EP311 Soft starts: a gentle, inviting way to begin the school day & foster self-regulation
Angela Watson's Truth for Teachers
Angela Watson
4.8 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 29 September 2024
⏱️ 26 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Starting the school day doesn't have to be chaotic or rushed. In this episode, I'll explore how soft starts are transforming classrooms by offering a calm, low-pressure beginning that allows students to ease into their day.
Soft starts accomplish more than just setting a calm tone—they're a powerful tool for promoting social-emotional learning and giving kids the autonomy they need to feel in control of their learning, fostering self-regulation, self-direction, and self-management.
I'll break down why this approach is beneficial (and super simple to implement!) for all age groups, from elementary to secondary students, and share practical ways to implement it in your classroom.
Soft starts don't require a monumental shift in your daily routine, but provide a powerful opportunity to create a foundation of calm, focus, and connection that will ripple through every lesson.
If you want your students to learn how to gauge their own needs and choose activities at the beginning of class that help meet those needs so they're prepared to learn, soft starts might be the perfect option.
Get the shareable article/transcript for this episode here.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to Episode 311 of Angela Watson's Truth for Teachers. |
| 0:09.0 | I'm your host, Angela Watson, and I'm here to speak encouragement into the hearts of educators |
| 0:14.0 | and get you informed and energized for the week ahead. |
| 0:18.0 | Today I'm talking about soft starts, a gentle, inviting way to begin class |
| 0:23.0 | or the school day. Visit truthforteachers.com for an easy-to-read, easy-to-share version of this |
| 0:29.5 | podcast episode. This episode is brought to you in part by a really important podcast that I hope |
| 0:37.1 | you'll check out. |
| 0:38.3 | It's called Opportunity Gap, How to Support Kids of Color Who Learned differently. |
| 0:43.3 | It's hosted by Julian Savedra, an assistant principal in Philadelphia who has spent nearly 20 years working in public schools. |
| 0:51.3 | You'll hear Julian talk with parents and experts to offer tools |
| 0:55.6 | that will help you support your students. You can even share this free podcast with kids' families. |
| 1:01.5 | It's a wonderful resource for parents as well. To listen to Opportunity Gap, just search in |
| 1:07.1 | your podcast app for Opportunity Gap, how to support kids of color who learn differently. |
| 1:13.8 | That's Opportunity Gap, how to support kids of color who learn differently. |
| 1:20.8 | If you use Google Chrome, you need to know about my favorite free Chrome extension for teachers. |
| 1:27.1 | It's called Brisk teaching, |
| 1:29.2 | and it can instantly trim hours off the time it takes to write high-quality, personalized |
| 1:34.0 | feedback on student work. And their feedback tool is just one of more than 30 that Brisk offers, |
| 1:40.9 | including creating Google slides and Google Forum quizzes. Add Brisk to Chrome for free |
| 1:47.0 | by heading to briskteaching.com. Have you ever had a moment in which you found out that there was a name |
| 1:55.5 | for something that you'd already been doing in your classroom? That's how I felt when I heard the term soft start, |
| 2:02.4 | and you might experience that same bolt of recognition as you listen to me describe this. |
... |
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