Relationship & Routine: Rinse & Repeat

The beginning of the school year comes with a lot of time, patience and grace as our learners walk through our classroom doors for the first time. Summertime most likely chipped away at their school brain and caused some forgetful minds. It's also possible that many students spent more time with family at home than with friends everyday. As a result, we bring these new learners to our classrooms with the mindset that they'll need a refresher course. They'll need to relearn what it means to be in school, how they should conduct themselves, and what the expectations are to be successful learners. Students come in our classrooms with a clean slate, regardless of their grade. It doesn't matter if they're Kindergarteners, fourth graders or middle schoolers, there is ALWAYS an opportunity to start fresh!

Since we want to ensure behaviors are minimal and expectations are met, it's easy for teachers to jump immediately into the routines. We want to show kids how to unpack in the morning, how to leave their desk space when not in use, what to do for academic stations, the list goes on and on. I love this mindset, and it's a good one, don't get me wrong. I find myself doing this as soon as they walk in the door, because that's how my teacher/slightly OCD brain functions. Letting students know your expectations of them early on is crucial to setting a standard for the rest of the year.

HOWEVER!!

There won't be any success or continuity of those routines without a focus on the relationship piece, WHICH is why I like to think of the beginning of the year as a metaphorical hair wash cycle. Let me break it down for you:

• Step #1: Get Your Hair Wet (The Introduction)

Whenever we meet someone new, we establish a rapport and a friendly interaction. We make pleasant conversation, ask each other how the other one is doing or find a commonality that keeps the interaction going. Maybe it's small talk about the weather, or perhaps it's discussing a sporting event or mutual friend. This helps get past the awkwardness of meeting someone new and evolves the discussion into more casual conversation. This same approach should be used when we meet our new students and start to get to know them. In order for me to have a respectful "ship" with my students, I need to find a way to welcome them into our learning community. This might include asking about their summer, what they're excited about for the upcoming year or what they learned the previous year. I also give students space to explore the classroom and take time to process their new surroundings. By allowing students to ease into our newly found connection, this initial "hair wetting" process seems less daunting to them. This introduction is the foundation of building a long term relationship with our students.

• Step #2: Lather in the Shampoo (The Relationship)

Once the hair wetting process is done, it's time to lather in that scented shampoo you love so much! In teacher terms, it's time to start building that relationship with your students. Before we even engage the student in this step, we might tap into our pre-existing knowledge of that individual, should they be returning to their school, have older siblings, etc. I say this with a sensitive approach, as you don't want to have too many preconceived notions of how the student will act or perform in your class. Think of too much pre-existing knowledge as getting shampoo in your eyes. It FREAKING HURTS, so you don't do it! As I mentioned before, EVERY student deserves to have a clean slate when they come to you. However, it can be a benefit to know how they need to be approached, engaged or taught. Scrub your hair lightly on that one!

To ensure you're building a healthy connection with your students, you need to find ways to connect on a personal level. You can discuss likes & dislikes, their backgrounds, what they like to do for fun, their family & friends, and what makes them feel like their best selves. By welcoming them into your space with safety, appreciation and understanding, you're helping to get rid of any "dirt or grime" that may prevent your relationship/shampooing from being successful. Think of this step as two parts: shampooing & post-shampoo rinse.

• Step #3: Deep Condition (The Routine)

My hair is super thick and it can get dry in the hot sun of the summer AND the frigid temperatures of the winter. Hence....the deep conditioning allows me to bring back the moisture. For us educators, this part of the process is where the routines are learned and they begin to stick in the minds of our students. While you establish a relationship with your class and foster a community of trust & acceptance, you begin to build in the expectations and routines for your classroom. You dedicate more time to showing your students "the ropes" and how everything works in your room. Discuss your transition expectations, demonstrate how to safely use materials around the room, process through how the end-of-the-day procedures will work. With a relationship already built and continuing to grow, students feel more inclined to follow your directions, meet the expectations you set in place and set themselves up for success (Pssst. This is SO beneficial in creating independent learners, too!)

The routine conditioning is imperative to a functioning classroom, because without it, the academics are put on the back burner. For all those seasonally, dry-haired folks like me, that deep conditioning also gives our hair it's life back! I know you're out there, and you're my people.

• Step #4: Rinse & Repeat (The Rinse & Repeat, duh)

"Rinse & repeat" is one of the most common phrases people hear when it comes to washing hair or marketing shampoo bottles. It represents the process of a repeated action, and how following a set of steps will in turn get you the same outcome each time. Following these steps when I wash my own hair leaves me feeling clean, moisturized and tangle free, so why not apply it to teaching?

Relationship building and maintaining routines isn't a quick, short term process that can be checked off a list once it's accomplished. Just like we maintain and clean our own hair, we have to consistently strengthen the relationships with our students and reinforce the routines of our classroom. If we don't take care of our hair, it gets dry or broken. If we don't continue to foster relationships or routines in our classrooms, we get disengagement, poor behavior, and all around chaos. This is why we call it rinse & repeat! To ensure relationships, we have to keep them going and invest in our students lives. To keep routines (and behaviors) healthy and fresh, we have to constantly revisit and emphasize what they look like and the impact they have on our learning.

Relationships....Routines....Rinse and Repeat....

Just like our hair wash routine stays consistent with every shower (or every other if you can get away with that hidden, greasy look), we must be intentional ALL YEAR as we create strong relationships and build a functioning, routine-based learning environment.

Need more ideas on how to make it all happen? Talk to your hair stylist.... OR check out some REAL inspiration below!

~Kendall

Sharing Perspective. Encouraging Perseverance.