Transitioning to a New Grade

TRANSITIONING TO A NEW GRADE ANXIETIES

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Over the last 10 months, relationships have been formed between students and their peers, teachers and students as well as teachers and their colleagues. With all of this about to change, it’s natural that anxiety increases.

Despite the emotions and tiredness that we feel in June, teachers have a difficult task of wrapping-up the current year whilst also planning for the year ahead. From finishing off the curriculum, writing report cards and stripping the classroom, to building class lists, ordering supplies and setting up a new classroom, whilst also ensuring to make the end of year memorable and fun!

HOW TO REDUCE ANXIETIES WHEN TRANSITIOING TO A NEW GRADE

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How can we reduce anxiety levels? For teachers, this is somewhat out of our control as staffing changes and student numbers ultimately impact which schools’ teachers are assigned to and which grades they are best suited to teach. The best way for you as a teacher to reduce your stress and anxiety levels, is to remember to make time for YOU! Here are our 5 top ways of taking care of you… 

1. Workout/Exercise
2. Spend time outdoors
3. Do a fun activity
4. Read a book
5. Have a massage

You’ll notice that spending time with family and friends hasn’t made our top 5, not because this isn’t important, but because this doesn’t focus on YOUR needs only. When making time for you, we’re not talking about spending the whole day away from family or friends, but to take a small amount of time, typically an hour, to do something that’s just for you!

So what about your students? As teachers there are many things that we can do to reduce anxiety levels for students. Elementary schools are very good at preparing the youngest students for kindergarten and grade 6 students for junior high, but often, grades 1-5 are forgotten about. Here are our recommendations for setting students up for a successful transition:

1. School wide transition day/half a day
2. Meet the teacher
3. Transition cards/book

A school-wide transition day or half a day involves each grade spending their time with their new teacher, new group of friends and in their new classroom. From personal experience, it’s most valuable when it’s done as a school-wide approach, however between divisions is also beneficial. There are huge benefits of performing a school-wide transition day or half a day. All students are given the same opportunity to become familiar with new and big changes and all teachers are busy getting to know their new students. Also, time is taken for students to experience learning activities that typically happen in the next grade. This can be aligned with grade 6 going to visit junior high and kindergarten teachers can support their kindergarten classes visiting grade 1. To implement this experience, your admin team will need to be involved. Alternatively, if it’s not logistically possible to implement a school-wide transition, the same approach can be applied across divisions within the school. When staffing and class lists aren’t firmly in place for the next academic year, I’ve found that implementing a transition period is still effective for students to explore their proposed new environments. For example, taking a full grade level to meet the current grade teachers and visit each of the possible classrooms. At the very least, students will become familiar with the grade level classrooms, resources, entrance and exit doors, hallways and nearest washrooms.

Hopefully, you’re able to implement a transition period with your students, if not, the next best thing would be a meet the teacher time. This would typically take an hour for students to have a visit with their new teacher.

Transition cards and books are extremely valuable for specific students that struggle with new changes, however, they’re in fact beneficial for all! For individual students, a personalized transition book needs to contain photographs of their new teacher, classroom, hallway, entrance/exit doors and washrooms. To have maximum impact, the book needs to be regularly explored so that the student becomes familiar with their upcoming changes. For the whole class, the same photographs can be used by displaying them as cards within their classroom environment, which again needs to be regularly shown for greater familiarity.  

INFORMATION IS KEY

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Remember that information is key in being prepared and organized for the next academic year. This holds true for your students too, so the more information that you can pass to your students about their next school year, the more successful their transition will be in the fall.

Keep in mind that certain circumstances and decisions are out of your control and be assured that your administration will be providing the most up-to-date information that they have in a timely manner. Although I find myself desperately wanting to know which grade I’ll be teaching, I also remember that there are teachers who in June may not know if or where they’ll be teaching. As for students, they typically don’t know who their teacher is or which friends they’ll be with until their first day of school!

For personalized support with transitioning to a new grade or support with any aspect of your teaching practice, from an Alberta certified teaching coach, contact a TruTeach professional to book a FREE teacher consultation today by completing our contact form or phone 1-587-625-8510 !