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There the two hardest days of the school year in my opinion are now over – Seventh Grade orientation and the first day of school for everyone else. The first day of school is very stressful for students, their families and the teaching staff. We are all wondering who will be in the classes and what the year will bring us.
I really, really like the idea of Seventh Grade orientation, it gives those students coming from our feeder elementary schools a chance without the eighth graders in the building, to learn where the homeroom are, get acquainted with some of their teachers and just have a less stressful introduction to our school.
This extra time to allow students to become comfortable in their new school is especially important to Special Education students. They generally have a much more difficult time with change and need more time for their adjustment to be successful, but to have the entire school do it, is the right thing to do for all the incoming Seventh graders (a bit of UDL). I have three seventh graders in my combined homeroom this year and they all appear to be making the adjustment very well after the first two days and I think that first day to themselves really helped.
This year I am also the seventh grade Resource Room English Language Arts teacher and after a “welcome back” assembly on both Thursday and Friday, we went through a shortened class schedule to get everyone in the groove of where they are supposed to be and how to get there in preparation for a regular class schedule on Monday. Having these two days to get students comfortable with the school (both 7th & 8th grades), their schedule, reacquaint themselves with coming to school and having so many other people around is going to pay big dividends next week when we start the full schedule.
It was a great way to start the year.
I really think that I am going to like teaching Seventh Grade, I will have the opportunity to teach these students at the start of their Junior High career and hopefully instill a love of learning or at least giving it a chance to grow in my students. These students are so full of energy and many of them are even showing curiosity and wanting to learn, which is so refreshing. I am not going into the school year with starry-eyed wonder at how great my students are after only two days, but I can see so much potential to have a great year. It will be up to me to help all of my students find and realize their potential.
Now to get ready for next week, by the way did I tell you that I am really excited about teaching this year!
🙂
“There is no try, only do.” – Yoda
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