School will be starting in a few weeks and after receiving notice of a Blog entitled "Back-to-School Boot Camp: First Day Essentials" from WeAreTeachers, I thought I would share this information:
According to WeAreTeachers, the first day of school needs to be a successful day not only for the teacher, but for the students. Here are 12 ways to make the first day (or week) a great one:
1. Have a new friend scavenger hunt where students hunt around the class to find students who have done certain things. (They have a template on their site - look below for the link to the Blog page.)
2. Have students toss a beanbag around the room and the person who catches it has to tell the class their name and something about themselves.
3. Have a piece of cardstock and markers available for students to decorate a nametag to put on their desk.
4. To help you learn the students quickly, memorize them in groups - memorize the students in row one the first day, row two the second day and so on. Or take photographs of the students sometime the first week and associate the photo with their name - spend time each day quizzing yourself by looking at the photo and naming the name.
5. Wear something you love the first day of school and use it as a starting point to introduce yourself to the students.
6. Make a video where you introduce yourself, showing them some of your favorite things and talking about your summer.
7. Create a class e-newsletter that you can send out on a regular basis throughout the school year - send parents information about what you are doing in class.
8. Have each student write a letter to himself or herself, listing their goals and hopes for the coming school year; put the letters in a time capsule to open on the last day of school.
9. Make a classroom crossword - write an adjective that describes you on the board, then have a student come up and write an adjective that describes themselves, using at least one letter from your word, etc.
10. Make a wonder web - grab a ball of yarn or string and toss it to a student while keeping a hold of the end; when the student catches it, they have to tell the class one thing they wonder about another student; then throw it to that student without letting go of the string and the new student has to answer the question and then wonder something about another student; by the end you'll have a web around the classroom and know a lot about your students.
11. Have each student make a personal "coat of arms" that has pictures of their favorite things, people and activities.
12. Give students a large sheet of white paper and have them draw pictures of what they wish they were seeing out of the classroom window - whether it's a beach, the mountains, or a picture of their home.
Here is the link to find many more ideas to make your classroom start off in a positive way:
At the very bottom of the blog page, they llist the top five ways you can use WeAreTeachers as a resource - lesson planning, teacher grants, hot topics, educational resources and information about educational technology. WeAreTeachers is a wonderful place to get ideas and share information. Be sure to check it out before school starts!
