Like many Ontario educators, I’m back at school this week to help prepare for the official start of school next week. In my role as a Reading Specialist, I don’t have my own classroom, but I assist with setting up some shared spaces, getting materials ready for next week, and connecting with educators.

My Experience Last Year

Last year was my first time beginning the school year in this role, and it seemed strange to not be organizing my own classroom or working with my teaching partner to do so. I emailed staff and offered to help with any jobs that do not involve heights (I’m terrified of climbing on anything). A few wrote me back with some requests, and then I went into the school, walked around, entered rooms, and helped out as needed. Pretty soon I had a few additional requests for support, and a wonderful opportunity to connect with staff, learn more about students, and examine some programming and planning possibilities.

This Year

This year, I’m going to be at two schools. I remain at the same school I was at last year for four days a week, and I’m at a different school one day a week. For my new school, I reached out with a similar email to the one that I sent last year, and I’m meeting with a teacher tomorrow. The school is really small, so I’m not sure how many others will be in, but I’m hoping to connect with other educators when I’m at the school. As for my school from last year, I didn’t send out an email this year, but instead, connected as I moved around the school. Basically, I stopped at each door as I walked by: chatting about set-up, answering questions, and even exchanging some programming ideas. It was as I was doing this today that I realized the role of support staff as co-regulators during this lead-up-to-school-time.

Our Co-Regulating Role

Let me explain a little more of my thinking. The week before school starts can be both exhilarating and stressful. It’s always fun to look through new materials and re-envision a classroom, but it’s also stressful …

• when you might not know the students yet,
• when you are waiting for finalized class lists,
• when numbers might seem overwhelming,
• and when you might have some fantastic ideas, but not necessarily the space or materials to make everything come to fruition.

A couple of years ago when I was in the classroom, I felt some of this same stress, but I had a wonderful teaching partner, Paula, who was my co-regulator. We talked through the problems together. We came up with some temporary solutions based on what we know about children as learners. We also gave ourselves permission to be kind to ourselves and our kids, to observe closely and to reflect together, to give both kids and ourselves some time to adjust, and then to make changes as needed. Our planning and conversations reduced stress and resulted in a far better start-up to the school year.

In this role, I find myself being “a Paula” to others. I love being able to …

• listen to staff ideas,
• ask questions or share wonders,
• reflect as a team,
• and “calm the chaos” by sometimes just being present and available.

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Now What?

As the school year progresses, we’ll delve more into curriculum and continue to re-examine programming possibilities. This week though is so much about the relationships that make everything else possible. If I can be a person for even one someone, that seems like a really great start to the school year. How do you help co-regulate others during a stressful time of the year? Even as adults, we can benefit from a helping hand, a listening ear, and sometimes, the space to just be.

You May Also Be Interested In our series of FREE insightful videos by Susan Hopkins highlighting six key roles within the education system. These videos offers six signs that practitioners in each of those roles are practicing Self-Reg and contribute to a successful Back to School season.