Connection is More Important Than Perfection

We made it fellow teachers, the first week of school is complete and everyone is safe! Hooray! But my #Chaos2Calm mindset wonders, are these little people feeling safe?

The DDSB has a grassroots initiative that started last year @PearsonAjax called The First 20 Days of Well-being and this @20DaysWellbeing has caught fire! Essentially an entire school begins the school year participating in community circles that are themed around building connections among students in the school so they know they belong, matter and are valued. I always share with my little ones that I have 2 jobs as their Teacher: First to ensure they are safe, and second, to grow their brain 😊

Part of feeling safe for students is knowing they matter, that they’d be missed, or noticed. One major win for me is that I finally got a couch for my classroom and my teacher heart is so happy. You’d be surprised how meaningful it is to sit beside a child and read (or share) with them, rather than teaching reading strategies from the other side of a desk in 1:1 interactions.

Mattering really matters.

So as we ease into week 2 of school and assessments begin and more academic expectations are prevalent, remember that proactive, intentional positive community circles, class check-ins and continued relationship building really matters.