Getting Back on Track After Winter Break: Tips for Teachers

TLDR

Use these tips as an outline to create your “1st Day Back Lesson Plan” or even the “1st Week Back Lesson Plan”

Tip1: Make time for tafakkur (تفكر), refleciton (renew intentions, reflect winter break experience, reality check, set goals, be Qur'an SMART!)

Tip2: Give hope by making it a successful first day back to school

Tip3: Strengthen relationships

Tip4: Review procedures and expectations 

I hope you found my post on “Things every Muslim teacher should do during the winter break to revitalize” useful. I hope we were able to fill up our sabr banks and are now re-energized for the sprint between the winter break and spring break. Yes, it is almost time to get back to school.

There are many resources out there that share tips on how to get back on track. I must say that they have lots of good tips but they come from a very secular and materialistic paradigm and are mixed with elements that may be contrary to the goals of tarbiyah. I wanted to share tips that will not only help you to get back on track but to do so by reconnecting with our Islamic values and priorities.

Tip 1: Reflection Time (Tafakkur تفكر)

Winter breaks are often an unstructured time for children, and many want to just unplug from any “brain heavy” activities. Additionally, the fast paced, digitally connected lives we live do not really afford us the time and space to reflect. Provide opportunities during the first day back for students to reflect by planning a variety of reflection activities. Reflections should focus on intentions (purpose), experience over the break, reality check and goals moving forward.

Renew Intentions (Niyyah نية)

Most of us are aware of the famous hadith narrated to us by Omar Ibn Al-Khattab (ra) in which the Prophet (saw) highlighted how our actions are judged by our intentions:

عَنْ أَمِيرِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَبِي حَفْصٍ عُمَرَ بْنِ الْخَطَّابِ رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ: سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَقُولُ: إنَّمَا الْأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّاتِ، وَإِنَّمَا لِكُلِّ امْرِئٍ مَا نَوَى، فَمَنْ كَانَتْ هِجْرَتُهُ إلَى اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ فَهِجْرَتُهُ إلَى اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ، وَمَنْ كَانَتْ هِجْرَتُهُ لِدُنْيَا يُصِيبُهَا أَوْ امْرَأَةٍ يَنْكِحُهَا فَهِجْرَتُهُ إلَى مَا هَاجَرَ إلَيْهِ

It is narrated on the authority of Amir al-Mu’minin (Leader of the Believers), Abu Hafs ‘Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), say: “Actions are according to intentions, and everyone will get what was intended. Whoever migrates with an intention for Allah and His messenger, the migration will be for the sake of Allah and his Messenger. And whoever migrates for worldly gain or to marry a woman, then his migration will be for the sake of whatever he migrated for.” Related by Bukhari & Muslim.

Many people focus on their external states (actions) and neglect their internal states (intentions). This hadith emphasizes the importance of maintaining that balance between our internal and external states. It is also interesting that the Prophet ﷺ is using a transition point (migration) to illustrate the importance of renewing our intentions during transitions. As we transition from the break back to school, it is important that we reflect on this hadith with our students and renew our intentions using this recommended outline:

• Why am I doing what I am doing? Is it to please Allah ﷻ or for another reason?
• Rewards for seekers of knowledge: Reminding ourselves and our students of the great reward and honor Allah ﷻ has kept for the merchants of knowledge will put things in the right perspective for us and help us to realign our intentions for the right reasons. The chapter in Riyad us-Saliheen by Imam Al-Nawawi on Seeking Knowledge is an excellent read on this topic.
• • Riyā (رياء) – Showing off: Nothing ruins sincerity of our intentions; hence, makes our actions worthless, as much as showing off! The social media culture we live in makes us thrive on self-aggrandizement. Shaytan will present us with many opportunities as we come back to school to “toot our horn” in a variety of ways. Allah ﷻ has cursed in Suratul Ma’oon (Quran Surah 107) those who show off while doing the most important act of worship in Islam, salah. Reflecting on this Surah is a good exercise and perhaps even a lesson that we can teach our students upon our return to school. An excellent du’a to make for protection against riya is:

