Getting off to a good start

The last days of summer are over. The vacations are over. All signs point to the start of the new school year. A stressful time for students, of course, but also for teachers, who find themselves with new classes and the pressure to succeed. How do you get the school year off to a good start? Everyone has their own tricks, but Naïm Bououchma, teacher and teacher trainer, has put together a short capsule on his YouTube channel to help his colleagues.

Quite often, teachers are under the impression that they need to get started as quickly as possible in order to follow and finish the program. For Mr. Bououchma, however, this approach is not constructive, as the teacher finds himself in front of dozens of strangers per class, and he hopes to establish a bond of trust to transmit things without knowing his students.

For him, learners enter a new year in "diesel" mode (establishing the right conditions to get started). It's best to take the first two weeks so that they can get to know each other better and inform the teacher, who can then take note of any incompatibilities, aptitudes, sources of motivation, possible problems and so on. He does this through play, among other things, but there are many ways of achieving this. Contrary to what you might think, this diesel approach, he believes, leads to a better classroom experience for the rest of the year.

The question of communication is also crucial. The teacher must be able to share the information he or she obtains with colleagues and parents. Whether it's about pedagogical issues or harassment, prompt communication is a good way of ensuring that a student doesn't "slip through the cracks". Finally, teachers must not neglect themselves. Of course, it's important to prepare your classes well, but that doesn't mean you have to forget about your private life. This reflex even leads to overwork and negative feelings very early in the school year.

Running time: 14 minutes

Image: TheoRivierenlaan from Pixabay