Most schools across the nation are underway. Icebreakers are done. Schedules are adjusted; syllabi are signed; textbooks are distributed; assignments are entered.  First-few-days distractions are done. Things are routine. Time to get down to the business end of school. So it goes. That’s the story.

It’s the some old narrative year after year. And while on some level it is a necessary narrative–we have to get to the work, it’s also a story that largely fails to truly compel and inspire kids to love learning and find joy in the journey, especially by the time they reach high school. They’re numb to the saga that invariably begins and ends the same way, every year.

“Let’s start with an icebreaker activity.”

Groans.

Groans? But why groans? These activities are generally fun, lighthearted, and better than starting with the content. So why would kids groan? Because, for the most part, they know. They know it’s usually a contrived, kumbaya moment that barely lingers before fading fast and the people in the room give way to the content in the room. They know. They barely bite, passively playing along, for they know it’s simply a going-through-the-motions moment. It won’t last. It never does.

For most of us, our intentions are good as we seek to learn our kids and make fun our classes. It’s a good way to start, so we do. Nearly all of us. I wonder how many teachers googled “icebreaker activities” this fall. We want to get off on the right foot. But why don’t we stay on the right foot? Why do so many of us find it necessary to send the message that our kids and their energy are an important part of our classroom, only to neglect it, letting the ice form again, as we skate through our days, covering our content?

I am not suggesting that content is not important. But I am suggesting that it’s less important than the kids in our rooms. Oh, I don’t think there are many if any of us who would argue, but I wonder how many of us make intentional our walk with this particular talk. I wonder how many of our kids would say that they feel important. And not just the first few days. The entire year.

By now, many have likely guessed that I am going to insert a plug for Smiles and Frowns here. Guilty as charged. It is the most important work I do. It keeps the pond open and free of ice. It connects. Last week, one of my students from last year delivered a gift, and it confirmed my beliefs in the power of sustained connections in the classroom.

It is not enough to just break the ice. We have to vigilantly keep it bay, for a frozen pond will not ripple. No ripples. No connections. Connections matter. We have to create and sustain connections. Smiles and Frowns can help.

Today’s Trail

Along today’s trail we will…

...begin with Smiles and Frowns.

… hear mindset mantra.

…use a “bridges and barriers” activity to identify connection and division in Freedom Writers.

…reflect in our Journey Journals.

…end with a Sappy Sy Rhyme.

Happy Monday.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.