The Biggest First Day Of School Mistake You Can Make

by Michael Linsin on July 23, 2011 There is a common mistake teachers make on the first day of school that sets in motion bad student habits and misbehaviors that can last the rest of the school year. Thats a big statement, I know. But this one particular mistake will be responsible for scores of teachers getting off to a disastrous classroom management startone many will never recover from. And what makes this mistake most troubling is its deviousness. You see, its a sneaky little thing, harmless in appearance and barely noticeable, even to the most discerning professional eye. Most teachers wont even know they made a mistake, let alone one so spectacular, until weeks later when it hits them like a splash of cold water to the face. And even then, they wont know what it is they did wrong. It starts innocently. Morning breaks on the first day of school, your new students arrive, and everything proceeds as planned. You model how you want them to enter the classroom. You lead them in a getting-to-know-you activity. And then you get down to the business of your classroom management plan. Typical of a new group of students after a long summer break, theyre attentive and respectful. And youre pleased with how things are going. By late afternoon all is well and rolling along according to plan. You were thorough with your behavior expectations, and theyre following your rules as modeled. Yes! This is going to be a great year. The end of the day nears. You review the evenings homework assignment and model how you want your students to gather backpacks, push in chairs, and line up quietly for dismissal. They nod their heads, all smiles. I love my new class! A minute or so before the bell rings, you give your students the signal to begin the endof-day procedure. In their exuberance, several students rush the door to line up. A few happily approach you like puppy dogs, wanting to share a story or two. And a few more linger a moment at their desks, chatting with their tablemates.

You remind the runners to walk, tell the lingerers to get a move on, and banter a moment with the students who approached you. And as the bell rings you shoo them all out the door with a wave. What an awesome day. What a great class! The door closes and you fall into your chair with a happy sigh, never realizing that you just made a colossal mistake, one that will cause your students to begin ignoring your directions, breaking your rules, and engaging in misbehavior. It happens so fast. So, did you catch it? Did you notice the mistake? The teacher in the above scenario was lulled into complacency by her (or his) students good behavior. She was so thrilled with how well the first day was going that she dropped the ball during the final minute of the school day. Her students didnt follow the end-of-day procedure like it was modeled, but because they werent technically misbehaving, she let it go. And this is where so many teachers who struggle with classroom management go wrong. When you let things go, even seemingly innocent behaviors, it nudges a tiny speck of a snowball down a steep and bottomless hill. And the farther it gets down the hill, the more difficult it is to push it back up to the top. Although the above scenario in and of itself is harmless, it sends a message to your students that you dont really mean what you say. And as soon as this germ of an idea gets in their heads, a host of bad things begin to happen. Your students will start tuning out the sound of your voice. Theyll become inattentive and disrespectful. They wont follow directions well. And misbehavior will be a daily, even hourly, presence in your classroom. In response youll begin raising your voice to show your students that you really do mean it. Youll start pulling them aside for lectures, talking-tos, and finger-waggings. Youll grow frustrated. And your students will begin thinking that maybe youre not so nice after all. It doesnt have to be this way. That the students in the above scenario didnt line up for dismissal like the teacher asked was predictable. Students will test the waters, albeit gently, even on the first day of school. And when they do, its an opportunity for you to teach a critical lessonone that will reverberate long after the moment has passed.

The lesson is this: In our classroom, the expectation is that we do things the right way. We listen attentively. We follow directions. We pursue excellence in everything we do because excellence transfers from the simple and mundane to more important things like scholarship, kindness, and self-respect. With that in mind, lets rewind our scenario. As soon as the teacher notices that her students are not doing what was asked, she stops talking and stands in one place. She ignores the students approaching. She ignores the running. She ignores the students taking their sweet time to line-up. She just waits. One by one, as the students begin to notice, they get quiet. They shuffle their feet. It dawns on them that they didnt do what was asked. The teacher then calls for attention. She waits until every student is looking at her. And then she tells them to go back to their seats. After quickly reviewing her expectations (30 seconds), and without lecturing or raising her voice, she gives her signal for the class to do it again. This time they do it right. She pauses for effect, thanks them for the good day, and sends them on their way. It comes down to this. The mistake of course is ever going back on your word. If you say it, if you ask your students of it, then you must back it up with action. Otherwise, your students arent going to trust you, believe in you, have reason to listen to you, or be inspired by you. What they will do, though, is run right over you. The first day of schoolwhen you have your students rapt attention and when their minds are open and theyre eager to do wellis the one chance you have to get things right from the beginning. Whenever your students dont give you what you want, whether its the first day of school or the last, stop your class, ask for and then wait for their attention, and then make them do it again. Do this whenever they fail to live up to your expectations. Before long, pursuing excellence, both behaviorally and academically, will become a habit they cant shake. And youll be one happy and effective teacher. If you havent done so already, please join us. Its free! Click here and begin receiving classroom management articles like this one in your email box every week.

