past Years

Yesterday I wrote about thinking ahead to changes in procedures and routines you'd like to make for next year, and I gave a couple of examples of bigger issues I tackled in this arena. Because some of you asked, here are three of my favorite "next year I will" promises I made to myself that made a big difference when I implemented the changes.

1. I removed all pencil sharpeners from the room and just left out a box of sharpened pencils by the door. We've all dealt with the pencil fight. Students should bring their own pencils. They do not. We want them to learn responsibility. I get that. But one year there were three staff meetings in a row that I had to lend a writing utensil to a co-worker. You know what? Even in the "real world," a great many people don't take responsibility for their own pencils, and I am not going to fix that problem with my own personal classroom war. Also, I hate pencil sharpeners. 99% of them are total garbage. And they're an excuse for students to walk around, talk to their friends, create a distraction, etc. Just accept that part of your salary will always go to pencils and move on with life.
2. I refused to accept any individual assignments. Students love to throw assignments on your desk, in the wrong tray, in your hands, in their friends' hands hoping they will somehow get into your hands... enough. I had students keep all of their work in their folders, and only graded what was in their folders. That way it was completely on them to keep track of their papers, and completely the end of "you must have lost it," which was never true anyway. (More about my folder system here - I. LOVE. IT.)
3. Students received two hall passes per quarter, no questions asked, but no more than that. It really ticked me off when a kid would decide that my class was their bathroom class. Or when one kid asking to go somewhere set off a chain. So, at the beginning of each quarter I stapled two passes into their folder (again, love the folder system). They could use them for whatever and almost whenever they wanted, but once they were gone, they were gone, and if they had an "emergency" they would owe me a detention. At the end of the term unused passes could be redeemed for some teeny tiny reward. Excluding medical conditions, no one should need more than four passes a semester, and in fact after implementing this most kids didn't even use one. Problem solved!

What "Next year I will" promises have been big successes for you? I'm sure others would love some suggestions!        

Next Year: I Will...

Continuing on with the what you can do at the end of the year for the beginning of the year ideas...

What Didn't Work This Year

As you work on your classroom cleaning and organization, this is a good time to think over what didn't work this year. Specifically, what do you wish you had done/hadn't done/had done differently the first week or two of class. So many of our procedures and routines become so entrenched by the end of those first two weeks (whether intentional or not) that it's really difficult to hit the reset button and start over. 

Many of the ones that come to mind for me were lessons I learned starting in a new district. About two weeks into my third teaching assignment I desperately wished I had instituted a purse policy. This had never occurred to me because at my previous two schools hardly anyone carried a purse and for those who did it was just not an issue. At this school, however, not only did most girls carry purses but they carried ENORMOUS purses. This caused endless headaches. Purses on desks took up all the writing space, while purses on the floor blocked walking paths. Girls would spend half of class digging through these cavernous items trying to locate a writing utensil, and the other half "covertly" texting inside the purses. Fast forward to my second year: purses were to be placed on the back counter (in full sight of everyone in the classroom), and if you didn't take out everything you needed at the beginning of class too bad, you weren't going to the counter to retrieve something. Might sound harsh, but that alleviated everyone's fears of theft, eliminated constant disruption, and prevented texting trips. (BTW, same rules applied to backpacks - gender neutral policy!)

Starting at my fourth school, I noticed there were hand sanitizer dispensers by every classroom door but thought nothing of it. Mistake. Should have had a sanitizer procedure in place from day one. Especially because at some point the school stopped purchasing sanitizer and just put foaming soap in it instead (and this was a junior high - come on people, think these decisions through first!), so kids would get giant handfuls of foam when walking into the room and well, you can guess what happened.

Beyond bizarre examples like these, there are probably some daily annoyances you have to deal with that you could knock out by establishing a procedure right off the bat. 

• Are there areas of your classroom that experience too much congestion at the beginning or end of class, when assignments are handed in, or when students are collecting supplies? 
• Does a lot of time get wasted by dealing with minor needs (pencils, tissues, trash can)?
• Do the same kids always ask to go to the bathroom, their locker, etc?
• Does your desk fill up with random crap students toss onto it?
• Is the end of a class/lab/lecture/video/activity complete chaos?
• Is taking attendance/lunch count/whatever a headache? 

