7 First Day of School Activities Students Love The first day of school will be here before you know it. Most teachers face the big day with enthusiasm, but they dread the inevitable challenge: what to do on the first day of school. Every teacher’s approach is different. Goal: Getting to Know Your Students How well will your incoming students know you? If you’re teaching kindergarteners (or high school freshmen, who often seem like kindergarteners), you may need to spend the first day – or the first several days –getting everyone comfortable. Teaching strategies for improving friendship skills at the elementary school... The School of Education at Gardner-Webb University has received national... We examine the classroom management characteristics of effective teachers. A few useful classroom management ways to get information from your students on... 7 great technology in the classroom apps to use this year. Plan a Scavenger Hunt Assess Learning Styles or Multiple Intelligences Do a Self-Portrait Create a Time Capsule Get Them Guessing
136 FREE Back To School Worksheets & First Day Of School Activities Ready to start your class off right? The first day of class is an important time for teachers and students alike - it’s the time to learn all your students’ names, set the tone for your classroom, and make sure everyone’s feeling relaxed and ready to learn. You probably don’t want to charge in with too much new material on the very first day - after all, it’s important for your students to feel relaxed around you, and around each other, so they’ll be comfortable enough to learn and produce the new ESL concepts you’ll be sharing with them. The question is, how can you help them feel relaxed? With BusyTeacher.org’s 264 resources for the first day of school, of course! Whether you’re kicking off a class with a brand-new set of level-one ESL students, or launching a final class with a group of level-five students approaching full fluency, you’ll find resources here to break the ice and get your class laughing and talking like they’ve known each other for years.
How To Handle Misbehavior The First Two Weeks Of School Your new students will likely be on their best behavior for the first few days of school. But by the second week, you and your classroom management plan will be tested. After all, your students don’t really know you. Maybe you’ll be like the pushover teacher they had last year. Maybe some of your students have never had firm boundaries. And because you haven’t spent enough time with your students to earn their confidence, you’re going to be tested. But when it happens, when Anthony says something crude to try to shock you, when Karla talks back and disrespects you, when your students interrupt you, ignore you, and misbehave three feet in front of you… You’ll be ready. Here’s what to do: Pause. Your first reaction to misbehavior should be no reaction. Hide your disappointment. Never show hurt over misbehavior or disrespect. Lose the battle. If a student is directing his (or her) misbehavior toward you, disrespects you, or talks back to you, be willing to take it. Follow through. Build rapport.
First Week Plans For the past three years, the beginning of every year has meant a new school, new students, new classes. Last year I had FOUR preps, one of which I didn't know about until a week before school started. So my first days of school have always been pretty mundane. Here's the syllabus, here's your book, here's the rules... blah blah blah. But this year I am at the same school, in the same room and feel like I can breathe under my three preps (two of which are new, but oh well!). After reading the #mssunfun and hearing(reading) so many posts about not starting the year like a robot I'm inspired to not even mention my syllabus until our third (and first full 90 minute block) class. Google doc survey. And then in no particular order, here are some of the ideas I stole off the Middle School list,
First Day of School Activities I'd love to hear what activities you do with your students on the first day of school. Link up below with one of your favorite activities or share your plans for the whole day. This year I created a small book for the first day/week of second grade. My students will write about themselves, the school, the classroom, and me (the teacher). If you would like to check out the two books click here for the Welcome to Second Grade book and here for the So Long Second Grade book. Megan (Linkup closed)
Handling Difficult Students The First Week Of School Hoping to head misbehavior off before it starts, most teachers try to be proactive with difficult students. Even before the bell rings on the first day of school, they peruse their new roster looking for those few whose reputation precedes them. They chat up previous teachers. They scrutinize student files. And so when Anthony or Karla or whoever shows up for the first day of school, they can feel the bull’s-eye on their back. They can feel labeled right out of the gate. And when students feel labeled, they’re pulled inexorably in its direction—fulfilling the prophecy it foretells. To ensure this doesn’t happen on your watch, and to get your reputed difficult students headed in the right direction, it’s best to make them feel like just another member of your classroom. Here’s how: 1. When a student with a difficult reputation walks in on the first day and is asked to sit closest to the teacher, she knows the score. 2. Kids are smarter than most adults give them credit for. 3. 4. 5.
Detective Game by Peter Pappas I did not waste the opening week of school introducing the course – my students solved mysteries. I took simplified mysteries and split them into 25-30 clues, each on a single strip of paper. Read my blog post on how I used this lesson. I used a random count off to get the kids away from their buddies and into groups of 5-6 students. Each group got a complete set of clues for the mystery. This activity demonstrates to students the need for considering the contributions of every group member and gives them practice in organizing cooperatively to accomplish a task. You will need a set of clues for the case for each group. Link to Murder Mystery Clues Link to Bank Robbery Clues Note - These clues were adapted from: Learning Discussion Skills Through Games Gene and Barbara Dodds Stanford Citation Press / Scholastic Books 1969 Students are seated in a circle with the teacher standing outside the group. "Today we are going to play another game that will help improve your discussion skills.
Classroom Icebreakers - Icebreakers, Icebreaker Ideas, Games, Activities! These classroom icebreakers are enjoyable teacher-approved activities and games that address all your school and classroom needs! We recommend the following icebreakers for students of all ages. We have teachers on our staff of writers and they have recommended these for class teaching purposes. Give them a try and we think you’ll agree that your students will love them. Classroom Icebreakers for Students Breaking the Ice / Introduction Games Breaking the ice is useful for the beginning of a class period or toward the beginning of a semester when students don’t know each other well! Art Effects (Drawing) – A fun drawing oriented game! Sharing/Opinion Games Some games help students to start expressing their opinions on various issues, to share personal stories, or to have a voice in the classroom. Connecting Stories (Get-to-know-you, Teambuilding)Extremes: Where Do You Stand? Spelling/Word Games These games are all about spelling or using words. Assignments / Outside-of-Class Activities
Fostering Relationships in the Classroom Students and teacher need to develop positive and trusting relationships in an effective classroom. It is also critical that all students, especially English-language learners, develop trusting and enriching relationships with each other. There are many activities which can be used for both introductory purposes and throughout the year to build and maintain positive relationships in the classroom. Some activities which work well to introduce students to each other and to the teacher can be used again at later points in the year as students' interests change and as they gain new life experiences. While this is certainly not an exhaustive list, it contains several suggestions we have found successful and which could easily be adapted for use with different levels of students. 1) Sharing Weekly Reflections 2) Introducing Me/3 Objects This activity is sometimes called a "Me Bag" or an "All About Me Bag." 3) "I Am" Project There are many variations of the "I Am" activity. 6) Four Squares
10 Fun Back-to-School Activities and Icebreakers As an extremely shy student, the beginning of a school year filled me with angst. My heart raced before the first bell ever rang. I’d wonder if the teacher would be as nice, or as mean, as I’d heard. Fourth grade was the absolute best start I’d ever had to elementary school. I tell you the story above because I truly believe our own childhood experiences help shape the teachers we become. Who’s in Our Room Word Search Arrival on the very first day of school is different than any other day of the year. D-icebreakers Divide students into groups of 4–6 students and give each group one die and a copy of the D-icebreakers printable. Skit-tell Us About Yourself With students seated in a circle, I pass around a bag of Skittles, telling each student to pick two. Going around the circle, students share information about themselves based on the color candy they have selected. Autograph Scavenger Hunt Beach Ball Introductions Students sit in a circle and toss a ball to a classmate in the circle.