What I Learned During My First Year as a Classroom Teacher

As I wrap up my first year as a classroom teacher, people keep asking what I learned.

The truth is, I learned a lot.

And if I'm honest, it would be easy to write an entirely different post about all the things I wish I had done differently. The lessons that flopped. The moments I handled poorly. The things I know now that I didn't know in September. I've spent plenty of time thinking about those things.

But as I pack up my classroom and look ahead to next year, I'm realizing it's just as important to pay attention to what worked. The small things worth carrying forward. The routines, conversations, traditions, and moments that helped our classroom feel like a community. Those are the things I don't want to forget.

When I think about what I'm bringing with me to my next classroom, I don't think about programs or curriculum. I think about the small things. The routines, conversations, traditions, and moments that helped our classroom become the kind of place I hoped it would be.

Some of these traditions were planned. Some happened completely by accident. All of them taught me something.

Good News

At the end of each day, while we waited for the bell, we shared good news. Sometimes students shared soccer games, birthday parties, or family adventures. My favorite moments were when they noticed each other. A student would share that someone invited them to play at recess. Another would talk about a classmate who helped them solve a tricky math problem.

Community isn't something we teach once. It's something we build every day.

How Do We Want Our Classroom to Feel?

One of our first conversations wasn't about rules. It was about feelings.

How do we want our classroom to feel?

Safe. Kind. Fun. Fair. Included.

Those conversations eventually led to the expectations that guided us all year long.

Classroom Expectations

Every morning, we reviewed our classroom expectations. Not a long list of rules. Just four reminders:

• We care for our classroom.

• We are kind with words and actions.

• We repair when harm happens.

• We keep each other safe.

I loved that the expectations focused on the kind of community we wanted to build rather than a list of things students weren't allowed to do. By spring, they weren't just words on a poster. They were part of who we were.

I Know You're Trying

One thing I told my students often was, "I know you're trying."

Not because they always made great choices, but because I didn't believe they were making poor choices on purpose.

When a student hurt someone's feelings, I might say, "I know that's not how you want your friends to feel." When a student was being disruptive, I might say, "I know you want to be successful here."

And almost every time, I could see their shoulders relax.

They felt understood.

I wanted my students to know that I could address a behavior without questioning who they were as a person. That didn't mean we ignored the behavior. We still talked about the impact of their choices and worked to make things right. But we started from the belief that the child in front of me was more than their hardest moment.

We weren't arguing about whether they were a good kid. We were working together to understand what happened, make things right, and build the skills needed for next time.

Are You Good?

One of the most important questions I asked my students all year was simple: "Are you good?"

Sometimes the answer was yes. Sometimes it wasn't. Sometimes that question opened the door to a conversation that needed to happen before learning could.

Greeting Every Student

Every morning, I greeted students in the hallway before they entered the classroom. It only took a few seconds, but it helped me notice who was excited, tired, worried, or needed a little extra support before the day began.

Eating Lunch Together

I didn't eat lunch with my students every day, but I did it often.

Those conversations taught me things I never would have learned during reading or math. I heard about soccer games, lost teeth, family trips, worries, friendships, and playground drama.

More importantly, it sent a message.

My attention wasn't something students had to earn.

I wasn't only interested in students when they were struggling or when they had done something impressive.

Sometimes I simply wanted to sit down, eat lunch, and spend time with them.

Looking back, those conversations were some of the most important relationship-building moments of the year.

Getting Outside

One of the best things I did this year was take learning outdoors whenever I could. Sometimes it was a lesson. Sometimes it was a quick movement break. Sometimes it was simply holding Morning Meeting outside for ten minutes before starting our day.

I've become convinced that slipping outside can change the feel of an entire day. When students have a chance to move, breathe, and connect with the world around them, everything else tends to go better.

We don't always need a new strategy.

Sometimes we just need fresh air.

Charlotte's Web

Reading Charlotte's Web aloud became one of my favorite parts of the day. It gave us time to slow down, laugh together, wonder together, and fall in love with a story together.

For a few minutes each day, we were all living inside the same story.

Sharing My Books

I also shared the books I was reading. The books weren't written for first graders, but I shared age-appropriate pieces of the stories and kept students updated on the characters and plot.

Before long, they were invested.

One Friday, as a student was leaving for the weekend, he gave me a high five and said, "Mrs. V, I hope you spend a lot of time reading this weekend because I need to know what happens next."

I don't think he realized it, but that might have been one of the best compliments I received all year.

I think it helped students see that reading isn't just something we do at school. It's something people do because they enjoy it.

Peek of the Week

Each week, I sent home a newsletter called Peek of the Week. Along with updates and reminders, I included conversation starters families could use at home. Instead of asking, "How was school?" parents had specific questions that helped students share what they were learning and experiencing.

Questions like:

"What happened in Charlotte's Web this week?"

"Tell me about the new phonics pattern you're learning."

"What's your favorite math game right now and why?"

It was a small thing, but it helped connect home and school.

Past, Present, Future

One of my favorite lessons involved bringing in objects from the past and letting students touch them, examine them, and guess what they were used for.

A rotary phone.

A typewriter.

An old camera.

A toaster that didn't even look like a toaster.

I could have taught the lesson with a slideshow.

Instead, students passed the objects around, made predictions, asked questions, and debated their ideas. They were completely engaged.

The lesson wasn't really about the objects. It was about curiosity.

It reminded me how much children love learning when they can hold something in their hands and wonder about it.

Adding Movement

One thing I learned this year is that almost every lesson gets better when students can move. Sometimes that meant scarves during songs and brain breaks. Sometimes it meant hand motions during phonics or reading lessons. Sometimes it meant getting outside.

One of my favorite examples was creating hand motions for beginning, middle, and end, as well as character, setting, problem, and solution. The students helped come up with many of the motions, and before long they became part of our classroom language.

By the end of the year, students could show a story with their hands almost as quickly as they could explain it with words.

What started as a simple strategy became a theme that ran through the entire year.

When learning involves both minds and bodies, it tends to stick.

Helper of the Day

Every student had a chance to be Helper of the Day. They turned off lights, released tables, stamped planners, and helped with classroom responsibilities.

The jobs were small, but the message was important:

You matter here.

Choosing What Matters

One thing I learned this year is that every activity takes time.

More and more, I found myself drawn to activities that gave students opportunities to read, explore, create, collaborate, and wonder.

Readers Theater was a favorite. Students practiced and performed scripts, building fluency and confidence while making each other laugh. I wrote many of the scripts myself, filling them with inside jokes and familiar classroom moments they loved.

That said, our hallway could probably have used a few more cute projects.

Maybe that's my goal for next year: finding more activities that are educational, engaging, inclusive, and refrigerator-worthy.

Our Classroom Poem

We used lots of attention getters throughout the year, including a bell when I needed one. But my favorite was a poem we created together.

We added hand motions. We added lines. We changed it as the year went on.

By spring, every child knew it by heart because it belonged to all of us.

Scarves

A basket of scarves turned out to be one of the best classroom tools I owned. We used them during songs, movement breaks, and brain breaks.

Sometimes a simple scarf was enough to turn a routine activity into something memorable.

Looking back, I'm noticing that many of the things I'm most proud of weren't part of a curriculum.

They were ways of communicating the same message:

I see you. You belong here. I'm glad you're here.

Maybe that's what I'm really bringing with me to my next classroom.