الَّلهُمَّ إِنِّي أَعُوذُ بِكَ أَنْ أُشْرِكَ بِكَ وأَنا أَعلَمُ وأَستَغفِرُكَ لما لا أَعلَمُ

Allahumma inni a’udhu bika an ushrika bika wa ana a’lamu wa astaghfiruka lima la a`lamu
O Allah I seek refuge in You from knowingly associating partners with You, and I seek Your forgiveness for that which I do unknowingly.

Reflect Over the Winter Break Experience

There are important lessons to be learned from the winter break. Provide opportunities for students to reflect on their experience over the break and to share it with others. Many students will be bursting with enthusiasm to share their experience while others may not want to share because they feel it was boring. Therefore, it is important for teachers to structure this reflection activity carefully in a manner that doesn’t put anyone “on the spot”.

There are many “winter break reflection” activities out there that view the whole experience from a very materialistic lens…

There are many “winter break reflection” activities out there that view the whole experience from a very materialistic lens: the amazing food eaten, new clothes and toys acquired, the exotic and “expensive” places visited, the thrills experienced, etc. Not everyone can afford these things, making some students feel left out. Moreover, the teacher has a duty to guide students to reflect spiritually over their experience and to guide them towards a more conscientious lifestyle.

Here are some guiding questions for student reflection from an Islamic perspective:

• Describe ways you connected with Allah ﷻ over the break.
• Describe one encounter you had with the Qur’an over the break.
• Did you visit a masjid you’ve never visited before? Share your experience.
• Did you help someone over the break? How did it make you feel?
• Did you read a new book, if so tell us about it.
• Did you do something good that you’ve never done before?
• Did you learn a new skill?

I’m sure you can come up with many other questions and items that can be included in reflection activities to position them in a way that facilitates tafakkur (تفكر), spiritual reflection. Please share them in the comments if you do.

Reality Check and Goal Setting

Tap into the popular culture of new year resolutions to motivate students to set targets for their continued development and growth. Start with a reality check with student self-assessments in a variety of areas:

• Peer relationships
• Curricular content/Academic Goals
• Problem solving (I don’t mean math problems)
• Learning skills and work habits

Have students set goals for areas that they think are not doing so well in. You can have this exercise spread over the first 2-3 days to ensure there is a gap for reflection between the self-assessment and goal setting. A Single Point Rubric is a great way to structure student self-assessment.

Set goals as a class and guide students to set individual goals after conducting a self-assessment. Make sure the goals students are setting are achievable. Help them to understand the difference between a wish and a goal. The popular SMART framework for goal setting mostly highlights individual agency and doesn’t really focus on tawakkul (توكل), relying on Allah ﷻ for the results. I saw an Islamic adaptation of this framework at the Houston Qur’an Academy called “Qur’an SMART” that I thought was very smart (no pun intended)! I’ve built on this idea a bit more to align the SMART framework with the concept of tawakkul (توكل) in Islam:

TIP 2: Give Hope by Making it a Successful First Day Back

Effective teachers give hope to their students. This is how Allah ﷻ describes the Prophet ﷺ. Design the first day back to provide maximum opportunities for students to succeed. Some students will be anxious going back to school. Do not overplan the first day back because students will be tired and may need some time to get back into the swing of things.

