Onboarding New Students
And a quick tour for new subscribers
When I was an instructional coach, I was lucky enough to get opportunities to travel for various conferences. If you’ve ever been to a conference, upon checking in, they give you a conference lanyard and a tote bag filled with a schedule and various SWAG items. This could include a notebook, writing utensils, stickers, or some gadgets. I’ve always loved SWAG! There is something about getting free stuff that always gets me excited to participate. When I can plaster my laptop with fun stickers, I simultaneously feel like I am part of a group and I can express my unique personality.
Being at a conference is like being a new student: you are unfamiliar with the layout, filled with equal parts trepidation and excitement, and you desperately want to fit it.
When teachers get a new student, often they are shown their desk and given a stack of textbooks, a laminated list of the classroom rules, told to put their school supplies away, and are quickly subsumed into the hurly burly of the classroom. Having a new student is a great opportunity to strengthen classroom culture. The dynamics of the classroom change every year. Depending on who your students are, their backgrounds, their personalities, their strengths and challenges, I find that taking time to make them feel welcome pays dividends later on in the school year. I love the way Mike Kleba reframes things with “the universe sent me these people.” With a little preparation, those first few minutes can be ones of excitement and caring instead of dread and foreboding. What if we treated new students like conference attendees?
At the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year, I had 25 students assigned to my classroom. Early in the year, two new students joined us, bringing our classroom community to 27. Being new to a school can be scary; walking into a classroom community can be intimidating. Whenever I get a new student, no matter the time of year, I want them feel welcome. It’s important for all of my students feel like they belong in our classroom, and one way I do this is with an onboarding welcome kit.
The kit is simple: some school SWAG1, our daily schedule, and a small poster with welcome messages from the class. Before the new student arrives, we have a class meeting to discuss how we are going to welcome them into our classroom community. Who is going to show them around the classroom or tell them how to earn Jolly Ranchers? By the time our newest classroom member arrives, everyone is ready to welcome them.
I always have some extra school supplies in case our new student doesn’t have a notebook or pencils. More often though, before I can even offer, students have already set them up with some of their extra school supplies. It is heartwarming to watch!
I’m currently working with my administrators to create a more welcoming school-wide experience for new students. I’m designing a student ambassador club where students can volunteer to help newcomers orient themselves in the school building, give tours, introducing new students to staff (e.g.: nurse, custodian, front office, cafeteria workers, etc.). Imagine students working together to create an inclusive environment for all students. I’m excited to share more in the upcoming school year!
A Quick Tour
Whether you just recently subscribed, joining our growing community, or if you have been reading my newsletter for some time, I want to welcome you to my classroom!
I am currently teaching the 5th Grade and have been teaching for 20+ years. Every Monday, I share my favorite resources for creating memorable learning experiences. Some weeks, I reflect on what I’m teaching. Other times, I share my biggest learning fails or success stories from the week. My classroom isn’t perfect, and I continually work to make it better, sharing what I’ve learned with you all!
My About page shares why I teach.
My homepage is organized with the following headings.
Slow Reads
Last year, I read Becoming an Everyday Changemaker by Alex Shevrin Venet with Marcus Luther from The Broken Copier. Each week, we read and wrote about a single chapter, culminating in a wonderful conversation with the author. Marcus and I took turns reflecting on each chapter, and I’ve organized my sections under Slow Reads. You can access all of the posts here. I hope to do more Slow Reads in upcoming years.
I also facilitated a book club in the chat. We read Hidden Potential by Adam Grant. If you want to check out any of the topics we discussed, feel free to join the chat.
Reading Recommendations
This section contains posts where I offer my favorite reading recommendations. I hope to continue adding to this section with specific book reviews and resources.
Learning Experiences
If you are new to my newsletter, I recommend you read my inaugural post. In it, I outline my pedagogical practice and how I turn lesson plans into learning experiences.
Throughout this section, I include posts sharing examples of learning experiences I have designed for students, and my reflections on their success or failure. If you’re pressed for time, here are a few of my absolute favorite learning experiences.
Adrian’s Top 5
The first Monday of each month, I share a Top 5 list. Sometimes, these are book recommendations, but more often, they are fun and random. My favorites include:
Ask Me Anything
When Substack launched their livestream feature, I decided to try it out. The last Friday of every month, I’ve been going LIVE and answering subscriber questions. It’s been a ton of fun and I’m excited to keep it going. If you are interested in participating, here are some details to get you started.
Archive
This section is the catchall for every single post I’ve written so far. I recommend you scroll through because there are a few Adrian’s Top 5 lists hidden in the mix from before I was better at organizing my posts.
You can also access my most popular posts and other Substacks I recommend from the home page. It updates every time you refresh the page, so check out all of the wonderful people I’ve met on this platform. There is some incredible writing here!
Well, I hope you’ve enjoyed this brief tour. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out, either in the comments or the chat. And if you want some stickers, let me know.
Have a great week!
— Adrian
Resources
This is a quick video with some great strategies for helping new students feel welcome in your classroom. I find that they are applicable to all grade levels.
Using 4 Dimensions of Community-Building to Support New High School Students
Although this article is geared toward high school students, I think the dimensions of community are important for every classroom.
SXSWEDU is the best conference I have ever attended. If you are unable to travel, or just want to catch up on their keynote and featured sessions, you can watch everything here. This year, themes included AI, mental health, and student agency.
5 questions abolitionist teachers can ask to build relationships with students
I love using these questions throughout the year to help strengthen my relationships with students.
Depending on my budget, this could include school tee shirts, water bottles, bracelets, a planner/notebook with school logo, and some candy.
Great work in your approach to welcoming new students by relating it to how things work outside the classroom. Too often classrooms are isolated from the “real world” and students aren’t seen first and foremost as people but rather just another kid. A school wide initiative to expand your approach should be embraced!
I love PD's and the swag as well! Cant pass up on those freebies. But also love the onboarding kit!