What will your daily pattern be for the school year?
Visualizing and writing about that pattern during the quiet days of summer can help you to prepare for the days to come.
I'm hoping to use the following pattern.
Up early to read, write, study, and prepare.
Arrive at school a few minutes before the children. Greet the children with cheer and support.
Morning work including hanging up bags, signing in, organizing the day's materials, greetings, and getting started with the quiet morning work. I'd like the morning work to be quite similar each day probably reading, writing, or math practice. I want that time of day to be quiet so that I can attend to students' needs, collect forms, and respond to any last minute requests.
Learning time will be marked by students moving from room to room, classroom protocols and expectations, lots of coaching, teamwork, and presentation.
Recess will respond to students' play and free time needs and choices, and I'll plan to mostly have lunch in the classroom with students so I'll need to bring my lunch most days and/or keep a stash of healthy choices in school.
At the end of the day, students and I will review the day and clean up. I'll make sure that everything is ready for the next day including the schedule and materials.
After that I'll make some time for healthy activity, a nice dinner with my family, and evening reading, study, responding to emails, and relaxation.
It's a traditional pattern, but a good one for teaching and learning well.
There will be days with morning or afternoon meetings and I'll make accommodations for those meetings. I'll save most of the special events for long weekends and vacation time.
What will your school year pattern look like? How will you balance your school needs with family needs? What work can you do over the summer months to make the start of the year's routine successful and more doable?
