Hello everyone!
I see a lot of new teachers struggling to come up with what to do those first few days of the school year, and I am here to tell you that while the first week is essential in building relationships, establishing classroom management, and creating a classroom culture, the kids will be way more nervous than you are (and are almost always on their best behavior). If you tackle the first few days the right way, you will ride the honeymoon phase of good behavior until Thanksgiving.
This post will go over the top 5 things to cover week 1 and will provide some practical strategies for how to implement it all based on what I have seen work the past 4 years.
1. Get to Know Your Students
I make it a point to never go over my syllabus or to even talk much about myself the first few days. This is mostly because schedule changes are made often within the first week and you may have quite a few students who miss out on this information because they aren't in your class yet. Classroom procedures and expectations are simply too valuable to not be taught well, so I save them for when schedule changes die down.
Instead, I put the focus on the students and make it a priority to get to know them more personally. Some teachers like to use icebreakers like Two Truths and a Lie, do a Class Bingo worksheet, or play the Name Game. I, personally, loathe having to do ice breakers at staff meetings, so I try to avoid them because it makes a lot of kids as uncomfortable as it makes me.
The past four years, I have had my students take some sort of personality test (there are dozens of variations online) and to justify whether or not the results they got fit them accurately. It's a fun way for kids to get to share about themselves and it also gives me a baseline writing sample so I can quickly see where we are at. The additional bonus of using personality tests is that you can quickly see who the leaders are, who is shy, and which learning styles will likely work best for each group.
Here are some personality tests online: https://personalityacademy.com/printable-personality-quiz
Another strategy I have used successfully is having students created a One-Pager about themselves. Students are given a blank sheet of paper, markers, colored pencils, magazines to cut pictures from, etc. and told to fill the entire page in a way that represents them. I usually give my students several bits of information to include like "Who do you live with?," "What's your favorite subject and why?," and, the one I most highly recommend, "What is one thing you want your teacher to know about you?" I've also seen teachers turn these One-Pagers into a Class Quilt which they display. No matter how you do it, they usually turn out really well and the kid's like having the freedom to express themselves.
How to Make a Classroom Quilt: https://thesavvyage.com/how-to-make-a-classroom-quilt/
If you want something more subdued, there are also many, many "About Me" worksheets for students to fill out online which will accomplish basically the same thing. Use the first day to learn about your students and aim to have two names learned per period. Take the time to circulate and talk about what they have written down so that you have some way to connect to them personally.
Here are Some "About Me" worksheets: https://adayinourshoes.com/all-about-me-printable-worksheets/
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My Lesson:
Day 1 this year, I plan to hand my students a handout which assesses which learning style students prefer: auditory, visual, or kinesthetic as they walk into class. Students will be instructed to complete this as everyone gets settled and attendance is taken so that I can establish a structure for independent work at the beginning of every class immediately.
Once attendance is taken, I will ask by a show of hands, who scored highest for each learning style and we will briefly discuss what that means. I then tell them to keep their learning style in mind and to pick one of four shapes from off the board: square, triangle, circle, or squiggle. Again, I ask students to share by a show of hands who picked what. We briefly go over what each type means. I, again, tell them to remember what they picked.
Finally, I give students a laminated handout (yay for reusable resources) with a description of each astrological sign, the four shape personalities' descriptions, and an overview of the three different learning styles. I explain the One-Pager assignment to them as I hand out blank sheets of paper. They have the rest of class to list which shape they picked, what their astrological sign is, and their preferred learning style based on the test and to explain whether the descriptions accurately match their actual personality. They can decorate the page however they'd like, but the entire page must be filled with words, pictures, or color. The page must also include their first and last name and the class period. I have one made of myself which I share and pass around the room for them to see. As students work, I go around the room and get to know them a little bit based on what they add to their project.
2. Emphasize Community and Collaboration
Building a classroom culture is incredibly important. If the students get along with each other and with you, they will enjoy coming to class and might actually engage in the learning (especially when the lesson is more on the dry side). Since speaking and listening are two of the core concepts of ELA, I like to get students used to collaboration and discussion ASAP. Truly, these skills are important in any content area (especially if you intend to incorporate projects, group work, or any other activities in your classroom).
There are a few ways which you can do this: the usual icebreaker games, student interviews (where they interview each other and share about the other person to the class, or some sort of collaborative assignment. I mostly rely on the last option because it best suits my teaching style, and it get kids up and moving after a day of listening to lectures about class syllabi.
Here is an Example of Student Interviews: https://www.weareteachers.com/free-printable-of-the-week-interview-a-classmate/
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My Lesson:
Since Day 1 was entirely about students learning and writing about themselves, my second day of school focuses on having students work together and get to know each other.
As students walk into class, I have them do a quick write on the following question: Why is teamwork important? What does a good teammate look like? After attendance, I call on a few random volunteers to share what they wrote.
Next, I assign students their first Seat Challenge! Seat Challenges are a great way to get students moving and practicing their communication skills. During a Seat Challenge, students have to work together to put themselves into a particular order (oldest to youngest, alphabetically, tallest to shortest, etc.), and the best part is that they have to do it silently. I give my students 2 minutes to organize themselves and take a seat. Then we go around the room and check to see how they did. If the kids aren't really buying into it, I offer an incentive to the class period with the fewest mistakes.
