Four Ways to Start a Successful School Day

 

It's the second week of school in Cherokee County, Georgia where I work as a school counselor.  The year has started with an abundance of excitement and anticipation of the year ahead.  Stories of the smart and funny students that we interact with each day abound.  One of my favorites this year is the kindergartener who introdued himself to his teacher, "Hi, my name is George, but you can call me Batman..."  then there was the first grader who informed his teacher, "There's poop in my pants... but I didn't do it!"  Truth is definitely funnier than anything I could make up. 

 

Four Ways to Start a Successful School Day

 

For all of us, it's important to start strong each morning and set the tone for a successful day.  Need some help getting organized and to school on time? Here's four pointers:

1. Plan ahead by getting things ready the night before--I'm big on planning ahead and just as I talk about this with students, I always prepare the night before myself.
2. Leave yourself enough margin to arrive on time--The idea of leaving enough margin for unforeseen difficulites is an important one that parents, teachers and students all need to learn.
3. Spend some quiet time each morning in reflection- This is a regular part of my routine and I think families can definitely benefit from some quiet time to get centered and focused before the rush of the day.
4. Identify a positive thought or affirmation to inspire you throughout the day--I'm a big fan of quotes and I love having a word or phrase to set the tone for the day and to create a positive mindset.

There are a lot of great books that you can use to help students prepare for the school days ahead.  Here's a favorite of mine that I often like to share as we discuss organization and study skills.  It is very practical and covers all the basics:
 

 

You can also check out the Wyatt Learns About Being Organized book that I recently had on a free download.  Hope you picked up a copy!

What do you do to start your day on a successful note?  I'd love to hear about it.  

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Wyatt Learns To Be Organized!

One of the biggest challenges of adjusting to a new school year after a summer of down time is the issue of scheduling and organization. For many families the summer is a time of laid back activities, sleeping late in the morning and staying up past bedtime at night. Days may be lazy, relaxing and unstructured. Meal times may be haphazard. Then school starts and suddenly there is routine and schedules to meet. Many children rise to the occasion and within a few days are adjusted, but others struggle with how and what and when to organize their time and belongings. With this dilemma in mind, I have written the newest Wyatt book about getting organized. It is the story of the hopelessly disorganized Wyatt who nearly misses the bus every morning and never remembers even the things he wants to remember like a note to go home with his best friend. Lucky for him, his teacher, Mrs. Wilson offers several wise suggestions and helps him get on track before everyone gets more exaperated with him. In the back of the book are discussion questions to engage children in a dialogue and even a sample schedule to show how to plan backwards and be on time. You can purchase the book on the Wyatt website and download a free coloring sheet as well to go with it. Just look under the tab Free Resources for the coloing sheet and a lesson plan to go with the book.