Invaluable Beginning of the Year Tools & Tips

ORGANIZATIONAL 

• Online calendar template for planning: while paper planners are wonderful, this past year I realized having everything online helped me feel reassured and less helpless when we had to suddenly quarantine or wait for test results. It’s also less to keep track of and carry back and forth, and especially useful if you are co-teaching as you can easily share the document and track changes in real time. I personally use these online calendar templates and turn them into Google Docs, but many different formats or platforms would work depending on what is easiest for you. My co-teacher and I really like the commenting and tagging options on Google Docs. I would be lost without my calendars as they have EVERYTHING on there from basic lesson plans to students’ birthdays to my dentist appointment.

• Anecdotal notes: as mentioned above, it’s reassuring to have information online in case you aren’t allowed in school due to exposure at short notice. We take anecdotal notes about each child in a Google Sheet with one tab for each student and columns for different subjects and general notes (social emotional, family communications etc.), but you should organize yours however makes sense for you. I often make notes on a clipboard or post it while I’m with students, but I really try to make sure I then input my notes into our anecdotal shared document so that I know they won’t get lost and my co-teacher(s) can access them as well. Depending on your level of comfort, you can share the document with other teachers or staff who work with your students so they can add notes as well. I can’t share an example as it might include sensitive information and students' names, but set it up however makes the most sense for you and your team.

• SPED related ones: Gabby used Google Sheets with tabs for all of the endless data collection/ assessment trackers, created virtual point cards and incentive systems (tried a few ways for both, this could be its own post!). First /then boards or other visual tools especially around expectations are also so clutch especially at the beginning of the year! However, one of her favorite tools that she would use even in the transition into in person was making a Google Form for teacher input for IEPs so she didn’t have to go ask teachers/put a form in their mailboxes. Finally, while having a physical binder for staff was sorely missed during virtual times, she also found that having a clear template with running staff notes virtually is something she would keep. It let her link all of her staff training choices and plans she made to one place, and kept a running log of how everyone was doing or what she needed to communicate with staff each day. 

BRING THE KIDDOS IN 

• Family survey: I have always sent home a family survey, but modify it to the situation and after thinking about what might work best for the families I am working with. We always ask: Is there anything you want to share about your child/children? What are your hopes & dreams for your child in __ grade? Anything you want to share with our class (holidays, family traditions, hobbies or skills?) Since our opportunities for informal and/or in person interactions are so limited this school year, it will be extra valuable to get information from families however you can.

  • Depending on the families you work with, you can offer a paper copy or ask someone to help with translation as needed (or do it yourself if you’re lucky enough to have those skills). If you have families who don’t speak English at home and translation isn’t feasible, you can also change the format to make it less open ended and shorter

  • We always stress that it is optional and not something for families to worry about, just a way to share if you’d like! Sometimes families share names of pets or something students have been working on all summer that’s not school related, and it’s a way to positively connect with students the first week of school. It’s also nice because it is a neutral interaction with families before school starts, so if you do need to be in touch about something less positive, it’s not your first interaction (although we also try to send positive emails home for all students as soon as we can!).

  • For SPED, there should be even more background that you get to have for students-- at minimum a binder left by a previous teachers (I am a fan of keeping all of it!) about each kiddo, or a virtual folder for each kiddo with background, BSPs, Step up plans etc. Gabby liked having all of this organized virtually so it would be easy to refer to and adapt. She also put her Preferences, Interests and Strengths interviews with students in here so their voices (and how they change from year to year!) get to be in this folder, too. 

• I wish my teacher(s) knew: It’s so important to give students the opportunity to share with you, especially these days with everyone feeling anxious and a lot of uncertainty about the way the school year will play out. I find that it is nice to make a Google Form for students to fill out with a few questions to give students an extra feeling of privacy. But there are so many ways to do this so find a way that works best for you and your students!

• Shelfies! There are also so many ways to do shelfies. You can have families take actual photos with books or draw/write in titles they enjoyed this summer. You can also ask students to fill in a paper template at school (or online). I made sure to make an example and emphasize that some of the books on my “shelfie” were library books and many were books I re-read or read in the past and loved, so students know it’s okay if you don’t have a lot of books at home or didn’t have a lot of time to read over the summer. This can be a really nice ice breaker as it’s fun and creative. Of course, it is always great to know what kids have been reading or what books they’ve enjoyed in the past.

