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Summer is always the perfect time for teachers to reflect back on their past experiences, evaluate personal and professional growth, and set some goals for the upcoming year.\u00a0 As I reflect back on my first few years of teaching, one of the things that comes to mind immediately is my first few \u201cfirst days\u201d of school.<\/p>\n
My first year of teaching, I taught 7th<\/sup> grade math and science.\u00a0 Since my class periods were only 50 minutes long, it was not difficult to decide what to do on the first day of school: introduce myself, teach class rules and expectations, give an overview of what we would be learning this year, and if time allowed do some kind of an icebreaker.<\/p>\n After teaching seventh grade for one year, I was fortunate to find a position in the grade that I had had my heart set on since making the decision to become a teacher: fifth grade.\u00a0 As the new school year approached, I was excited to be teaching the age group and curriculum I felt were best suited to me given my strengths as a teacher.\u00a0 But as the first day of school approached, a new thought occurred to me: What am I going to do with these kids all day long<\/b> on the first day of school? <\/i>I knew jumping into curriculum immediately was not wise.\u00a0 I knew that I needed to establish some ground rules, set expectations, and begin teaching procedures.\u00a0 I knew I needed to spend significant time getting to know the students, letting them get to know me, and letting them get to know each other.\u00a0 But what would this look like?\u00a0 Hadn\u2019t I done it all the year before in only 50 minutes?\u00a0 What was I going to do with a full day\u2019s worth of time? <\/p>\n I\u2019m sure every new teacher experiences the same kind of panic I did at the thought of planning an entire day\u2019s activities for the first time.\u00a0 And even veteran teachers may want to add new ideas to their general first day routine.\u00a0 As such, I\u2019d like to share my first day plan.\u00a0 Over time, I tweaked some things and tossed others.\u00a0 The following is a look at the activities that I have found worked best for the first day of school:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n TEACHER TRUE\/FALSE QUIZ<\/strong><\/p>\n Most students are nervous on the first day of school.\u00a0 They wonder what their new teacher will be like, who will be in their class, whether or not their new outfit is cool, etc.\u00a0 For some students, that nervous energy exhibits itself in poor behavior immediately upon entering the classroom. Whether they are deliberately testing the teacher\u2019s boundaries or are simply revealing their nervousness, this poor behavior must be curbed immediately.\u00a0 Better yet, it should be preempted.\u00a0 I have found that one way to prevent poor behavior as students are entering the classroom is to have something for them to do immediately upon entering the classroom.\u00a0 And since students are inevitably curious about their new teachers, what better way to start the day than with a Teacher True\/False Quiz?<\/p>\n The Teacher True\/False Quiz is simply a selection of statements about the teacher, some of which are true and others of which are false.\u00a0 The students will guess which statements are true about their new teacher.\u00a0 After giving a few moments for students to make their guesses, the teacher will go over the correct answers. She can ask how many students think the answer is true versus false.\u00a0 Then she can provide the right answer and provide any additional related information about herself. It’s fun!<\/p>\n <\/strong>After completing the True\/False quiz, the students will have a bit more information about you based on your answers.\u00a0 Now is the perfect time to fill them in on who their teacher is a little more.\u00a0 Tell them about your education, teaching history, family, etc.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n NAME SOME HIGHLIGHTS OF THE YEAR<\/strong><\/p>\n Students are always curious about what the year ahead is going to be like.\u00a0 I always gave them a few fifth grade highlights to look forward to.\u00a0 In my case, I shared that our year would include:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n PAPER BAG PROJECT<\/strong><\/p>\n In order to set expectations for the rest of the year, I assigned one simple project on the first day of school.\u00a0 I asked students to bring a paper bag with three items that were important to\/represented each student.\u00a0 The following day, they were to present their items and explain their importance.\u00a0 I found this to be a perfect way to establish homework routines.\u00a0 Students were required to write the assignment in their agendas and have their parents sign the agenda.\u00a0 I even demonstrated a presentation with a few items that represented me.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n INTRODUCE CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT SYSTEM<\/strong><\/p>\n In my classroom, I used a currency system I called Space Bucks in order to reward good behavior and to discourage inappropriate behavior.