It's barely August, but many of my teacher-friends on Facebook and Instagram have been posting memes and asking questions about this year's lesson plans since the middle of July. I just finished my quantitative analysis class a couple of weeks ago and am still in recovery, so I thought this would be a good time to reset my brain by writing about the first days of school.
My favorite meme so far this year though is the one about the importance of learning to pronounce each student name by Leading ELLs.
I finally, after a few years in the classroom, discovered a way that worked for me to make sure I heard my students pronounce their own names, but not in front of the class where my quiet students might be embarrassed. You can skip forward and read more about it out here.
Preparing for the First Days of School
Some of the things I have done to prepare for this school year include:
Almost every year, I recommend you check out Cult of Pedagogy's icebreakers, and while I still think there is a place for them in the first couple of days (making sure that you're honoring the students in your classes who are introverts and dread talking to people they don't know or being put on the spot), you also need to make sure you're spending some time engaging your students in written or verbal conversations that will help you understand who they are and what they might like to read and write about. My First 5 Days of School Quickwriting prompts can not only help you set the tone for the year, but also help you gain insight into who your students are.
Resources for the First Days of School
The first and most important focus of the first two weeks of school is to build positive relationships with your students. This will make or break the rest of the year. Getting to know them goes beyond just assessing their skills, but really focusing on learning who they are and what motivates them. To help you do this, I've developed a few free resources you can sign up for that includes the activities I've created and curated over the years to to help facilitate this process. Not only are these activities classroom-tested, but they are also introverted student/teacher approved! No embarrassing activities or conversations for people who don't like large-group discussions.
Before They Walk In
This activity helps me get to know students (and just as importantly, their names/pronunciations) before they walk in the door. As an introvert who gets to know people better one-on-one or in small groups, this helps me connect with students right from the first moment.
Name Cards
I can remember faces easily, but I'm terrible with names. I'll remember my extroverted kids by day two, but will struggle remembering the names of the shy ones who never say anything for months. So this name card activity helps me put a visual name with a face — along with some details that will help me get to know the student.
Virtual Lockers
You may remember this from a couple of years ago when teachers were designing Bitmoji inspired virtual activities like crazy. I thought this one was worth mentioning again since it will give you a change to both learn about your students interests and also their comfort level with using Google Apps for Education.
Student Inventory
My student inventory includes questions to help you discover the talents, interests, hobbies, and other relevant contexts of your students' lives so you can design learner-centered lessons and units. I have also included a video tutorial to help you modify the form to suit your needs and school context.
Sound like activities you can use in your classroom? Just register for access to these activities and more!
Note: If you signed up for these resources last year -- or even the year before -- they are still in your member's area, along with a couple of new goodies I'm adding. Just login here!