Question 1: During the first face to face we used the language of Urgent vs Important to help frame our thinking around our use of TIME. Reflect on why you joined Cohort 21 and your professional goals for this year. Now that the year has begun and you have met your students what IMPORTANT goal might you like to address and leverage this community to get support with?
Starting a new school can be both exciting and overwhelming. As I embark on my new journey at the York School, I’m filled with all the feels that such a new experience presents. To ensure a smooth transition, I’ve identified a few key strategies to help me this year.
- Proactive Engagement: Actively seeking guidance from teachers, administrators, and fellow students can provide valuable insights into the school’s culture and expectations.
- Time Management: Effective time management is crucial for balancing academic demands, extracurricular activities, and personal commitments.
- Open-Mindedness: Embracing new perspectives, ideas, and approaches to learning.
- Building Relationships: Cultivating strong relationships with peers and mentors will help me create a supportive network. Thank you Sherry and Jenny for all of your wonderful support thus far with the Grade 6 team.
By implementing these strategies, I aim to not only adapt to the new environment but also thrive in this stimulating academic community.
Question 2: Which of the Season 13 Strands resonates with you and why? Share what you feel is both urgent and important about it for you and your school at the moment and some of the questions you have about moving forward.
I am most connected to the first strand on how to best engage well-being and belonging.
In today’s world, it’s more important than ever to prioritize student well-being and foster a sense of belonging. When students feel safe, supported, and valued, they are more likely to engage in learning, achieve academic success, and develop strong social-emotional skills.
Here are some strategies that I try to use on a daily basis to help promote student well-being and belonging:
- Create a Supportive Classroom Culture: Foster a classroom environment where students feel respected, valued, and encouraged to be themselves.
- Prioritize Mental Health: Implement initiatives to address mental health concerns and provide resources for students to seek support.
- Encourage Social Connections: Organize activities and opportunities for students to connect with peers and build meaningful relationships.
- Incorporate Mindfulness and Well-being Practices: Integrate mindfulness techniques and stress-relief strategies into the daily routine to enhance students’ emotional well-being.
- Celebrate Diversity and Inclusion: Create a diverse and inclusive learning environment where all students feel welcomed and respected.
I’m looking forward to the next 3 Cohort sessions. See you soon!
Thank you for such an insightful and reflective post! It’s wonderful to see how intentional you’re being about your transition to The York School and your goals for the year. Starting at a new school brings its own challenges, but your proactive approach and focus on key strategies like building relationships and managing your time effectively show that you’re setting yourself up for success. Kudos to Sherry and Jenny for their supportive roles in your journey—they’re clearly part of a strong community that values connection.
Your focus on student well-being and belonging is both timely and impactful. The strategies you’re already implementing in your classroom—like creating a supportive culture, prioritizing mental health, and celebrating diversity—are powerful steps toward fostering an inclusive environment where students feel seen and valued. These foundational practices are critical to helping students thrive academically, socially, and emotionally.
The Urgent vs. Important reflection you’ve shared is thought-provoking. Prioritizing well-being and belonging is definitely an important goal, especially as schools navigate the complex needs of students today. I wonder how you might leverage the Cohort 21 community to expand on these ideas. For example:
• Are there specific initiatives or practices around well-being that you’d like to deepen or explore further?
• How might you engage your Grade 6 team to build collective practices that support belonging across the grade level?
• What metrics or observations could you use to assess the impact of your well-being strategies?
I also appreciate how you connected your work to the first strand on engaging well-being and belonging. This is such a vital area for all schools right now, and your questions about moving forward are spot on. A great next step might be collaborating with colleagues to design initiatives that embed these principles into daily practices.
Thank you for sharing your journey—I can’t wait to see how your work evolves over the course of the year.