\u00a0 I introduced the currency system and passed out all necessary items, including the currency, deposit book, and wallets.\u00a0 The entire system is for sale in our Teachers Pay Teachers store: \u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n SKITTLES GETTING TO KNOW YOU ACTIVITY<\/strong><\/p>\n As a means to get to know each other and to provide some levity, we did an icebreaker activity you may have heard of.\u00a0 Students each choose 2 Skittles from a jar and are instructed not to eat them. (yet!)\u00a0 Once every student has 3 Skittles, show the students a poster explaining that for each of their Skittles, they will share something about themselves with the class:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n COMING TO CARPET PROCEDURE<\/strong><\/p>\n One of my main goals for the first week of school was to establish classroom procedures.\u00a0 One of the most important procedures in my classroom was the \u201cComing to the Carpet\u201d procedure, where the students would leave their desks and sit on the carpet in front of me in order to be closer to see the pictures in a book, brainstorm, etc.\u00a0 It was vital that I teach this procedure well because if expectations were not clear, this could potentially become a chaotic time.\u00a0 Additionally, I wanted my students to get a sense that when I taught a procedure, I expected it to be followed correctly.\u00a0 My expectations for this procedure were that students would come to the carpet quickly, quietly, and with their hands to themselves.\u00a0 I expected them to push in their chairs as they came.\u00a0 I dismissed them to leave their desks and come to the carpet by row.\u00a0 We practiced the procedure several times and I rewarded students who were listening and following directions well with classroom currency (see above).<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n QUALITY STUDENT<\/strong><\/p>\n Later in my career, the school district I was a part of was pushing a \u201cContinuous Improvement\u201d initiative.\u00a0 I absolutely loved it!\u00a0 One of the pieces of Continuous Improvement was teaching the students the meaning of quality and setting the expectation that we were going to be a \u201cquality class.\u201d\u00a0 While on the carpet, we discussed the word quality.\u00a0 <\/i>Once students had a clear grasp of the concept of quality, I had the students do an affinity diagram for a \u201cQuality Student.\u201d\u00a0 I passed out a few post-it notes to each student and they thought about the characteristics of a \u201cQuality Student\u201d and wrote one idea on each of their post-it notes.\u00a0 Students would share their ideas and we organized them into like groups.\u00a0 Next, we discussed the basic idea of each group, which allowed us to identify the overall characteristics of a \u201cQuality Student.\u201d\u00a0 Based on our affinity diagram, I drew a picture of a student on a poster and placed each of our characteristics in the appropriate area of the poster and hung it up for reference in the classroom.\u00a0 I made sure the students knew we would be doing an affinity diagram for a \u201cQuality Teacher\u201d too so that they knew that I was also striving to be an excellent teacher.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n GROUND RULES<\/strong><\/p>\n After lunch, I would have the students practice coming to the carpet again to see how well they remembered my instructions from before lunch and recess.\u00a0 Once on the carpet, we completed another affinity diagram for the rules for our classroom.\u00a0 I would do my best to make sure that the rules the students identified for themselves included rules I felt we needed as well. Every time I completed this activity with a class, they would always create excellent rules for themselves.\u00a0 In general they included something like:<\/p>\n That evening, I created a poster with our class Ground Rules.\u00a0 We read the rules in unison as a class every morning in order to be reminded.\u00a0 They owned the rules much more because they were a part of creating them.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n TEAMBUILDING ACTIVITY<\/strong><\/p>\n In order to encourage a team spirit in the classroom and to give the students a chance to get up and move around, I had my students engage in a teambuilding exercise.\u00a0 Have the students line up in order according to the following:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n ESTABLISH PROCEDURES<\/strong><\/p>\n Whenever possible throughout the day, teach a class procedure.\u00a0 Practice it a few times if necessary.\u00a0 Some that you should be able to begin establishing on the first day of school include:<\/p>\n Remember, the goals of the first day of school are for you and your students to get to know each other, to establish procedures and routines, and to get your students excited about the year ahead.\u00a0 Have a great year!!!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Summer is always the perfect time for teachers to reflect back on their past experiences, evaluate personal and professional growth, and set some goals for the upcoming year.\u00a0 As I reflect back on my first few years of teaching, one … Continue reading \n
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