First Week of School Tips for Secondary Teachers

By Tracee Orman

The first week of school can be the most stressful, anxious, and nerve-racking week of the year, but it doesn't have to be! In fact, it's one of the most important weeks for getting to know your students and building a classroom community.

After twenty years of teaching, I learned a few tricks for a smooth beginning to the year. Here are some tips for the first week of school:

Greet your students at the door or in the hallway. This is very important. No matter how introverted you are, it's crucial to be in the hallway outside your door saying hello to each student as they walk into your room. You can vary your greetings and even give instructions about where to sit. This is going to show your students that not only are you enthusiastic about class, but they are worth your time and effort to be greeted. It really does show you care. I know it isn't always feasible--you may be talking with a student from the previous class period or making a mad dash to the copier or restroom between class periods. But if the majority of the time you are greeting students at the door, it will make a difference.

 

Start the year with activities to get to know your students and build a classroom community. Your syllabus and rules can wait a couple of days. Take the time to learn about your students' interests first. This will help when you are teaching them content and want to help them relate to the material. I have a wide variety of activities I've used for over twenty years. Here are a few: 

First Day Bell Ringers: This is fun for the first few minutes of class. Students can select one of the bell ringers that prompt them to share a little bit about their interests. (Shown in image)

Back to School Pictionary: If you have a lively class that likes to talk and move around, this is a perfect activity. Students get a prompt, then have to draw that activity. You can have them elaborate on it or not after the other students have guessed. If you have a really large class, you can split them up and play in small groups.

First Week Letters: A new spin on a one-pager and all-about-me activity! Students decorate a letter of their choice with something that represents them, then they write about it.

All About Me One-Pager: A traditional all-about-me activity that you can actually customize with your own prompts.

Interest Inventory (FREE!): Download this free interest inventory to gauge students' interest.

All of these activities and more can be found in my Back to School Mega Bundle. 

 

Always set aside copies of your first week handouts for new students later in the year. I make at least five (if not more) extra copies solely for this purpose. I paper clip everything together and insert the packets in a file folder labeled "New Students." I usually attach a post-it note with a message saying "Welcome to class! We're happy to have you. -Mrs. O." Then, when a new student magically appears in your class one day (and we all know this happens!), you are ready for them. I include a copy of the syllabus, whatever activity we did the first day to get to know each other, and any beginning-of-the-year assessments I may need a new student to take for data collection and progress monitoring. 

 

Learn your students' names. You are proving to them that they matter when you learn their name (and how to correctly pronounce it). On the first day of school when I do roll call, I always ask students if they have a nick-name they prefer (i.e. Maddie for Madison). Then I call them by their preferred name. A seating chart really does help with learning their names. Greeting them at the door (tip #1) is great practice for learning their names, as well. If I mess up, I tell the student I will get it right tomorrow, then make a point of calling them by their correct name the next day. It makes the student feel good when you learn their name. And that goes a long way for classroom maintenance.

I hope these tips help, and you have a wonderful school year! -Tracee

Back-to-School Activities to Inspire Creativity

 This summer seems to have flown by and I find myself debating different activities for back-to-school. No matter which ones I choose, I do love to inspire creativity in my students from the first day. It's important for them to see that I value and encourage creative thought. So here's a list of some great back-to-school activities you can share with your students.

ICEBREAKERS

1. I just uploaded a new freebie today, which is based on an old favorite: Create a Caricature {South Park Style}. In the past I've had students create caricatures from the novel we were currently reading. But why not have them create little miniatures of themselves? Last year when we started our class blog, my students created their caricatures but most were unable to upload their pictures on Blogger because of some filters on our school servers. I created a work-around in a Google Doc that should allow my students to not only share their caricatures, but collaborate on some additional activities. This is also included in this back-to-school free download.

The download has a student information planning guide so they can write information about themselves before creating their image. I always learn a lot about my students when I see their "mimi-me" creations. You can share them with parents on Open House night, as well.

Journalism connection: You can also have students create the caricatures for the yearbook or school newspaper. Have all the seniors create their own caricatures and use them for quotes or shout-outs throughout the book. The newspaper staff could have these figures as their head/mug shots rather than the standard staff picture.

