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3 Weeks In and 3 to Go

When I began teaching some 13 years ago my principal at the time gave me a book.  It was called, "The First Six Weeks of School"

This book outlines strategies for setting up a classroom and getting the school year off to a good start.  It emphasizes the importance of establishing routines and expectations.  It details ways to model and teach how the classroom should run on a day-to-day basis.  It provides practical advice on how to communicate in a way that elicits respect and an appreciation for both the student and teacher.  

As you might be able to ascertain from the title, the book proports that the first six weeks of school are really the most critical in this "establishing of the environment".  I can recall thinking to myself that six weeks is way too long to spend on establishing a classroom.  There was teaching to be done, curriculum to get through, chapters and quizzes, tests and papers, grades and report cards.  Maybe a good week, two weeks if you wanted to stretch it, would be sufficient for what the book was trying to tell me to do. 

So that first year, and a few after that, I spent one week, maybe two on the "establishment of the classroom" then proceeded to get into the what I thought was the "meat & potatoes" of teaching.

I saw other teachers, more experienced teachers, as they interacted with their students.  I noticed a difference in how things played out.  They seemed more "calm" than I was; more "in sync" with their class. 

My principal continued to encourage her staff to read "The First Six Weeks of School" each and every year at the beginning of the school year.  For another year I didn't take the advice.  I thought I knew how to do it.  Then it dawned on me.  The difference that lies between me and other teachers was not simply a matter of time in the profession, but rather how that time is used.

I read the book again.  Things became easier.  I did what it said by taking the six weeks to establish my classroom.  Things got even better.  Each year I tried something new from the book.  Each year I found managing classroom behaviors a more pleasurable task simply because there were less problems.

This year is no different.  We have spent the first three weeks working on classroom and school behaviors.  We have three to go.  The work is somewhat intensive at times yet it pays off.  The expectations and routines are solidified in that time and last the entire year.  Work still gets done and learning takes place.  It is possible to spend six weeks molding and creating a classroom that runs smoothly while at the same learning and growing. 

Mr. Casten
Sept. 6, 2013

Copyrighted material of Michael C. Casten

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