Back to School Series- Part 2 {Planning the First Three+ Days}

     The classroom is setup, the room is clean, tidy, and organized. The first bell of the first day of school is only minutes away. Remember that feeling? (Those new teachers, just wait, it is an amazing feeling!). And then you realize that you haven't planned a good ice breaker activity. (Now to finish like a beginning writer in 6th grade) and then you woke up! The End!

Okay...okay... That was a bit dramatic, but I wanted to drive home the point that you need to have a great plan in place for the first three days! Why three? I can't tell you that exactly, other than that is what I have found gets me into my groove. Also, because those three days are not a typical schedule in my classroom. I am able to, over those three days, slowly and methodically channel my students into a schedule that they hit the ground running with on the 4th day. Magic? Nope. Experience? Yup! This will be my 14th year of teaching. I think, THINK, that I am starting to get a grip on it.

Let me kind of show you my first three days. Nothing set in stone, and each year I tweak it a little to match the incoming class. (This year will be different because it is the first time in 9 years that I won't know my students at all- I just moved schools).

DAY 1-
*Students come to class and have an activity that has them scour the room. It's like a scavenger hunt. They have to look at the rules, the lunch calendar, find where the pencil sharpener is, etc.
*Once the bell rings, I have the students take their seats. I introduce myself and talk about what they can expect, what I expect, and the awesome activities we are going to do (like make pyramids, cell models, dance festival, and more- I REALLY build this part up!).
*Next we have the "You are big kind now and you stink, so shower and wear deodorant." Yup, I say it just about like that. They giggle and get embarrassed, but it is an important part of our first day!

Then we go outside and do a team building activity. I do about 4 outdoor team building activities on the first day. The students are used to being outside and in unstructured time. I keep that in mind as I plan out these first few days.

Once we come in, I do a math game or a science game...some academic topic, but in game form. This gives me a chance to find out about what they can and can't do.

The day continues in this fashion. Learning and team building activities mixed with a review of the rules (which I choose, and the students DO NOT help make), and we practice our attention signal, we practice lining up, walking down the hall, AND, fire drill line-up. I time them to see how fast they can do it correctly. If they run, shove, push, or goof off, I add time to their score. I keep track for the whole year and challenge them to get better with each drill!

Phew.... Okay, so that is the basic day.
But, I always, let me repeat, ALWAYS have about 5 extra activities planned. Maybe it won't take the 30 minutes I scheduled to explain how to use my library on the first day, and now I have 15 minutes. ROOKIE MISTAKE ALERT! DO NOT JUST LET THEM HAVE FREE TIME THE FIRST MONTH OF SCHOOL! NO NO NO!

This is where you pull out your extra activities. I have a couple fun free ones in my Teachers Pay Teachers shop you can check out, like my Meet Your Classmates. A fun and interactive activity. Click HERE to check it out.

Day 2-
I do several of the same TYPES of activities. I only go outside 2-3 times. This is where I try to wean them. I stick in a regular lesson (say a writing lesson- but disguise it as a cooperative writing activity about what they WISH their summer had been like). We really hit the rules and procedures again on day 2. I want them to know and know that I know, they know them. I also send home a simple homework assignment, like tell your parent 3 things you learned today.

Day 3-
This day is 90% a regular schedule day. I usually do one outside team building game, and then we review rules between lesson and activities that are geared towards a regular routine.

SO... as you can see, I keep my students super busy and focused during those first few days. I mix in summer type outdoor games, with team building and academic activities, that get them excited to be back.

On Day 4, I do a quick rule review, and then we are off and running in a regular schedule with full length lessons and (more on this later) accompanying homework.

So, there you have it! Mr. Hughes' First Three Days of School Secrets Revealed!

Enjoy and let me know a couple of favorite activities that YOU do on the first few days back!

Getting to Know You in 3-D {Back to School Activity}

As a teacher, nothing brings me more pleasure than watching my students work together to create a finished project. However, when that project requires reading the directions, team work, and sharing it makes it even better.

It was fun to watch this process unfold. From putting my students into groups, to listening and watching to see who was the group leader, the group motivator, and more, I have to say that I really learned a lot of pieces of crucial information just by watching.

Since I only have 11 students this year (I know, that is amazing- however it is quite the strong-willed class) I got to participate this year. I sat with a group and worked for a while, then I would get up and wander around to the other groups and observe and encourage. Then return to my group and work some more.

To start this project, each student in the group of four is given three circles. Each student fills out the same three circles. While completing the information about themselves, they share information about their goals for the year, unique things about themselves, among other fun topics. All of this is accomplished while following a detailed instruction sheet.

It was great how well most students followed directions, and when we got to the actual building of the dodecahedron, the kids thought that it was pretty amazing that 12 circles can build such a cool geometric shape.

The assembly is also a great process to watch. It is fun to see how the students problem-solve and work together to get the final project completed.

Here are the three finished dodecahedrons  for my class this year. 

Your class would have one for each four students. So if you have 30 students or more, you really get an amazing collection to hang up. I love our three projects.

Here is one of them hanging on my classroom ceiling. The students sure enjoy looking at them.

I love this project because of all the amazing "side benefits" and the eye-catching display it creates for others to gawk at.

What fun activities do YOU use in your classroom for back to school?

Click HERE to check this one out!

Week One Came and Went...

I can not believe that the first week of school came and went. What a great week it was too! I truly feel like I have been teaching this class for months. They are behaved and generally obedient. I think this is going to be an outstanding year! The only down side right now is that my air conditioner in my classroom in on the fritz right now and it gets really warm in my classroom during the day. They have the parts ordered- I hope they come soon!

Today has been nice. I woke up this morning and mowed the lawn, watered the garden, harvested some tomatoes and squash, walked (with the family) to get the mail, and spend some time with my little herd.

This coming week brings us Back to School Night and my masters classes again. Those are going to be a bit tough what with all the reading, but I am really looking forward to learning about these two topics. I have had a hard time reading lately. Every time I sit down to read, my eyes close. I wake up 5 minutes later and have to get up and move around to wake up. I have only read one of 4 chapters that have to be done by Tuesday. In fact, I finally gave up today and took a nap with my 1 year-old. We got in a great 2 1/2 hour nap. I feel a little guilty as my wife has been working in the kitchen ALL day canning peaches, nectarine juice, preparing and freezing zucchini, making brownies, chex-mix, and other tasty goodies. We are going to be ready for winter for sure this year. I think we have about 60+ bags of frozen squash- lol.

Well, I still need to go to my classroom sometime this weekend and figure out what I am going to for sure do on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. I like to plan out a majority of the week in advance because of all the other little things that come along. In fact I just remembered I need to come up with an agenda for faculty meeting for Wednesday. I am in charge this coming week (I think anyways). I also have student council elections coming up soon (I am the advisor) and that will be exciting. It is the same week as Pirate Week (one of my favorite events I do in my classroom). That is also Melon Days weekend AND the weekend before a major presentation in one of my classes. So, basically, if I survive September it will be wonderful!

Well, I guess I should go and see if I can keep my eyes open and read now (with my nap I hope so).

Later...