And students aren't the only ones who should have fun creating caricatures: you can make a welcome back sign in your likeness, as well. Have fun with it!

2. Another free activity is my Back-to-School Top 10 Lists. Have your students come up with positive reasons to be back in school. The lists my students have come up with over the years are hilarious. I included some samples in the download, along with additional ways you can incorporate the activity into your curriculum.

3. And who doesn't love BINGO? This is a variation from the traditional, and I certainly did not come up with the idea. I am sure I picked it up early in my teaching career somewhere, but I've included a couple of templates that I did create. And because each of us differ, I also included a blank template.

 4. Last year I blogged about my collage mobile activity, which actually takes longer than a traditional icebreaker and it is a priced item. But it is another great activity my students have enjoyed.

 
5. Create a Meme: This is a new activity I uploaded this week to guide students to create their own meme. (It is priced.) The lesson goes over what a meme is, characteristics of memes, and loads of examples--most that are hilarious! It includes a 55-slide presentation and several student templates. I want teachers to be able to use my activities more than just once a year, so this has additional ways to incorporate the meme into your curriculum: research project, literature/history connection,  and so on. Updated: Here's an entire MEME Bundle that includes icebreakers, research project, presentations, and more!

6. Welcome to Class Word Cloud:  In the spring I blogged about using your class list to make a nice end-of-the-year word cloud (On Wordle.net or Tagxedo.com). Though it was an idea for graduates, why not make a word cloud of your new group of students' names to welcome them to your room?

7. "Me" Poem Word Cloud: In April 2011 I showed you how to make a character word cloud on my other blog, Hunger Games Lessons. In my poetry unit I have my students create "me" poems (or "I am", "bio" poems), then have them paste their poems into Wordle or Tagxedo. Instead of doing this during the poetry unit or for a character, you could have your students do this activity as a way to get to know one another. Have them print and hang in the room for their classmates to see.

CLASSROOM RULES & PROCEDURES

See another post I have on this topic HERE.

8. Can I Chew Gum in Class? How many times have you heard that question on the first day of school? I always hated going over the rules and procedures because it always took so long and students were zoned out. I would explain that cell phones were not allowed and a minute later a student would ask if she could have her cell phone. Ugh!

This prompted me to create an activity that was student-led and more fun as we go over the rules and classroom procedures. I like to have students read the statements aloud, then they search the school handbook for the answers. If it's something not in the handbook, I'll have them guess the answer, or give it to them to record on the handout. (Writing it out helps them remember. Then they keep it in their class folder so if they forget and happen to ask if they can have gum, I'll tell them to refer to their notes from the first day.) I always have plenty of volunteers to read the statements because I wrote them in "teenage" lingo--basically quoting questions my own students have asked year after year. However, it is editable so you can customize it for your classroom and school. And because I am always curious about how others are running their classrooms (am I too strict? too lax?), I included the answers I give my students. If you are a first-year middle- or high-school teacher, this will be very helpful.

9. Meme posters: Use memes to convey your class rules and procedures! Students LOVE these!

I hope you find some useful activities for your first week of school. And make sure you enjoy the rest of your summer! :)

Check out more activities and ideas in my teacher store on Teachers Pay Teachers:

www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Tracee-Orman

Get to Know Your Students with a Creative Project

One of my favorite assignments to give my students at the beginning of the year is to create a collage mobile. They are required to fill out a questionnaire of their interests, then based on those answers, create a collage mobile that will hang in the classroom. The third step is to write about the items they chose to include in their collage and why those things are special, or represent who they are.

I like this activity because I'm able to find out the interests of my students and get some classroom decoration up. The 3D effects of a collage adds interest, then hanging them as mobiles make them even more fun. Are they distracting? A little at first. I do give students time to look at them when they first go up. They love seeing what their classmates have created. They stay up most the year and we've even added smaller collages to the originals for true mobiles.

The picture shows how you can assign an addition to the mobile at the end of a novel unit. Have students find images, favorite quotes, and artifacts that relate to the novel.

If you would like the handouts and extensive lesson plan for this project, check here.