Those are just a few prompts to get your mind going. What isn't working for you? What could you fix with a little training or change in routine? Think about it now, while you're still in the trenches and aware of the aggravations. By August you may think "That wasn't really such a big deal," and you'll probably be sorry by September that your judgement was clouded by New Year Goggles!

Next Year...

While stressful, the end of April is also a wonderful time for teachers as you begin to develop hope and interest in the possibilities of "Next Year..." Over the next few posts I'll go over a few "Thinking about next year" tasks that I found to be indispensable. We'll begin with:

Clean and Organize!

I know that amid all of the grading, flurry of special activities and schedules, prom, and other hurdles along the track toward the finish line, cleaning and organizing is not high on the priority list. It's definitely one of those "in a few weeks I'll have all the time in the world..." for to-do list items. Here's why it's important to jump on it now:

• No matter how good your intentions, by the time the last day comes around you will be completely drained. 
• And completely drained means that your end of the year cleaning is going to consist of cramming items into any cabinet, drawer, etc that gets the job done with the promise that not only "I'll take care of it in early August" but also the perennial classic "I'll definitely remember where I put everything in August." Riiiiiiiiight...
• Just a little bit at a time will make the end of this year - and beginning of next - so much nicer. 
• This is the perfect time to purge! You know you're storing a bunch of stuff that you're never going to use, and the clutter it causes and space it takes up is a big stressor. Sneaky tip: have the tossables all ready to go by locker clean-up day, so when they roll the big trash cans into the hallway you can quickly and easily dispose of them!
• Clearing out all that stuff you don't want will make storing everything else for the summer so much easier.
• Purging and organizing will help you see what you really need for next year. 

Do not forget to enlist help! 

• You know those kids who are always eager to help? Give them something to help with! They'll be delighted!
• The bored kids who have "nothing to do" in study hall, after tests, etc. These kids are almost always super grateful to be given something to pass the time.
• The kids that you have to win over time and again. Ever notice that when you ask a kid to help you with something they seem to start to like you better? That's a real thing, it's called the Ben Franklin effect. Google it. Then start building relationships by asking kids to do things for you. Bonus if you can involve kids you don't currently have in class but know that you will next year. Don't forget the positive reinforcement. (NOT reward, positive reinforcement. They are different. I'm looking at you, PBIS.)
• Steal kids who are in detention, nab kids who are killing time after school before extra-curriculars, borrow kids of co-workers who are waiting for their parents to finish grading something so they can go home. Seriously, they're everywhere, help them be productive!

Cookie Monster and FACS

FACS teacher friends, this commercial was made for us! I don't know about you, but I have seen my kids do everything in this video (well, I haven't seen anyone actually swallow a wooden spoon, but definitely some gnawing). Enjoy!

A List: Places I Want To Go

Oh goodness, what a long list this could be! I'll try to focus on my most-wanteds.

• Italy
• Paris
• London
• the Grand Canyon
• all Major League ballparks (a journey in progress!)
• Philadelphia (been many times, but haven't been in a long time and there's family there I miss!)
• New England in the fall

A List: My Favorite Albums

This was a hard one - I can't remember the last time I purchased a whole album! As such these are pretty dated, but they're the ones that come to mind!

Billy Joel: Greatest Hits Volumes I & II

Soundtrack: Walt Disney's Beauty & the Beast

Soundtrack: West Side Story, Original Broadway Cast

Soundtrack: A Charlie Brown Christmas

And here's the album that plagued my classroom for months on end:

We never got past three. And that time included Memorial Day weekend. >Sigh<

A List: Things That Make Me Feel Healthy

Another weekly list! (I promise I'll get back to the marathon recap soon, for those who have been asking!)

• running
• sleep
• dates with my hubby
• girlfriend time
• good habits
• helping students get excited about fruit salad!

A List: Ways in Which I Can Love Others

And this week's list...

• listen
• remember their stories
• send a note - snail mail!
• share pictures
• accept them as they are
• start each day fresh

Student connection tip: have you tried Remind? This is a double-blind texting service tailored for education. You set up a class, provide your students with a link, and they sign in to your class with their phone numbers. You can then send them reminders and other messages, without you seeing their number or them seeing your number, and you have a record of all exchanges in one place. It's a great service!

