New Year Tips

Ringing in the New Year Tips From Janine P. Riggins, a second grade teacher at Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. School Complex in Atlantic City, New Jersey:  In order to maintain effective classroom management upon returning to school after winter recess, I review  and discuss school and class rules and behavior expectations. Students have most likely spent the  holidays visiting friends and relatives and have gotten  away from the normal school routine. By reviewing class rules and routines, students are gently moved back into the swing of the school day. Students work  in cooperative learning groups and create collages of favorite gifts or favorite moments from the break.  Students work together to list their New Year's  resolutions. This is also a great time for students to  set behavior and/or academic goals for the remainder of the school year. Rather than 'clamping down' or 'getting tough' on kids, I take advantage of their  energy and excitement at the New Year and use it to my advantage. Students enjoy the activities, and I am sometimes surprised at the results.” New Beginnings Poem From Carol Cirtin, a third grade teacher at Otterbein Elementary School in Otterbein, Indiana:    “An annual poem I have my third graders memorize is  a wonderful reminder for the whole year. I have  students who tell me when they are graduating from high school that they recite it to remind them of  important things. New Beginnings, by Helen Steiner Rice: How often we wish for another chance to have a fresh beginning A chance to blot out our mistakes and change failure into winning. It does not take a new year to make a brand new start. It only takes the deep desire to try with all your heart. To live a little better and to always be forgiving To add a little sunshine to the world in which we are living. So, never give up in despair and think that you are through, For there's always a tomorrow and a chance to start anew. “My students memorize this poem every year and do it within a week. We also recite it on the morning announcements. I have students that stop by to recite it in 4th, 5th, and 6th grade and have even had it recited at graduations! What a  wonderful way to start a healthy new year!”  Works4Me is a vehicle for instructional staff to share their ideas with other instructional staff.   Source: http://www.nea.org/tools/BrowseAllTips.html Published by the National Education Association, 1201 16th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036.