The First Day!

When I first started teaching, I wished there was some kind of handbook that would guide me in how to start a year off well. Maybe such a thing exists somewhere, but in the limited time I put into looking for it, I found nothing. Thankfully, I worked with some wonderful educators who let me borrow some of their ideas and put my own spin on them. Now, after a few years of starting off a new year with students, I thought I'd share what I've learned with others who might want some direction. 

School Schedule

All schools have their own way of starting the year. At my school, students know their class and teacher before arriving on the first day of school. Other schools take a few weeks to figure out which classes students will be placed in before starting their year. Hopefully my ideas can be used by both types of schools. 

Welcome the Young Ones

Students come to school excited and nervous about the new year. They don't necessarily know or feel comfortable with everyone in their class, and they don't know the teacher they will spend nearly every day with for the next ten months. It's important to make the class an inviting place for them and to greet each child as they enter the room. I make a name tag for each student and place them on desks for them to find when they arrive. This way they feel like they have a home and a place to belong immediately. I also write the students a letter with a bit of information about who I am, what my hobbies are, etc. to help them get to know me a bit. If they feel like being quiet while everyone is arriving, they can read the letter on their desk. Later on during our first day, I will have them write me a letter telling me a few things about them. Once all students have arrived, we learn names. We go around the room and students share their name and their favourite memory from summer. By the end of this time, I have all names memorized and I go around the room and say each name. Usually they are shocked and think I have magical powers. 

Create Class Culture

Another really important part of the first day (and week) is establishing your class culture. Most years my school, a private christian school, has a theme verse so we will discuss what it means. I'll share a brief devotion on a topic that I've been inspired to speak about and let students know why I choose to teach middle school. We talk about being a S.T.A.R. (safe, trustworthy, accountable, and respectful) and what that means in our class. Then I let them know that in the next few days we will be spending time creating a caring community that we can all learn and grow in. 

Build Community

There are so many great ways to build community in your class! On the first day I usually focus on fun ways to have students interact and get to know each other. Here are two games I tried this year that worked really well. 

Rock, Paper, Scissors Train

This activity is really easy and students love it! I have a few students volunteer to demo it to the class. 

1. Review the rules of rock, paper, scissors duals - rock crushes scissors, scissors cut paper, paper wraps rock. 

2. Let students know when to reveal their choice (ex. rock, paper, scissors, shoot and both reveal their hands)

3. Students need to find the closest person to them and have a best of one dual. 

4. The loser of the dual stands behind the winner with their hands on the winner's shoulders. They have begun making a train. 

5. The pair now find another person/mini train to dual in a best of one challenge. The person/train who loses must join the train of the winner. 

6. Continue playing. Eventually you will have two large trains behind two champion rock, paper, scissors players. They have a show down to see who is the winner of the train of classmates. 

7. Repeat if it was fun. 

Dice, Paper and Pencil Race

This game takes a minute to figure out, but is worth the effort! Students love it and it is hilarious to watch! 

1. Put students into groups of 5-6 and give them a piece of paper each, plus one dice and one pencil per group. 
2. One student (perhaps the tallest? oldest? youngest?) starts by rolling the dice. They need to keep rolling until they get a 1 or a 6. Once they roll a 1 or a 6, they grab the pencil and start writing the numbers 1 to 100 on their piece of paper. (ex. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 etc.). 
3. As soon as that student has begun writing their numbers, the person on their right needs to grab the dice and start rolling. As soon as they roll a 1 or a 6, they steal the pencil from the person writing and start writing their own numbers from 1 to 100 on their piece of paper. The person on their right has now started rolling the dice and as soon as they roll a 1 or a 6, they will steal the pencil and start writing. Repeat. 
4. The goal of the game is to be the first person to write all numbers from 1 to 100 on your paper. The dice will keep being rolled, the pencil will keep being stolen, and there will be a lot of shrieking and excited young ones trying to beat each other.   

Be Creative

The first day is usually full of talking, getting to know you activities, and many more extrovert-friendly activities. I like to spend a bit of time in the afternoon allowing students to have a quiet space if they need it. 

This year, we discussed schools of fish and why they stay/travel together. We then created rainbow fish to represent us, the School of 7F, to display on our back bulletin board. This lesson will be up on my teachers pay teachers page soon! 

TpT Link: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Angela-Fuellbrandt 

The First Day in a Nutshell

- Welcome/get to know names

- Theme for the year/devotion 

- Tour the classroom 

- Hand out locks/assign lockers

- Hand out agendas

- Write a letter to Mrs. Fully 

- Get to know you game! (rock, paper, scissors) 

- Make a name tag for desk

- Recess

- Chapel/assembly

- Get to know you games! (dice and paper game) 

- Lunch 

- Art

- Need a game to get them moving? People bingo! 

Hopefully this was helpful!