How is this relevant to this week's list? Occasionally I send out a "Throwback Thursday" message to my former students, to connect with them and show them I still think about them and care about them. Often it's just a photo to remind them of fun times past!

A List: Things I Am Grateful For

Taking a pause in the marathon talk for this week's list and a classroom management illustration!

• a wonderful marriage
• a safe, comfortable home
• good health
• great friends
• happy pets
• a job I like
• the electric kettle in my office
• memories like the one below

As we all know, towards the end of the school year there are "one or two" students who like to start trying to play it fast and loose with the rules. This door in the back of my classroom opened up onto a fire escape. Students were not allowed to be on the fire escape, so they were not allowed to even open the door. A few decided that rule wasn't applicable in warmer weather. So, I posted this sign:

Suddenly it was no longer a problem. How about that?

Things I Learned about Team in Training (or "Why if you're going to train for a marathon you should RUN with TNT!")

I'll admit it, the idea of running with a charity and having to meet a fundraising requirement scared me. A LOT. I thought I had nowhere near the social capital needed to raise that kind of money. So I first entered the lottery for the Chicago Marathon... and I wasn't selected... and I was devastated.

It turned out to be the best thing that could have happened to me, because it gave me the push I needed to join Team in Training. This wasn't just a random charity choice to gain a bib - my husband lost his mother to multiple myeloma while he was in high school, so raising money to fight blood cancer was personally meaningful to us. And hey, their jerseys are purple, my favorite color :).

Here are some things you should know about TNT:

1. It IS a TEAM.
While I joined before the training season began, I wasn't able to attend any of the group runs until more than a month after they began. As you can probably imagine, I was pretty nervous walking up to a group of strangers I'd never met to join them during their sixth or seventh week. But from the very first moment, I was part of the team. I have never been part of an organization with that kind of immediate acceptance, it was amazing.

2. You have oodles of fundraising support.
The Chicago chapter is divided into four teams: City, North, West, and South Suburbs. Just for our team we had two mentors dedicated to fundraising help. They worked with you to draft letters and come up with ideas, and even posted links to team members' fundraisers on their personal Facebook pages. Other team members also offered lots of helpful advice and shared their ideas, and some would even offer to join up if they were doing something they could use help with. You are not alone!

3. The running support is unparalleled.
Oh boy, where to start? First of all, you are given a training calendar with distances and workouts for the entire season. All of the long runs are planned and coordinated for you. The routes are planned out, with water and gatorade stops along the way. Each team has two coaches (and alumni coaches who join in here and there) who pop up constantly along the trail to run alongside, check in on you and talk you through all sorts of running strategies.  Four of the long runs are "All-Team" runs, meaning all four teams meet and run together (meaning you don't get very far at all without running into a coach!). And note, these coaches KNOW what they're talking about. In addition to fluids there are all manner of fuel and supplements provided along the way for you to experiment with at the all-teams, and there is always food at the end of the run. You also receive regular emails from your coaches with tips and advice for running strategies, nutrition, injuries, various "what to expects," etc. there was a private Facebook page for team members to encourage each other, post tips, plan parties and social events (yep!), and so on. Plus everyone of course cheers each other on and encourages each other during the runs. I could go on and on, but the bottom line is that I cannot imagine doing this on my own after experiencing this incredible level of support. And as for the marathon itself... well, I'll have to write about that in a separate post!

4. Running for a cause, with a group, takes the experience to a whole new level.
Training for a marathon under any circumstances is amazing, but knowing that you are making a real difference by doing it is an entirely different thing. Each week before the long run there are "Mission Moments," when someone shares their story of why they are/who they are running for. As you fundraise you see your amounts and the team's amounts go higher, every dollar another dollar to fight cancer... and you and your new friends did that together!

5. Your involvement doesn't end at the finish line.
Whether you choose to run again the next year or not, you become a TNT alumni. The events and social outings continue after the season. In December alone we chartered a bus to Lincoln Park for Zoo Lights, and had a Christmas Eve morning run and breakfast. Team members train together for other events, or just meet up for a casual run and coffee. And of course, the fight against cancer carries on.

Want to support me in fighting blood cancer, and gain resources for your classroom at the same time? Check out the fundraiser I'm currently running!