Classroom Culture

This week was by far the best opening of school that I have been a part of. (Hopefully by the time you're reading this, something strange didn't happen to make that statement false!) It was great seeing everyone back and so many of our students returned happy to see us. I was able to also meet up with some of our recent grads this week as they returned home from their first weeks of college. A couple in particular spoke about how easy some of their college classes had been due to what they had learned at Greene Central. That has to be the greatest compliment a teacher can receive. Another encounter I had this week happened at a volleyball game. The opposing team's coach came to speak to me and at first I did not remember her. She explained that she had interned here several years ago during my first year at Greene Central. She wanted to tell me how good of a job this school had done since she had left. She said that you could simply feel it when you walked in the doors. That is the definition of a positive school culture.

This week our students got the same impression from each of your classes. Every one of them learned to feel a certain way about that class when they made a first impression about you, the other students in the room, and how that class was going to go.  Every classroom has a culture. Just as a school's culture can change, so can a classroom's culture. Each day is a chance to reinvent your room. With the first week down, take a moment to reflect on what your classroom represented this week. If you're brave enough, ask your students to define your classroom in one word. No matter what tone you set in the first week, set a goal toward what you want it to become and work toward that goal incrementally. Who knows, maybe one day your students now might just return to visit and see just how much we have all grown as a result.