Professional Learning for Busy Educators

All over Canada, and at many schools in North America, today is the first day of school. Doing the work that I do today, I did not realize that until I opened up Facebook this morning and was hit by a barrage of “the first day of grade _____” pictures all over my feed.  The excitement on the faces of many students was contagious, but it also seemed that some parents were pretty happy to send their kids back to school as well

What I have been thinking about a lot lately is about how we maintain that “first-day” excitement in our students throughout the year? Although this is something that I do my best to support in my work, I know that this is not an easy task for educators and schools as there are so many variables in the lives of our students and ourselves that have an impact on our experience in school. My focus here is on how do we create an experience in school that is both joyous while challenging.  The reason both elements are essential is that it is easier to “challenge” our students to grow in a space where they are excited to be in the first place. If a student hates coming to school every day, it is going to be a lot tougher to push them toward growth.

First days of school are always so idyllic in my mind. Full of hope and promise and potential. I can’t wait to meet the people who will make their way to our classroom. I’m anxious to discover who they are, what makes them laugh, and how they learn.

I look forward to the days in the semester when we've built enough trust to have compelling discussions about what we’re reading and honest discussions about what we’re writing. I can’t wait for the days when their personalities emerge and we see each other clearly.

But I always forget (and rightly so) how much work it is in the beginning. I forget how awkward the silences are, how emotionless their faces are on those first days. I forget and then I remember that every year starts with the hard work of building trust and shared purpose. It starts with a hesitation to think independently and all kinds of being uncomfortable with authentic learning experiences.