This is a good time to review the major themes, concepts, and skills covered in your class. Design a game to review them so it is more interactive. Here are some ideas to get you started that are more socially engaging than Jeopardy style or Kahoot! style games:

• The Hot Seat: One student sits facing the class. Write a vocabulary word on the board behind them. The student in the “hot seat” calls upon 3 different students for clues to guess the word. Keep changing the “hot seat” student for any wrong guesses.
• Family Feud: Divide the class into groups. For each round, one student from each group goes against a student from another group to answer a review question. Team points are awarded for correct answers. All students are expected to fill out their journals/worksheet with the right answers and submit for individual points. This will keep everyone engaged.
• Hot Potato: Students sit in a circle to pass the soft toy around the circle. Randomly ask a student a review question that they need to answer before the soft toy comes back to them. If they answer correctly before the soft toy arrives then they continue to sit in the circle; otherwise, they must go into the hot pot (middle of the circle). The soft toy continues to get passed around for the next question. If a student answers incorrectly then you can give a chance for the students in the hot pot to answer the question so they can get out of the hot pot. Warning: this game can get rough so lay down some rules and communicate these expectations clearly to all before starting the game.
• Headbands: Write a review term on a post-it-note and stick it on students’ foreheads. The goal is to figure out what the term is based on clues from their team members/classmates.

Check out more fun review activities and classroom games at Teachhub.com.

Student-teacher relationships and peer relationships have the greatest impact on student motivation and building the classroom community is vital for setting the stage for success for the remainder of the year.

Tip 3: Strengthen Relationships

Students have been away from each other for a while and would want to connect after the break. This is also an excellent opportunity to strengthen existing relationships and to forge new ones or positive directions for the bumpy ones. Student-teacher relationships and peer relationships have the greatest impact on student motivation and building the classroom community is vital for setting the stage for success for the remainder of the year. So, dedicate a portion of the day to activities that facilitate bonding between you and the students and between the students. Many of the activities I’ve suggested above for the other tips provide opportunities to form and strengthen relationships.

A great activity to reconnect with others spiritually is through the congregational prayers that most Islamic schools observe for Zuhr. If your school doesn’t have this then plan on having one in your classroom. Remind students during the salah, not only to connect with Allah ﷻ but also with each other by making du’a for each other during salah. If you are unable to have congregational prayers then at least have a dua’ session where anyone in the class can make dua’ and all of us say “aameen” to it. This will join our hearts in love for the sake of Allah ﷻ.

Here’s a beautiful du’a to make for strengthening relationships that was often made by Abdullah ibn Masu’d ؓ is:

اللَّهُمَّ أَلِّفْ بَيْنَ قُلُوبِنَا، وَأَصْلِحْ ذَاتَ بَيْنِنَا، وَاهْدِنَا سُبُلَ السَّلَامِ، وَنَجِّنَا مِنَ الظُّلُمَاتِ إِلَى النُّورِ

Allahumma allif baina qulubina, wa aslih dhata bainina, wahdina subulas-salam, wa-najjina minad-dhulumati ilan-noor
O Allah! Reconcile our hearts, amend what is between us, guide us to the paths of peace, save us from the darkness [and admit us] to light!

Tip 4: Review Procedures and Expectations

The long, unstructured time or different structured time away from school during the winter break can make even the most self-disciplined students rusty in the school and classroom routines you worked so hard to establish. Maintain these routines. Knowing what to do when provides a sense of security and comfort to students, especially if they are coming from a chaotic home environment.

This is a good time to go over the procedures and expectations with your students. Expectations (rules, consequences, and rewards) should be reviewed as early in the day as possible. Procedures should be reviewed throughout the day as the time comes to observe them.

Instead of the “chalk and talk” or the “sage on the stage” approach, play an interactive game to review the expectations and procedures. You can create a Kahoot! game or a Jeopardy style game using PowerPoint or Google Slides. An alternative to the Kahoot! Platform is Aha Slides.

The tips shared here can transform teachers’ mundane actions into meritorious deeds worthy of Allah’s ﷻ reward. Use these tips as an outline to create your “1st Day Back Lesson Plan” or even the “1st Week Back Lesson Plan”. Make sure you begin your day and your class with bismillah and by making du’a for your students and for yourself (do this collectively with your students). May Allah accept from all of us. May Allah grant you and your students success every step of the way!

References