With la rentrée right around the corner (or already past for some of you), it’s time to think about those all important first weeks of school. I think teachers are somewhat divided on how they feel about September. I’ve heard some teachers say that they like it, but I’ve also heard many say they enjoy it more once they are in the swing of things. I happen to love September, so in this post I’m going to share 10 reasons why.
1. Refreshed and recharged!
With two months out of the classroom and focusing on other endeavors, I come back in September ready to go. No matter how much we love teaching, it’s hard to deny that we definitely have the most energy in September as opposed to May or June.
2. Starting their journey
Being a teacher of first year French students, September is a time when I get to watch them embark on their journey to language acquisition. I love the activities we do to get acquainted with the language, the culture, its importance in the world, and what it means to be a language student. It’s an exciting time, and I can see the enthusiasm in the students’ faces. Read more about my rentrée activities here and here.
3. New year, new rules
September is a great time to tweak rules and policies. If you have a policy from previous years that you’re ready to throw out or change, it’s a great feeling when September rolls around!
4. September behavior
I don’t have a lot of behavior issues in my classes, but even still, we all know that students are on their very best behavior on the first day of school. Overall, I’d say the behavior is best for the first week or two before some students may start to try to challenge the teacher to see how strict he or she is. What’s not to like about September behavior?
5. The Walk Through
Every year my school has a walk through for students to come to school and find their classes the week before school starts. I absolutely love this event, as I get a chance to interact with students one on one before the first day of class. It helps them out on the first day because they’ve met some of their teachers already, and it helps me out because I recognize some of their faces. It’s also an opportunity to meet parents, many of whom accompany their children to the walk through.
6. Open House
I love open house. It’s a golden opportunity to connect with parents. A lot of students are a little overwhelmed the first couple weeks of school with all the French spoken, but they quickly adjust. At open house, I explain why we speak so much French and offer some information as to what French will look like for them this year and beyond. They get to see their child’s first project, a mind map presentation of himself, hung on the wall. I have a sign up sheet for parents who would like to volunteer in the classroom for cultural (i.e. food) experiences. A lot of the positive relationships I’ve had with parents stemmed from meeting them at open house.
Why do you love September?
