Educator Adrianne Sublett offers 3 tips on how teachers can be prepared for the school year from day one.
My youngest son Hayden recently started kindergarten, a big day for any parent. I was especially thrilled as an educator to see my little boy begin this journey. His joy and excitement reminded me of my first day of school. I couldn’t wait to get to class, meet my teacher, and make new friends.
I’d grown up with my oldest sister taking me to her college classes while she was training to be a teacher and letting me explore her university textbooks because she believed in my curiosity and my potential to learn. At the end of my first day of kindergarten, I didn’t meet my sister at our pick-up place. When she found me still in my classroom, certain I was in trouble, my teacher was wearing a big smile.
I hadn’t done anything wrong; my teacher announced that I was reading well above grade level, and she wanted to put me in a more challenging reading class. Because my sister believed in my promise and gave me challenging, rigorous texts to engage with from a young age, I was not only prepared for kindergarten, I was able to thrive from day one.
Even after 15 years as an educator, I still get jitters every year on the first day of school because of all of the possibilities that lie ahead. We have so much to accomplish, and the stakes are high: it’s both exciting and daunting at the same time. Being prepared from day one helps me feel ready to tackle the challenges and seize the opportunities that will ensure all students’ potentials are recognized and developed.
For me, just like on my first day of school, preparation starts with the instructional materials in the classroom. What our students are reading and what supports they’re using makes a difference in what and how they will learn. From one educator to another, I want to share some advice with you, compiled over the past decade and a half, about what I’ll be doing to start my year off right.
It’s going to be a great school year. I hope you’re as excited as Hayden and I are to get started!
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