“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
~Maya Angelou
Ahh…it is the joyous, wonderful time of the year where teachers are running wild, preparing their classroom for the next group of minds waiting to discover their full potential. Some of us are planning with anticipation, and others are already in full swing of academic prowess, but no matter where you are in the journey, this is a great time to connect and ground your classroom. Often, especially at the secondary level, we sacrifice icebreakers, welcome-back activities, and general community building for the sake of the curriculum. There are so many standards that need meeting, standardized tests to prep, and deficits to fill that community and relationships get placed on the back burner. So, is it worth our time and energy to build community, or should we jump straight to curriculum on day one? Let’s turn this question around: if a student does not feel connected, welcomed, and accepted in a learning space, can true learning happen?
As Amy Nichols explains in her 2024 Edutopia article “3 Fun Relationship-Building Activities for Older Students”, “When teachers sacrifice building relationships with students for the push to cover the curriculum, we increase student anxiety and decrease student learning”. So yes, take that time to build relationships and community in your classroom, and do it more than just at the beginning of the year, semester, or quarter. Strong student-teacher relationships and classroom community are not mere SEL work, which is crucial in today’s world, but they have proven effects on students’ academic performance. Numerous studies completed by the American Psychological Association and the National Institute of Health have shown that students with strong, positive, and supportive relationships with their teachers improve more academically than those without a positive relationship. Supported students also have greater achievement, better classroom behavior, and more active classroom participation than others.
To help save that precious planning time for, well, planning, here are five easy things that you can do for the beginning of the school year (or a much-needed reset) to help build community and relationships right now. Similar to Amy Nichols’ article, which I also recommend checking out, many of these suggestions will serve a dual purpose by introducing classroom-ready learning skills.
1. Create Class Norms with The 3 Whys
Establishing class norms with students is a great way to create community in the classroom early on. Doing this as a class gives students a voice in how learning will be managed in the classroom and allows for more student buy-in with class expectations. If you are not sure where to begin with creating norms, try Facing History and Ourselves (reviewed here) Contracting for Back to School unit. The 3 Whys is a Perspective Taking Thinking Routine brought to us by Harvard’s Project Zero (reviewed here). Project Zero states that The 3 Whys routine “nurtures a disposition to discern the significance of a situation, topic, or issue, keeping in mind global, local, and personal connections”. To help the class narrow the class norms, use The 3 Whys questions: Why might this [norm] matter to me? Why might it matter to people around me [family, friends, city, nation]? Why might it matter to the world? This Thinking Routine will help ground students in the class norms, develop community, and give practice to a fantastic perspective-taking tool that can be used many times in class and in all subjects.
2. Kialo Icebreakers
Kialo Edu (reviewed here) is a free online structured debate tool that allows students to have a visual representation of how debate topics connect. Using Kialo Edu early on as an icebreaker allows for a low-risk exposure to this invaluable platform with an extremely fun topic. You can set up the discussion with your own topic, or use one of the plethora of pre-created topics, like: Are Social Media Influencers Real Celebrities? and Are We Living in a Simulation? Here is the link to the Just For Fun/Icebreaker topics for ages 15-18: Kialo Edu Topic Search.
3. Grounding with See, Think, Wonder
Grounding activities are an excellent way to focus the class on the present moment and help students enter a learning mindset. Grounding is also a great way to reduce anxiety and calm the mind. There are numerous grounding activities, but using the See, Think, Wonder Thinking Routine for grounding is a great way to practice the routine for continued use. This routine is ideal for analyzing images, videos, poetry, reading excerpts, and other types of content. On the first day, display an image that you know students will like, read a portion of a text that you are going to read in class, and show a fun video clip (I love the Spicoli orders a pizza scene from Fast Times at Ridgemont High, which would be a great introduction to creating class norms). Students pause and write or share what they see, then what they think, and finally, what they wonder about the artifact. If you want to add another layer to this (depending on the artifact) add Feel to the mix making it a See, Think, Feel, Wonder. This learning routine “encourages students to make careful observations and thoughtful interpretations. It helps stimulate curiosity and sets the stage for inquiry,” according to Project Zero. Facing History and Ourselves also has a great guide for this Thinking Routine in a structured image analysis.
4. Ditch That Textbook Resources
If you want more suggestions, Ditch That Textbook (reviewed here) has 20 ways to build classroom community and relationships. Not all of these are first-day icebreakers, but they are great reminders of relationship-building that we can do throughout the school year. My favorite section is Building Student Autonomy and Voice.
5. First Day of School Presentation
A first-day-of-school presentation is a great way to introduce yourself and your teaching style to students. To make life a bit easier, We Are Teachers has a free Google slide ready to go for us. No matter what, we need to review the class syllabus and structure, so why not make it fun! Hop over to the We Are Teachers website and get the free slide download.
If these suggestions aren’t quite right for your classroom, take a look at the TeachersFirst First Day of School collection. You may just find what you are looking for there.
No matter what you decide to do to build relationships and community in your classroom, secondary teachers, give yourself grace and permission to take as long as you need to establish the classroom environment that you and your students need. You are not sacrificing the curriculum for SEL. In fact, without relationships and community, you are sacrificing safety, security, and a sense of belonging; students cannot learn if they do not feel safe. So, if it takes a few days, or even the first week to establish the classroom environment, so be it. Community building is not a one-and-done process either, so think of ways to encourage community and relationships throughout the school year. Remember the words of Maya Angelou, and make those students feel fantastic! Have a great beginning of school and a wonderful school year.