The Carp-e Diem of Back to School!

Here we are, once again, about to return to school! There are so many emotions, it is both an exciting and anxious time.

Am I ready? What will this year bring? How will I juggle everything? Will they like me? Will I like them?

I’m always reminded at this time of year of one of my favorite tunes, from a band I grew up with: Green Day.  When September Ends was always my anthem as a classroom teacher.  Not that I would ever want to wish away time. However, I find that once September does end, we are in a groove! The chaos of the first few weeks has passed, and I feel like I have really gotten to know my students….which brings me to the focus of this post.  It is most important that we SEIZE the moment those first few days and get to know our students (Carp-e Diem!). We need to learn who they are, their likes, dislikes, and learning preferences. Getting to know our classroom family lays the groundwork for engagement and success.

Get to know each other 

Slides Activity:

There are so many great activities out there for you to get to know your students, but it is also important for them to get to know each other and build a strong learning community.

This activity below is a new favorite of mine from Tyler Tarver.  Click here for the template to use with your class and File>Make a Copy.

I really like how students get to know each other and students will get to know their way around Google Slides. BONUS: Tyler included videos that show the students how to do EACH step! This frees you up to move around the room and have some of those great one-on-one conversations.

Identity Charts:

This article has a great activity with student identity charts. These could be a great visual to have up in the classroom and encourage relationship building. This could be done with paper or digitally, and lends itself to lots of creative ways to display one’s identity.

Survey:

Of course, I always love a Google Form survey. Ask your students about themselves in a way where they can tell you something that maybe they don’t want everyone to know.  Ask them about their learning preferences as well! Maybe one student loves group work, where group work may cause another student stress.  Here is an example of a Google Form you could use, and/or change, to your liking! This comes from another favorite teacher of mine, Sabocat!

For Fun:

Although this is a fun activity, it will encourage classroom bonding and get everyone up and moving.  These slides (there are THREE different decks!) are a take on four corners, where each corner is an answer.  Have students choose their answer (and maybe even write it down), before announcing the corners.  This way, peer pressure doesn’t hinder their choice.  Have students discuss once in the corner of their choosing.

I hope you have a GREAT first few days back, getting to know your classroom family and that these activities can help!

Take care, everyone!

oFISHally Yours,

Erin Fisher 🐟🐟🐟

Have they started yet? You know, those back to school dreams? I don’t know about you, but mine certainly have! This will be my 19th year in education and I STILL get those back to school dreams! I recently had the pleasure of training our new teachers on classroom technology and some of the tools we use in our district. The butterflies were going as I rode up to East Bridgewater Junior-Senior High School to meet twenty new faces.  If you had watched my first twenty minutes, I stumbled quite a few times!

Although I am not a classroom teacher anymore, I still understand those nerves that many of you face.  As a parent, I understand the little bit of heartache of leaving one’s kids after a fun summer together full of adventures, as I realize this time is fleeting. As an educator, I understand the stress and anxiety of teaching in a post-pandemic world (it is a little different). All of these feelings come together at night, and cause some restless, CRAZY, sleeps! However, what brings me peace is to let go of all that I cannot control and to embrace what I can:

Excitement 🎆

Even though we all may be a bit nervous to face the year, we are also excited! LOOK at what we get to do – TEACH the future. How GREAT is that? It’s amazing that each year we get a fresh start! Another chance to try again, to improve, to grow! Not too many professions get that opportunity. I truly enjoy and love my job, and I bet you do too – otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this, right? When you start to feel nervous, reflect on how great it really is to work in education, to work with kids 💙💛.

Relationships 🫂

Relationships are at the heart of what we do. Just think of all the new relationships you will get to make this year with students, families, and colleagues. Many of these people you will meet this year are going to make a lasting impact on your life, and YOU on theirs.  I had posted this link previously, but I really LOVE this strategy of working to build relationships with students.  Give it a try, I think it will pay dividends!

Forming those relationships with your students is critical to their success. Icebreakers and activities on the first day are a great start. Take a look at some of these ideas:

• Google’s “About Me” Poster
• Back to School Bingo
• Google’s “Get to know Me” Bingo
• 35 Conversation Starters
• Back to School Pear Deck (good for those quieter students)

As we start academics, I really like this article on feedback and building relationships with students through various instructional models.

Connecting with families also helps build the classroom community, as they are our partners in education! Sending a video or audio message with a picture is always a great way to introduce yourself, and will allow the parent/guardian to feel that connection with you. Screencastify, Mote, Flip, or Vocaroo are all great options to send video or audio! Search my blog for tips and tutorials on all of these tools!

Goals ☑️

Setting goals is something we all do at the beginning of the year, students too! Continuously revisiting these goals and monitoring progress will assist your students in becoming expert learners.  Google is at it again, and developed a Goal Setting activity you could use with students on those first few days (and later revisit!). Check it out here.\

In Conclusion 💜

Focusing on what we CAN control will help us all to be better at what we do!

1. Get Excited – you went into education because you loved it, and you still do!
2. BUILD those relationships – focus on those in front of you those first few days and try to reach all of them – it can be tough, but I KNOW you can do it. Know ’em so we can Grow ’em!
3. SET GOALS – for yourself, as well as for your students, and revisit them through the year!

Remember, I am here for you! Reach out anytime, and search the blog for other back-to-school posts if you need other ideas!

Take care everyone and thank you for your valuable time reading 😊

oFISHally Yours,

Erin Fisher 🐟🐟🐟

Hey there? Have you missed me? It’s been a while….and there’s a reason for that.  I’ve written this post in my head so many times. I’ve thought about this post for at least a year.  Why….because this is my 100th post and I’ve avoided it.  I knew it was coming, and the fact that it was coming during such a unique time made me avoid it even more.  I have so many feelings and a tech post about 100 tech tools just didn’t seem relevant or appropriate. Well, I guess the tech tools may be relevant, but it still didn’t feel right.

The second week of shutdown due to Covid-19, I started running.  I downloaded one of those couch to 5K apps that told me I’d run a 5K by May, and sure enough, the app was right. Boy, am I a SLOW runner…but I’m so grateful I started.  I needed something just to get out of my head, to clear it, and to manage ALL of those feelings I was having about everything going on.  It was on one of those runs, recently, that this post hit me.

This is my 100th post – and my message to you is this: This year will be different, BUT it will also be the same if not better than any other. Why you ask…because you ALWAYS give it 100. That’s why you’re here, reading this.  You are the type of person who reads blogs, who looks for ways to improve, who is on the internet/social media, those crazy groups that make all sorts of Bitmoji stuff (c’mon, you know the one I’m talking about), Tik Tok, Insta following a million teachers, Book clubs, Podcasts, etc etc. You have ALWAYS given it 100% every year and this year will be no different. The year will look different and the teaching will look different, but your 100% attitude of doing what’s best for YOUR students will be the same.  You’ve got this…give it 100% – I know I will and I know I am, even right now.

And since I’m giving it my 100% (and sometimes it feels like more), here’s a resource with over 100 of my favorite things!  Enjoy. It’s a work in progress and meant to support you. It will grow, but it’s coming out well so far.

Make your mouse BIG, make your videos SHORT, and give it your 100% this year. At the end of the day, that’s all we can do…give it our very best effort. Thanks for sticking with me through 100 posts. On to the next 100…stay TUNAed for lots more fish puns.

Take care everyone, it feels good to be back.

oFISHally Yours,

Erin Fisher 🐟 🐟 🐟