So just what is a transition day and what is it for and all about?
Here are a few thoughts and ideas that can give you a starter……
Transition days are really your first meeting with your new class – usually all the classes in a school will move up for a set time which is spent with their new teacher.
It also the first time that you will get to meet the “characters” that you have heard about in the staff room!
How long are transition swops?
This really depends on the school and can vary from 1 hour up to 3 weeks! – yes that is not a typo…I have heard of 3 weeks. (sounds madness to me!)
In my schools I usually had transition times of no more than 1/2 day and often less – so school would start at 9.00 in the morning and all the preliminaries would be done (register, dinner numbers etc ) and then we would go for a transition swop which may last the rest of the morning or possibly just until morning playtime.
What happens in transition times?
This is the problem with transition times – what is the purpose?
In many schools this is not explained or discussed with staff and so the transition time (of however long) can become extremely problematic….just what should you be doing?
Well let’s firstly look at the purpose of the transition time….in essence it is to get to know your new class and for them to have some idea of who and how you are as their new teacher.
Now most children coming up to your class will have seen and heard about you previously but apart from perhaps a chance meeting either in the playground or around the school they will have very little idea about how you operate in class or what your expectations are.
At its very basic the transition time allows you to meet the class and to make the first steps in getting to know the children. Depending on the time allowed this may be through a variety of activities from simple introductions and games to practical whole class or individual tasks.
It also gives you, as the teacher a chance to “begin” the process of introducing classroom management and behaviour management strategies. You will be able to inform the class as to how things will be structured – that you will be appointing monitors, how the library works and when we do swimming or P.E. – its a new class and you are a new teacher to the children…so take this opportunity to say what you expect and how things will be organised.
From a practical point of view any art work that you do will give the children a familiar look to their new classroom when they arrive back in the September term…it’s a simple thing but an important one for many children as they start in the new class.
Activities:
This is time dependent but once you have had your initial chat with the class there are a million “get to know you” things you can do.
It may range from a simple “tell me about you” activity
To more whole class projects with each individual contributing their own part.
Here is one I particularly like…jigsaw pieces
Here’s a link to downloadable jigsaw pieces that you can use if you would like to try this.
http://displays.tpet.co.uk/#/Search/jigsaw
or a walk of fame!
These sort of activities are great if you have to fill up to a day with your new class – beyond that you are going to have to start thinking of some form of lesson activities to structure the time. To be honest it then becomes a bit of a pain because this is not yet your class and you have not started the new curriculum but you are having to timetable things to give the extended transition time some organisation…its a bit like being in limbo!
For extended transition times how should you approach them?
I am talking about transition lengths of more than 1 day here.
Be organised is what I would recommend. Bring in a timetable which has maths and literacy in the mornings and activities in the afternoons. Instead of trying to teach the new curriculum for this year group I would concentrate on what they “should know” and revise and consolidate these areas. In this way you will have a better idea of what they can and can’t do – can identify areas of weakness and also weaker individuals, whilst starting to put into place your behaviour management strategies. The afternoons can contain the display / information elements that we have talked about previously.
For really extended times – I have never come across these personally, but I am assured these do occur…. I would recommend that you plan and operate a mini topic for transition times of over a week. It will give some structure to everything….!
So there you have it- the basics behind transition days and a few ideas you can use. I am going to put a link here to a Pinterest page which has loads of pictures of displays and ideas that colleagues have had for transition days….have fun and enjoy your new class!
https://uk.pinterest.com/hannahcabanna/moving-up-day-ideas/?lp=true
