Fast Llamas,
I was watching a tv show and they played "Sunrise, Sunset", from the Broadway play and eventual movie Fiddler on the Roof. If you have never seen the movie, here's the song...
My parents had this soundtrack album, and we played it a lot. My parents always had music playing in the house, so when I heard the song on the show I was watching it brought back memories. But, one thing I never understood was the title. I always thought the "Fiddler" was just a figment of the lead character, named Tevye's, imagination. Upon listening again, I realized, the Fiddler represented the people of the village, trying to scratch out a tune (a life) all the while not breaking their necks! All the while balancing troubles with the beauty of life. How did the villagers maintain this balance? Tevye then shouts... Tradition! a great song (this is musical theater after all) of tradition comes in...
Okay before we go much farther... I am a fan of musical theater... many showtunes showed up in my wedding music. But, as always, I digress...
Thinking about Fiddler on the Roof, made me think of teaching. Teachers are in state of balancing all the demands - classroom management, content delivery, culture, character, etc. We have a lot of balls in the air that we juggle. And sometimes it feels like we are juggling while standing on the roof! But, just like the musical; how do we keep our balance? Why, yes, with traditions too.
Today, we are talking about traditions... how how great they are for you, your classroom and your students.
We have talk before in this blog about the importance of systems in your classroom. Doug Curry writes his entire "How to Train a Llama" based on it. Systems or routines if you want to call them that too, help students understand how your class runs. The more habitualized they become the better for you and for your students.
Systems and routines are nice, but how about creating them as a tradition? Traditions upgrade routines by making them fun, positive and meaningful. Traditions help create connections and a sense of belonging to you, the class, and your content. Clear traditions on how class runs helps kids feel safe. And, feeling safe supports learning. Traditions include systematic operations such as- how we enter, how we leave, how we ask questions, how we get help, how we get supplies, how we turn in materials, how we use our laptops, how we take notes, how we transition from one task to another, what do we do while teacher is talking, what we do when a classmate is talking...
Do you get the idea?
Traditions also dive deeper to support culture and create what we call Home Court Advantage. Traditions include how to celebrate birthdays, students activities (teams and clubs) and personal celebrations (new sister was born, vacations, etc)
The brain craves clean beginnings and clear endings, so having an official opening tradition helps change state as students enter your room, sending a message to your students, that "now it is time to learn _______________". That's a win for everyone.
Let's dive deeper into Opening Traditions.
Remember, "everything speaks", what messages do you want your students to receive about your class, your subject and learning? Being purposeful about how you start class puts you in control of that message. Also remember, your "warm-up" question is not an opening tradition, it can be a part of it, but it is not the whole of it.
Ask yourself -
- What do you do now? How do you start class? What happens in the first 5 or 10 minutes? Why?
- What do my students expect to see, hear, and do when they enter the room?
- Remember, be clear on what, why and how.
- How will my students feel at the start of class?
- How will I orchestrate the opening class tradition to lead to desired outcomes?
- Consider time limits, student involvement and other opportunities.
- What music, supplies, content, anchor charts or other tasks (attendance) to consider?
What are some examples of Opening Traditions?
- a mantra -
- Teacher says..."It's our time" Students say "and we are ready to learn",
- Teacher says, "Why are we here?" Students say, "to learn", Teacher - "What's it gonna take?" Students - "100% Effort!"
- Teacher says "this is..." Students say "Sparta!"
- an opening song that is played for about a minute to change state - Could be anything you like, but something lively
- a chant - one year, we chanted the parts of an atom every day... this could be any content that is hard to remember!
During class? - how about creating a class name and having a class mascot? Kids at tables? Could they create a table name and mascot? sure thing! We often number our tables, how about adding name the kids make up?
What about ending the class? How about that clear ending? We need that too, and yes it is NOT the exit ticket, though it may be a part of it, it is not the whole of it.
One year, my students started getting up and putting away their journals before class was let out. They started putting away earlier and earlier. So I created an "ending tradition" that looked, sounded and felt like this...
1. I introduced the "7's". The sevens is a clapping routine... see video of my kid demonstrating them... of course they can be changed to whatever you want... but they follow a pattern of 7's. This can be whatever you want it to be! But the point is, I changed their state... right after the 7's, we answered an exit ticket which we called "THE BIG QUESTION", a great way to review and recap the day's lesson.
Kids loved it and problem solved.
Ending class can also include mantras. One teacher I know would say, "Mischief" and the kids would say, "Managed", another teacher had kids tap a poster by the door and say, "I am responsible to everything I say and do".
Let's talk implementation. Masterful teachers are able to match strategies with their audience. So, traditions are imparted organically. No way I am gonna make my kids say a mantra the first weeks of school. We have to build rapport first. As the kids know you and trust you, then you can up the gradient of risk. That's right, risk, it is risky for a kid to put themselves out there and be silly and fun sometimes. My ending tradition worked because it was about October, when the problem surfaced. So, the kids knew me and knew each other well enough to clap and snap together. What age were these kids? 8th grade... if that helps. And they really loved it because they could stand and be loud if they wanted. If we didn't do the tradition (we were taking a test for example) kids would say they missed it.
Here are some helpful hints:
1. Explain the why
2. Have a "power of positive thinking" tone when introducing traditions
3. Have high expectations
- rehearse it
- do overs
- not going away
4. Make it fun
5. Make it relevant
6. Make it quick
7. Use visuals
Reflect on how your class is shaping up... it's still early in the school year to establish those "how the class runs" traditions... be thinking of diving deeper as you get to know the kids and develop opening and closing ones too. Traditions help keep our balance, without them, we would be as shaky as a fiddler on the roof!
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