Hard to believe I begin my twenty-third year of service in public education today. But with summer behind, and another year ahead, I am eager to continue serving, learning, and building as I chronicle another 180 days through Project 180.

And while I will make and share changes to 180 after a summer of reflection, I will begin where I’ve always begun: with the kids. Of course, as the years have passed, I have become better at giving more time to them, delaying the presentation of policies and procedures, for I have come not only to realize but also practice that there’s nothing more important in front of me than the little humans I serve. So I will give them–us–time to learn each other. This year, I am setting aside the first three days for laying the foundation for our community. My first and most important My Room standard is that I want kids to feel connected.

When we feel connected, we feel like we have purpose and support. I will begin building connections today, and as my faithful readers know, this will be an ongoing building project over the course of the year. I deign ice breaking, using cute little activities like checks on a list; no, instead, I relish foundation building from where I build and build and build, one connection at a time.

Meet Me

Today we will begin with an activity called “Meet Me.” The kids and I will complete this “interview” of sorts and then share it with the rest of the class. Beyond, the getting-to-know opportunity, it also provides practice speaking in class.

Nothing fancy, but something intentional. The seating arrangement is also intentional. We have to look at each other. I use this seating arrangement all the time. I have found that it’s hard to connect with someone when you spend fifty-five minutes staring at the back of their head, so I don’t use rows. For connections, we have to make visual contact.

To further connect our learning, we will also consider and answer the following questions over the next few days.

What is a community?

What communities do you belong to?

Do we create community or does community create us?

How would you create a classroom community?

And so, the building begins. So glad to be back here with you building a better experience for kids. We can change education.

Today’s Trail

Along today’s trail we will...

…connect with each other.

…reflect in our Journey Journal.

…end with a Sappy Sy Rhyme.

Happy first day, all.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.