Then we get into the meat of the lesson. Now that the students have been arranged into random seats, I break them into groups of 3-5 based on proximity. Students are given 2 sheets of paper and a roll of tape. They are told that whichever group can build the tallest tower using only these materials wins a prize at the end of class. Then they're off.
After the paper towers have been judged, I give my students a final reflection about how their group did. Who took charge? Who contributed most? Did they work well together? What would they do differently next time? For group projects I always give students 100 points to break up among the group. This is also a great exercise in collaboration and helps to hold students accountable to the group. Since this is the first project, these grades don't get entered, but it's nice to establish the mindset that everyone needs to pull their own weight from the start.
3. Introduce Yourself
Most students don't care how many degrees you have or what your Masters Thesis was on. They want to know if your class will be hard, what they can get away with, and how much homework they're supposed to complete. Some teachers prepare a lengthy Powerpoint about themselves and spend an entire class period reading over the syllabus with their students. And, it's certainly one way to do things. I used to do this as well. However, the day where I was up in front of my students droning on about my syllabus for 55 minutes five times in one day, I was miserable.
One solution which seems to be growing in popularity recently is an "Investigate the Teacher" activity. In this activity, the teacher places clues about themselves around the classroom and students are given a worksheet to complete which helps them to learn about the teacher.
Here is an Example: https://writeonwithmissg.com/2018/08/05/why-i-dont-review-the-syllabus-on-the-first-day-of-school-and-what-i-do-instead/
Reading over the syllabus can also be a great time for students to practice close reading and annotation skills for those of us teaching ELA. Then you can kill two birds with one stone by reviewing foundational literacy skills with your rules and expectations. You can also have students annotate and share through a Jigsaw activity, or even create an escape room based on information in your syllabus.
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My Lesson:
We start school on a Wednesday and the first day is mostly an assembly with prescribed activities for students each class period, so by the third day of actual instruction, we are already on the second week of school and schedules are pretty much set in stone. At this point, they've introduced themselves, they've gotten to know others, and now I am finally ready to talk about myself and my class.
As students enter class, I hand them a worksheet with a modified KWL chart. I instruct them to write down three or more things they think they know about me and three questions they have about me or the class in the K and W sections. After attendance has been taken, I have students share out what they wrote. Then, I break students into groups of 3-5 and have them rotate around various stations. Each station includes a part of the syllabus which they need to take notes on. They get three minutes at each station to read over the information, write down any important facts, and add additional questions that come up in the W section. After students have completed all stations, I allow them to ask any additional questions which they still have.
4. Establish Rules and Procedures
Any seasoned teacher will stress to you the importance of teaching procedures and having a comprehensive classroom management plan for any and all movement that could occur in a classroom. And I am here to tell you the same.
I highly recommend that you take a great deal of time to make sure you can answer the following questions:
- What will students do when they first enter class and while you take attendance?
- What supplies should they have every day? How can they get more if they've forgotten something?
- Where should students keep their backpacks?
- How will you distribute handouts?
- How will students turn things in?
- How will you hand back graded work?
- How can absent students make up the lesson?
- If students have access to laptops or iPads, how will they get them, how are they expected to use them, and how will they put them back?
- What are your behavior expectations for independent, partner, and group work?
- What is your policy for pencil sharpening, blowing their nose, using the restroom, and cellphones?
- What should students do if they finish an assignment early?
- How will you wrap up instruction for the day and have students exit?
Once you can answer all these questions, it is important that you share your expectations with students. This can be done through lecture, stations, embedded into your instruction of various lessons as they come up, or really any other way you can think of. It's always a good idea to have students practice things like coming into class and exiting appropriately. If they aren't meeting your expectations, teach them again. For older students this can be rare. If you have one student who continues to follow these procedures offer them extra practice after school or during lunch to learn your expectations (if you catch my drift).
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My Lesson:
I like doing a brief classroom discussion with students to define expectations. My three rules are: Respect yourself, Respect each other, and Respect the Space. I like to have students brainstorm in small groups what each of these might look like. Then I go into more specifics for what this looks like in my classroom. It shortens a normally tedious and long day of going over procedures into a quick and engaging collaborative activity where students feel like they are a part of the conversation about how they should act. Usually I put this at the end of my syllabus stations activity if there is time. Or embed it into the beginning of class the next day.
After this conversation, if students can't follow procedures, we practice and reteach until they get it. This may need to be done at different points later on in the year as well. The key is to stay consistent and to realize that behavior is a skill you have to teach just like anything else.
5. Collect Baseline Data
Many districts embed pre-tests into their curriculum. And if your district does not, I highly recommend you create one. Each group of students is different, so it is important to know what they already know by the time they get to you. Your pre-test may look different depending on what content area you teach. For ELA, I like to gather some reading, writing, and grammar baseline data. I also like to find out what novels they have already read, so I know what to avoid teaching them again.
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My Lesson:
My district requires that students complete a baseline writing assessment. I usually just have them read a short story and write an essay about the theme of that story since that is one of the core standards of our first unit. If you want something a little faster, have students write an essay about themselves or what they did over summer. It's a great way for you to see how they structure their writing.
My students also take a district benchmark assessment which covers most reading standards. It grades students automatically, so it's a great way to collect data quickly. There are many free reading assessments online. My favorite is the 7 minute reading test.
Here's a link for a 7 minute reading test: http://www.freereadingtest.com/
I also like my students to take the diagnostic assessment on https://www.noredink.com/ so that I can tailor grammar instruction towards the areas most students struggle (although this often becomes apparent from grading writing samples as well).
