1st+Day+ToolBox+&+More

This page is designed for us to share ideas for the opening day of school, as well as other ideas, activities, and resources that are important for teachers to have in their toolbox.


 * Here are some thoughts on what type of activities and lessons you could do on the first day of school. **
 * Most importantly get to know your students.
 * Notecards on which they write some important biographical information, what they are looking forward to, what they are most worried about, etc.
 * Have them write a 50-word mini-saga. In exactly 50 words, write about their summer, write about themselves, write about __.
 * Consider some exercises to get to know one another, [|ICEBREAKERS]. These types of activities can be helpful in helping the group get to know one another. Don't assume the students know each other, much less you.
 * Another site for [|Icebreaker or warm-up activities]
 * A good website for links to all kinds of [|activities or Icebreakers].
 * This PDF contains some ideas for fellowship activities..... [[file:fellowship_activities.pdf]]
 * National School Reform Faculty PDF on icebreakers, [[file:icebreakers-1.pdf]]
 * Try not to use the entire first class of the year to go over classroom business.
 * Have cheat sheet of important business you want them to know...but go over it later in the class or on the second day.
 * If you want to establish** Class Norms **, you might do a norming exercise ([|Awareness Activities]) so the group can develop a set of norms that will guide their work throughout the year..as they enter discussions, do problem-solving sessions, etc. These norms will help establish some group identity and take ownership for the behavior of the class. Be sure to discuss how violations of the norms will be handled within the class.
 * Remember, this is your first opportunity to CAPTURE their interest in your course or material. Do something the first day that they will remember or that will excite them to return.
 * In science, do an interesting, short one period laboratory experiment.
 * In English, do some creative writing about...summer, themselves, a favorite food from the summer, a favorite place they visited...do some sharing of stories.
 * You could tell them a story about your summer
 * Read an interesting poem
 * In history, tap into current events of the summer...get them thinking about the upcoming election...tap into a short video segment from You Tube that gets them thinking about history, place, time...What about the situation in Syria?
 * In math, come in with some interesting numerical statistics that will get them thinking...[|StatSpotting]...[|Interesting Facts and Statistics]...find some sites on the Web that have interesting or relevant math related ideas


 * Phi Delta Kappan ** produces their classroom tips for teachers. I think these are good resources for teachers to review. While not all of them are absolutely the best, most of them give some really good ideas to reflect on.


 * ~ PDK Classroom Tips ||~ PDF file to download ||
 * Classroom Management || [[file:8tips for classroom management.pdf]] ||
 * Computer || [[file:computer.pdf]] ||
 * Differentiated Instruction || [[file:diff_inst.pdf]] ||
 * Intrinsic Motivation || [[file:intrin_motivation.pdf]] ||
 * Working with parents || [[file:parents.pdf]] ||  ||
 * Teacher presentations || [[file:Tips_Teacher Presentations.pdf]] ||
 * Developing student focus || [[file:Tips_student focus.pdf]] ||
 * Creating self-managing learners || [[file:Tips_selfmanaging learning.pdf]] ||
 * Helping students become self-directed learners || [[file:Tips_selfdirected learners.pdf]] ||
 * tips on notebooks and taking notes || [[file:Tips_Notebooks and Notes.pdf]] ||
 * running group activities || [[file:Tips_group activities.pdf]] ||
 * formative feedback in the classroom || [[file:Tips_formative feedback.pdf]] ||
 * Tips to become a highly effective teacher || [[file:Tips_Eff Teachers.pdf]] ||
 * Tips around brain and learning concepts || [[file:Tips_Brain and Learning.pdf]] ||
 * Helping students become more self-disciplined. || [[file:self_discp.pdf]] ||

[|It's About Learning], ** a blog by Bo Adams ** with an entry on what teachers could do the first day of school.

[|Tee Up the New School Year with Tips from Connected Educators], Susie Boss, blog post on Edutopia...