Do you really only get one chance for a first impression? I think not. I have heard from many administrators that all procedures need to be put in place on Day 1. And yet, at the same time, you are supposed to include students in your rule and procedure creation in the classroom, allowing for student input and student monitoring. (I’m sure you are very familiar with that idea if your school/state using the Charlotte Danielson framework for your teacher observations…the “Distinguished” category).
So, then, what do you do? Do you start the first day of school with an iron fist, stating that your room is not a democracy? Or do your students wander in to sounds of an acoustic guitar and drum circle and find their own groove? How can you make rules and guidelines without really knowing your students? You are supposed to not form opinions on students before you meet them, not listen to the teacher lounge gossip. Yet, how am I creating rules for these unknown beings that are currently nothing more to me than an outdated picture and report card grades complete with a discipline/attendance record?
Wait, is this post still about making a first impression? Well, yes, because first impressions don’t just go with people. Students will have a first impression of your classroom and class structure. The good thing, however: it can change! I start the year stating my rules (I only have three). We talk about what those rules look like in the classroom; I talk about what I expect from my students and what I expect from myself. At this point, I haven’t given assigned seats or talked about the curriculum at all. That has nothing to do with my classroom. My students are my classroom, and I want my students to get the impression from my classroom that it is there for them, that I am there for them, that the classroom and its teacher create a comfortable environment for all students.
Then, does all hell break loose? Can you not get the students to buy into your simple rules and implementation? Do you need stricter rules and maybe just an iron finger or two instead of a whole iron first? That’s fine…CHANGE IT. On a Friday after you pull your hair out, you stop for Happy Hour on the way home, then spend the weekend planning out some changes and implement them on Monday. A fresh week with some fresh changes. There is nothing wrong with that, at all. What’s that saying, that the only constant is change? Respond to and adapt what needs modifications. Change whenever you need it. But I can hear the naysayers already…you can’t keep making changes; kids need something constant. While that is true, kids respond to justification even more. Explain WHY changes were needed, and what was going on in the classroom that necessitated some modifications. Just as I teach my students to defend their thesis in their English essays, you as a teacher need to justify and defend your classroom choices. If a rule or procedure doesn’t have a rationale…then why is it there?