5 Things To Do... Coming Back from Break!

Five Things to do when you 

come back from fall break:

 A. Reconnect. Our students have been off for over ten days and some have developed new routines now. They will need to reconnect to you and their fellow classmates. The first day back may be difficult for them to adjust back to the schedule and routine of class work. Everyone in the room should be aware of this and make necessary adjustments even as minor as letting them rest in between activities and in allowing the students to ease back into the class routines.

B. Re-teach rules & Procedures, especially. Some of the normal classroom rules and procedures may have been forgotten by the time the students return from break. Some may have not had to follow the same rules at home or at the sitters OR they may have learned different rules at home or at the sitters. They will need the opportunity to relearn the procedures of the classroom and of the school. So take the opportunity to re-teach, not merely re-tell. Practice the procedures just as if it were the first day of school. It will go so much smoother if you let them participate and achieve success early in their return back to school.

C. Routine. We all like routine, whether we will admit it or not. Our students especially like routine. They like knowing when to change from center to center, or when lunch will be, or when time for gym will be coming around. More often than not during the break they have established a new routine. One that may no longer fit in with the routine of coming to school and working in the class, so ease them back into the school routine. The first day may be okay, but it’s usually the second, third and fourth days the students will find difficult once the adrenaline from the first day eases. They may become sleepy or grumpy since they can no longer nap when they want or sleep in later in the mornings.

D. Relate. We have to begin teaching right away in order to make sure that we continue with our pacing guides and our lesson plans. But we can take the time to relate the lessons that are coming at the students to what they did on their break. The more we relate the material the easier the transition will be. If you are teaching math, then work into the lesson something they would have counted or computed during their break. If you are teaching English grammar then create a lesson with a writing assignment where the student could describe an event or activity he or she did on the break and would want to share it with you or the class.

E. Review. The material that was covered before the break may no longer be in the working memory of our students. Spend a few days reviewing and renewing the students’ mental functions by challenging them to retrieve the items they learned before the break. Make it fun. Redo a craft or an activity that you did just before the break to allow the brain to reset from that of rest to being active once again.

Returning from a break should be one of re-connection and returning to the mode of learning.

Let's make it exciting and keep everything going strong for the next nine weeks. Then it will be winter break and we can do it all over again!

|D|