The transition from card games with family to lessons in a classroom after winter break is tough for both students and teachers.
Young students who are eager to get back to school may struggle to fall back into established routines, like lining up for recess or waiting their turn to speak, teachers said. And teachers—already stretched helping students master academic content—often don’t feel like they have time to waste on easing back into classroom rhythms.
That’s even more true for teachers whose planned return after the holidays has been interrupted by snow days in the South, midwest, and East Coast, or closures because of high winds and fires in Los Angeles.
“Even a week off, for kids and adults, can be really disruptive,” said Jennifer Fredericks, a psychology professor who studies student engagement at Union College in Schenectady, N.Y. “We can’t expect everything to be just as it was before break.”
Education Week asked our social media followers how (or if) they ease students back into school after the winter break. Here’s a collection of their responses, which have been lightly edited for length and clarity. Click the arrows in each section to scroll through the responses.
Reset expectations and start rolling
Regaining momentum is key
No time to ease in
Advice from an expert
Setting clear behavioral norms is important for engagement, Fredericks said. It helps students know what to expect (and what is expected of them), which gives classrooms a sense of safety and predictability that faciliates learning. That’s why teachers may find it useful to help students brush up on the routines they set at the beginning of the year.
“That’s time well spent if it helps you get back to instruction,” Fredericks said.
A variety of behavioral, cognitive, and emotional factors contribute to student engagement, and educators should consider all three, Fredericks said.
In addition to clarifying behavioral expectations, teachers may engage emotions by using their experiences as the basis for a writing assignment or classroom discussion, she said. A suggested writing prompt: What are you proud of from the first semester? What are your hopes for the rest of the year?
Teachers returning to school in the cold, dark midwinter can feel disengaged, too. It’s probably not possible to “fake it until you make it,” Fredericks said. But it is possible for teachers to model a smooth transition for their students.
It’s OK for teachers to acknowledge that it’s difficult to walk through a snowy parking lot after a week in flannel pajamas. After that, teachers can tell students how they got their head back in the game, Fredericks said. They could reflect out loud on what they enjoyed about the first semester—or their happiness at seeing a colleague.
Teachers shouldn’t be alone in the work of engagement, Fredericks said. They also need support from principals and administrators to boost their own motivation and pass that energy on to students.
“We know the same things that engage kids—strong relationships, autonomy, choice, feeling like they can be successful—are the same things that motivate teachers,” Fredericks said. “We need to set up those contexts both at the school level and at the classroom level.”
