Those first few lessons with a class are a golden period for setting out expectations. You have the opportunity to establish routines, norms that will then become their habits over time. Some of these relate to the curriculum, some relate to learning routines and some are about behaviour and relationships. Don’t assume these things will happen automatically, even if many are school-wide expectations. Each teacher needs to set out their stall so that students know how things will run.

Here’s 10:

Behaviour and relationships:

1. We are always kind, positive and respectful: Sounds obvious but the tone you set from the start matters a lot. It’s great to greet new classes with positive warm demeanour, learning and using names right away via seating plans etc – and then ensuring everyone else is behaving this way to each other at all times

2. There’s just one voice at a time: Managing talk is a vital early expectation. When you are talking they are listening; when anyone else is talking, they are listening. Off-task talk or talking over or under others is just not going to happen. This is an absolute. Look for it, notice it, address it. Establish listening habits early on by asking routinely for a student to build on or comment on the previous student’s answer. ‘So,…. Michael, how far do you agree with Jess?’

3. You will insist and follow through. Right from the start you need to model an assertive presence and insist on expectations being met. You will stop to tackle off-task talk – right away; you will re-run the entry routine until you’re happy with it; you will pause to insist every time you need to; you will never talk over other people talking; you will use the behaviour warning/consequences system in a no-nonsense manner, narrating the reasons and making sure everyone is clear where the boundaries are. You are going to be demanding and nobody will want to be late to your lessons or forget their equipment – because you will make it known that you are bothered and will follow up.

All of this is entirely compatible – in fact is easier to maintain- with that positive, kind, respectful demeanour.

Curriculum

4. We need to know the big picture: At any point in the flow of lessons, we need to know where we are going and where we are now. That means taking time to set out the big picture. Give students a sense of purpose: Why this topic? Why now? What comes next. Build student agency by engaging them in looking at the topic overview, the year plan, the specification so they can start to build a picture of the wider frame for the detailed work that will follow.

5. We’re pitching it up- no soft introductions: Don’t patronise your class or waste their time with gentle intros and filler tasks like cover pages and lists of rules. Get stuck into something properly challenging and interesting right away. Light some fires… inspire some awe.. project a sense that this stuff is really interesting, rewarding and that they have come to the right place to really properly learn!

6. Homework is a big deal: You want your students to form habits and a mindset from the start that learning is not confined to the classroom. They have agency and need to learn to study independently. Homework is for their benefit not yours and you will help them by setting a significant amount of work on a routine basis. It’s just part of the deal and you expect it to be done. Early on discuss when and where they will do each task you set.. and make deadlines and expected completion standards explicit. Don’t be a teacher that is soft or intermittent with homework; make it a solid routine part of your weekly flow.

7. We do tons of reading: Early on introduce ideas via text instead of powerpoint. Do some reading using techniques you will then sustain; eg echo reading ( you read it first, then they read it again out loud); accountable independent reading (they read themselves knowing that they will then have questions to answer in response) or class reading where you and some students read out loud. Mix them up but make it a norm from the start.

Learning Routines

8. Cold calling is the default, no calling out: Right from the start – it’s no hands up and no calling out. Establish the solid expectation that when you ask a question, you are asking everyone – anyone could be asked to respond. Follow the protocol from the training and make each cold call a nice friendly inclusive invitation to participate ‘Jessica, let’s hear from you, how did you get on…’ , not some horrible gotcha. Follow up with other responses – not just one from one student. Make it feel dialogic, not a series of monosyllabic grunts!

9. Talk partners and whiteboards are daily routines. : Alongside cold calling the staples of class interactions will include structured talk (think pair share) and whole-class response via show-me boards. (MWBs). If you are going to use these a lot, then get the routines established early on. Make them the norm. I would recommend following the specific steps in the defined technique with real precision- you form better deeper habits that way.

10. Everyone has to practise – a lot. A big part of learning is to practise and consolidate. Everyone has to work through lots of maths problems, everyone needs to practise speaking in French – over and over, lots of times in lots of ways, everyone needs to work on their drawing technique, everyone has to practise writing – taking the modelled ideas and making them their own. Give plenty of time for practice and consolidation – largely solo work because each student needs to be practising, not just watching their friend do it! Early on establish the ways that students can practise – explore the resources they should use and the way this will be checked. Make your homework nearly all a form of practice at the start so they feel successful doing it.