First day of school activities - middle/high school teachers

what are some of your first day of school activities?


Do you start off with a getting to know you activity?

Do you hand out certain things?

What do you go over?

Do you teach a lesson?

I'm trying to get a feel for some new ideas.

Re: First day of school activities - middle/high school teachers

I make them fill out an information sheet -

~ info about them
~ phone numbers
~ parent/guardian names (very important, since many students do not have the same last name as their parents and it can be embarassing)
~ their likes/dislikes (I like to use common TV shows/movies in my word problems).

I also hand out a parent letter and go over the rules/consequences/rewards of my classroom. They usually have a couple of questions, and that's about it.

Re: First day of school activities - middle/high school teachers

Same with me. I hand out the syllabus and have them fill out an information sheet. That usually takes the full 40 minutes.

Re: First day of school activities - middle/high school teachers

Re: First day of school activities - middle/high school teachers

I hand out
~a student data form with their parents' names and phone numbers and etc...on the back of the sheet I have a spot to record cuts, jeopardy letters, etc

~ a course requirements and expectations sheet with the supplies needed, expectation and material we will cover throughout the year (they need to have it signed)

~ the first writing assignment gets handed out on day 2 which contains some background info about them.

Message edited 7/16/2007 10:50:38 AM.

Re: First day of school activities - middle/high school teachers

I will do a baseline writing assessment with them on the first day, which requires minimal preparation. I will also do a reading survey.

This will be my third consecutive year with these kids, so I know them and they know me, and each other. But I may try to do some kind of team building thing.