First Week with Students... here we come!

Lead with Love

There is something about the first week of school that is hard to explain to someone who has never lived it. It is grief and excitement all tangled together. We grieve the slow mornings and the freedom of summer. We feel anxious about all that is coming. We look at our schedules and wonder how in the world everything is going to fit. We feel overwhelmed by the lists, the preparations, the new expectations, the new curriculum, the new routines.

And then there is the excitement. The anticipation of meeting the new people who will somehow, before we know it, take up enormous spaces in our hearts. We dream about the year. We imagine what they might become. We lie awake thinking about our classroom. We feel that familiar adrenaline rush as the first day gets closer. And it doesn't really matter whether this is your first year or your twenty-ninth. We still feel it. Because teaching isn't simply a job we show up to do. It is an act of service.

And if you have ever been a teacher, you know there is something almost impossible to explain about the feeling of standing at the beginning of a brand-new school year. So as you approach those first moments, those first hours, those first days with your 2026–27 students, I want to give you one simple reminder.

LOVE.

Before the schedules. Before the standards. Before the curriculum. Before the procedures and expectations and all the things you are already worrying about getting done… Love.

Week One Is for Falling in Love

I believe week one is about relationship building. It is about falling in love. Falling in love with the classroom you get to spend this year in. Falling in love with all the things your students are going to get to do and learn. Falling in love with their classmates. And, perhaps most importantly, beginning to fall in love with you. Because before you can reach their minds, you must reach their hearts.

Your students need to know that they belong here. They need to know that you are glad they are here. They need to feel that your classroom is a place where they can laugh, wonder, make mistakes, try again, ask questions, be themselves, and grow. So give yourself permission to slow down in that first week.

Make time for community. Laugh together. Tell them what you are excited about. Let them see your passion. Let them hear the things you cannot wait to teach them. Your energy will rub off on them. If you love it, there is a very good chance they will begin to love it, too.

It's all in how you sell it.

You get to set the tone. You get to direct the energy of your classroom. You get to light a little fire inside of them and help them fall in love with school. So read the picture books. Yes, even with your older students. Picture books carry powerful messages, and the stories you choose in those first days can become touchstones you return to all year long. Play games. Do challenges that require them to work together. Let them talk and laugh and discover things about one another. Journal. Draw. Create something beautiful to hang in your classroom. Teach them about growth mindset and the incredible power of believing that we can do hard things and grow. Give them moments to succeed together. And fill them up every chance you get. A smile. A hug. A high-five. A fist bump. A “I'm so glad you're here.” A “I can't wait to see what you do this year.” A “We can figure this out together.” These things may seem small. They aren't. They are how we build trust. They are how we build belonging. They are how we begin to reach their hearts.

And Then There Are the Ones Who Are Hard to Love. Some students will be easy to capture. Some won't. You will walk into this school year with students you need… and students who need you. And yes, some of those students may be very hard. Some may test you. Some may push every button you have. Some may try to convince you, before you even really know them, that they don't need you. But what if they do? What if the very student who seems determined to push you away is the one who needs someone to keep showing up? What if they need your patience? Your consistency? Your belief in them? Your love? I don't believe those students are accidents. They have been entrusted to you for a reason. That doesn't mean you will get everything right. It doesn't mean you won't have hard days. It doesn't mean you won't go home exhausted and wonder what in the world you are doing. It simply means that you don't have to give up on the child standing in front of you.

Keep loving. Keep noticing. Keep showing up. Keep believing there is more to their story than what you see on the hardest day. You are a gift to them. And somehow, in ways you may not recognize until much later, they are a gift to you.

One Day at a Time…So don't try to carry the whole year into the first week. You don't have to figure everything out. You don't have to have the perfect classroom. You don't have to get every routine exactly right. You don't have to know everything that will happen. Just take the next day. The next conversation. The next child. The next moment. And notice. Notice the little things. The smile across the room. The student who finally joins the group. The unexpected laugh. The beautiful questions. The tiny act of kindness. The moment a child realizes, I can do this. Notice the beauty around you. Because God is in the details. He is in the ordinary moments. He is in the laughter and the mess and the unexpected interruptions and the beautiful things you didn't plan.

And when the first week feels like a blur—and it probably will—remember this: You are not alone. You don't have to carry this year by yourself. God is already there. He knows every child who will walk through your door. He knows every challenge you will face. He knows every joy that is waiting for you. So walk through that door. Take a deep breath. Look at those beautiful faces. And lead with love. Not just this first week. All year long. But especially this week. Because week one is a gift. You get to capture their hearts. You get to build your community. You get to set the tone. You get to light the fire. You get to help them fall in love with learning. And you get to begin again. One day at a time. One child at a time. One beautiful, messy, sacred moment at a time.

You've got this, teacher.

And you are not doing it alone.