It’s less than two weeks before glorious Christmas break. Flexibility and Going with the flow are hallmarks at this time of year with all of the seasonal activities and interruptions. The last thing on your mind right now is the lesson you are going to teach when you return in January. Let me make that one task easy for you. I don’t want that first lesson plan after the holidays hanging over your head for two weeks.
A Hard Lesson to Learn
Every school year, somewhere mid-semester, I started counting down to Christmas break. It seemed like everyone needed a break—the kids, the parents, and for sure all of the teachers. Craziness often ensued those last two weeks before break with Advent, Christmas choir concerts, classroom parties, white elephant exchanges, and the list goes on.
In my attempt to get to my much needed Christmas break, I tucked materials for lesson planning in my bag with noble intentions to get the lesson planning done quickly so it wasn’t hanging over my head during the break. Inevitably, I felt so burned out by the time break started, I pushed it off and usually was planning the Sunday before school started back in January. It took me a long time before I learned this lesson.
There’s an easier way, I promise. I want you to have your full Christmas break.
Don’t Forget to Do This in January
One thing that teachers never forget to teach at the beginning of the school year, but almost always forget to review in January, are classroom rules, procedures, and skills.
Usually by December, you and your students have formed strong classroom relationships. Sometimes, we end up relaxing some of our own standards without even realizing. Students begin talking out of turn and we aren’t as firm about holding the boundaries of the rules and procedures we established in August. Before we know it, the kids seem to be getting spring fever in January!
Do some preventative maintenance in January, so you can have a more productive and successful spring. Revisit, review, and reteach your classroom rules and procedures during your first lesson or two when you return from Christmas break. It shouldn’t take you long to to write this lesson plan down, because you know the content inside and out.
Reasons for Reviewing Rules & Procedures in January
1 – Students will be comfortable with you and your teaching style by now and will have figured out whether you mean what you say and say what you mean. It’s essential to remind them about what is important in how you run the classroom.
2 – You will be more comfortable with your students, which means you may have unintentionally relaxed some of your rules, “depending upon the situation,” and now you have students pushing the limits in the classroom. Reaffirm your classroom rules and procedures, not only for them but for yourself as well.
3 – Your students will have grown half a year already and will be struggling with new areas. Focus on those rules, procedures, and skills that are more pressing mid-year and where your students need the most support to be successful.
4 – Reminding students of your classroom procedures helps make your classroom run more smoothly. Students have been out of the routine for a couple of weeks. In fact, they may have begun to develop some new habits over the break. You’ll have to get them back into the routine quickly. Reviewing rules and procedures can help ease the transition back from vacation.
5 – Students feel safer in environments where boundaries are clear and healthy adults are in charge. Reviewing rules and procedures and holding students to common expectations, help make children feel safer.
A Quick Reminder
Just as a reminder, rules don’t change (typically). Procedures, on the other hand, are the way we do things. If there is a better/faster/easier way to do something then we can change the procedure.
My hope for you this year is that you have a lesson plan for the first days back in January before you go on break so that you can enjoy the glorious breathing space called margin.
What other things do you like to review in January, beside rules and procedures? Leave a comment below.