Today was my third first first day at my school.
Here's what went down:
1) A little "about me" powerpoint.
I tried to include some funny tidbits, but no one laughed. I think my freshmen were too nervous and my juniors too cool. I'll win them over and be less alien to them.
2) Facebook/Twitter biography
Students had to create a Facebook or Twitter mock-up as a biography to turn in to me. Lots of freshmen chose Twitter; some students had no idea what either was.
3) Partner Introductions
Students had 3 minutes to find someone they had something in common with, based on their profile sheets. They had to introduce themselves. Then, when time was up, we went around the room, and each student had to introduce someone they met with a fact about him or her.
4) Scavenger Hunt
Not all of my classes got to this, but they had to skim through my syllabus and walk around the room to figure out where to turn things in, find the daily agenda, find graded assignments, etc.
Quote of the day:
(said in my Short Stories class) "Is this basic English? Is that why we're moving around so much?"
Reflection: I've never had a student assume that my class was basic/remedial because I included movement. I had a senior in Creative Writing tell me he didn't want to move around so much, but that was also his last few weeks of high school -- much more understandable. I'm going to try to watch my activities in there and make sure that even though it is a lower-level course, that students don't feel belittled but engaged.
Success?
I like the profile idea, which was a new idea for me. I think a number of my students liked it, but I wouldn't say it was the most amazing get-to-know-you activity.
I made sure to make instructions and expectations for what the various work times looked like very clear. I'm trying to intentionally watch behaviors this first week or so to keep everything in check. I don't want to get 4 or 5 weeks in and feel like things are out of control and patterns have already been set.