  • For SPED we had a few Bitmoji sensory and break rooms which were very helpful and big hits. Jamboard dolls and games that kids could dress up and really anything that they can personalize and share were all really great ways to bring themselves to the space, virtual or in person. 

• Names Activities: We love taking time to talk about, share, and love up on our names as we step boldly into a new community we will create together. We are going to use them all year with one another and grow into our names even more! We value taking the time to get to know each other's names not just in correct pronunciation, but in some of the stories behind them and who we are! Asking students how they would like to be addressed is so important. Books like Your Name is a Song, Becoming Vanessa, Thunder Boy Junior, My Name (excerpt from House on Mango Street), are all solid options. More details about these activities here.

We hope these ideas help you as you start this new school year. Sending healthy and calm vibes to everyone for Teacher New Year.

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Storycorps inspired storytelling project

Storytelling is one of the best units I have ever taught. It seamlessly integrates our Reading and Writing instruction, encourages students to use their voices and consider other perspectives, develops communication, presentation, and persuasive skills, and both pushes and allows students to express themselves in a new way. One of the stories we have our students write and perform is inspired by Storycorps and based on an interview with someone close to them.

The Storycorps inspired story is the 2nd writing project of our storytelling unit. Timing wise, it usually coincides with Grandparents and Special Friends Day (a tradition at our school), where grandparents/special friends come to school with students for a shortened schedule. We use the Homeroom time to watch Q & A, an animated Storycorps interview by a child named Joshua of his mother. After we watch the interview, we have our students interview their grandparents and special friends. Every year, we regret that we run out of time to hear from more of the students after they discover fascinating and unexpected facts about their grandparents/special friends.

Once we are back to regular classes, we introduce the new assignment and project. We ask students:

Whose story would you like to tell?  What does it mean to share someone else’s story?  Why might we want to do this?

Then we watch a Storycorps interview. We find that the animated ones are better for our 5th graders in terms of maintaining attention. Two we love are Facundo the Great and Mario & his daughter. Next, we brainstorm some interview questions and do peer interviews to try them out! Finally, we explain the assignment and hand out a list of questions. We give students a few days to interview someone and record their interview. We’ve found it helps to give them over the weekend in case they want to try and interview someone who doesn’t live near them over the phone.

We created our own list of suggested questions using Storycorps Great Questions. We also ask students to record their interviews and email or share the recording with us. Many students used their parents’ phones or tablets to do so, but we also walked them through how to use Vocaroo which is a free site where you can record audio and easily the files. We also encourage students to take notes either during or after the interview. Students brainstorm who they would like to interview. For many students, it is one of their parents, but we have also had students interview nannies, grandparents, uncles, and siblings. Our only stipulation is that the interviewee is not too young (older siblings work better), as we need them to have enough material to write a story. Storycorps also has an app and resources to make the process easier (and they go on a mobile tour!).

After all the interviews are completed, we start the brainstorming process! We ask students:

What understanding did you gain about your relationship with someone after interviewing them/hearing their stories?

We let them talk this out either with a partner or sometimes use inside/outside circles to let them work with a couple different people.

Next, we have them reflect and get ideas down in their Writer’s Notebooks. We then transition into showing them a graphic organizer so they have an idea how to structure their stories. We created and filled out this graphic organizer based on Felicia Pride’s TEDx talk, We’re all characters in life’s great narrative. We watch this TEDx talk earlier in the unit when we talk about characters in stories and how a “real” character is multi-dimensional. It is a great resource to look back at when students feel stuck.

After filling out the graphic organizers, we let students draft, edit, revise and finally share! They have three minutes to perform their story for half of our class (13 students). We set the room up in a TEDx talk like setting, with a stool to sit on, a “backdrop” (we project an image on our whiteboard!) and the overhead lights off with a lamp “spotlight.”

The stories our students share are truly amazing. We have heard reflections on relationships with parents, including a touching story of a child’s father and his many siblings. She reflected how she always wanted a sibling, but realized she has someone to go on silly adventures with already.. her dad! Another student interviewed her nanny and told the story of getting through an earthquake together and how this made her rethink the concept of “family” to be more inclusive of everyone she loves. We heard stories of love, hope, resilience, immigration, adversity, and relationships. We love witnessing this wonderful exercise in taking someone else’s perspective and learning about yourself in the process.

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