The first week-iCRT Episode 4

I need to be honest with you. In the past, I've really disliked the first few days of school. I don't really like a lot of the ice breakers we make kids do, and part of that is because I don't like to do that when I first meet new people. I don't like just going through the syllabus and rules with kids and then "get down to business" because that feels too rigid, too impersonal. And finally, I didn't really know how to set up a solid, trusting, community oriented foundation with students right off the bat without being weird about tardies and where I keep the pencils and how to check out books or feeling like I'm "giving up too much control."

So, in Episode 4 of the iCRT podcast, I'm looking at the beginning of the school year. I wanted to study how to set up a CRT classroom that utilizes personalized learning with my students in a way that feels democratic, holistic, and trusting. Hopefully there are some tools and ideas that get you excited about taking this journey with me next September!

This blog post by Zaretta Hammond on the first six weeks of school was mentioned in my podcast.

She mentions the ice breaker Paseo Protocol as a great culturally responsive tool for the beginning of the year so I've linked it here!

This article by Valentina Gonzalez from the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) is really great! I got a lot of information for the podcast from here.

This Teachers Pay Teachers free PDF booklet has a lot of great ideas to start thinking about how to implement CRT into your classroom, but read critically. There are some good ideas and intentions, but some of the ideas miss the CRT mark.

It may seem silly for a secondary teacher, but I was discussing group work with a colleague and some ideas I have that involves functional groups, and was recommended to look into how Kindergarten teachers begin teaching their students group work at the beginning of their year. I think it's a fascinating idea and I love this blog post about how to implementing group work! I can definition use this information in my secondary classrooms to help personalize learning and to give the kids some autonomy with the right expectations.

If you have advice for sites to visit, please comment with them! I'd love to read more about the beginning of the school year and how it can be improved for students and teachers!