The First Day of Class

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All parties students and teacher included are just a little nervous on the first day of a
new class: the students because they don't know what to expect and are afraid of being unable to perform, and the teacher because he or she doesn't know what kind of collective attitude the students may possess towards learning, and how much of themselves they will be willing to invest in improving themselves. The teacher should, of course (in one sense), know better than to feel anxious, because he or she has probably "been there and done that" numerous times in the past. In another sense, however, the teacher, like an actor performing before a new audience, really cannot know in advance how receptive the students will actually be, at least of their own accord. There are ways, though, to virtually ensure a successful class from the very first day, and that is what we will be discussing here. First things first. A successful first class begins before it ever meets; i.e., a placement exam has been given to the students to group them in a class of a similar knowledge and ability level; a textbook and other study materials have been chosen; and a teacher has 4

been selected for the class who is experienced and successful with the given level of students, or at least has been trained to know how to teach them well, even without prior experience. If any of these elements is lacking, the teaching is not likely to be very successful, and the students may not be happy no matter how well the teacher may teach. Given that the above conditions have been met, a conscientious teacher is likely to arrive with plans for teaching the first two or three lessons, probably along with some supplementary material (and realia to bring conversational situations to life), which of course is exactly the correct procedure. Now, however, is the time for caution! Read and heed the following instructions about what not to do on the first day of class: DO NOT:

Start right in teaching. You and the class need to get acquainted and bond with one another first. Begin speaking in your students' language, if it can be avoided (in other words, if they are above beginning level). Correct any conversational errors at this point. Give more attention to the brighter or more outgoing students than to the others. Spend too much time talking about yourself, especially your personal life. Criticize the book that has been selected by your school for the class! If this is not your favorite textbook, or even if you hate it, you must not at any time allow your personal attitude to be known!

DO:

Introduce yourself briefly. Smile and be modest, while at the same time assuring the students of your qualifications for, and interest in, helping them. Answer with a smile any questions relating to your marital status, whether you like Thai food and Thai people (if you are in Thailand!), etc. Clean up your native accent to make your speech as understandable as possible. Do not speak too fast, but also do not speak unnaturally slow. Never speak "pigeon English" in order to the understood. And never stop joining sounds in a natural way between your words and syllables, as otherwise your students may understand only you, amongst all the other English native speakers they will meet! Take your time and get thoroughly acquainted with each member of your class. Find out brief personal (but not too personal!) information about each student. Learn the students' names and how to pronounce them and take brief (and nondistracting) notes about the conversational strengths and weaknesses of each one, while also finding out and noting down what English problems each student feels he or she has. Find out the various study objectives the different students may have, and show very briefly how these can be met during the course.

After getting acquainted with each student, promise them exactly what they will achieve in their course, if they apply themselves and do the homework you assign. Introduce and describe in a very favorable way the course book(s) they have been given (despite any feelings or reservations you might actually have to the contrary, as mentioned above). Show how, with your help, their materials give them all the information and tools they will need in order to be successful in improving their English and achieving their objectives. LAY DOWN YOUR STUDY RULES NOW! You will need to establish a set of rules that your class needs to follow, and you must do this now! We might compare this procedure to that of interviewing someone to work for you. In doing that, you describe the duties the person would have in doing his or her job, and these duties would, no doubt, be found acceptable by the job applicant. However, if you hire the person, and later ask him or her to accomplish certain duties not described at the job interview, you may receive a small amount of cooperation at first, but will eventually be told in no uncertain terms that such work is not part of their duties (in other words, they will feel they are being imposed on)! The following are some of the rules you may wish to lay down to your class: 1. Speak only in English, unless it's absolutely necessary to speak in your own language to find something out. 2. Answer teacher questions directly, instead of conferring with your colleagues first, and be assured that you will have ample chance to do work in pairs and small groups during which you can do a minimum amount of conferring, if necessary. 3. Do the homework assigned, and turn it in on time. 4. Don't be afraid that an answer might be wrong. No one will laugh if it is, and the teacher will not be unhappy. In fact, making mistakes is often how we learn best! (Then you, the teacher, stick to your word, and make sure you always react as predicted.) 5. Ask questions if something is not understood. The fact is that if a given person has a question (whether he or she asks it or not), the chances are other students will have the same question, and would also like to know the answer. Thus, the person daring to ask it will not lose face. 6. Try to avoid telling the teacher that you understand something, just because you are afraid of admitting you don't. (This actually should not happen, however, as you the teacher will know to elicit the given conversational skill showing whether it has been understood or not rather than depend on asking students if they understand. Certainly, more often than not they will assure that you they do understand, even though you have trained them not to, and when they don't understand at all.)

Finally, If you have a bit of time left over, introduce a small part of their first lesson, explaining exactly the purpose of it, do a few communciations incorporating the skills demonstrated, and give them a very short homework assignment. Be upbeat and positive! At the end of the class, try to build some excitement for future

classes. All of the above are reasonably good rules, and are intended mainly as guidelines for you to establish your own. If you follow them well, you will have bonded with your students on the first day of class which is actually what that first day is intended to accomplish!