First+Day+of+School 

Tchudi & Mitchell Ch. 5: This chapter begins with the question of how to begin the first day of class. Each educator can begin that first frightening day by doing something unique. They could have their students write a letter describing themselves, their background, their likes/dislikes, or their fears about that particular class or school year. Many classrooms could begin with a questionnaire or “circle time” where each student has an opportunity to tell a bit about themselves. This chapter also details how important it is to not only build relationships with your students, but to have your students build relationships with one another. Peer relationships will be crucial to the makeup of a classroom, so activities that help foster a sense of unity among your students will benefit the overall identity of the classroom. While the classroom needs to run smoothly with students working together, it also needs to allow for each student to be an individual. Activities that allow each student to show how unique she or he is will be helpful. Detailing the importance of getting to know your students in the first few days, this chapter continues to explain how to use certain activities to understand student needs. The chapter concludes with a brief list of potential resources that could be helpful on that first day. After reading this chapter, I had a chance to reflect on how I plan to begin my first day of class as an educator. First off, I would want to greet my students at the door. This would help learn names as well as individually greet each student, giving them the utmost respect. It would also help me take attendance before class. After this, I would definitely want to introduce myself using either a PowerPoint or prezi. This would be a short five-minute introduction sharing how excited I will be to be teaching and my own fears as a first year teacher. I want my students to feel comfortable understanding me as a person and educator. Next, I would want to get to know my students! Some things I would potentially want to include would be “circle time” and a letter. The letter would serve to gain more information on each student. It could also serve as a resource that I could use at the end of the year. What expectations do my students have? What do they want to learn? These personal reflections would allow students the chance to free write about their own fears as a middle school student. Since this would be a free write, I would provide some motivating questions such as “Describe yourself as a person, what are you fearful about in middle school, what are you excited about this year, what did you do over the summer, etc.” This activity would take roughly fifteen-twenty minutes. After this, I would want my students to get up and stretch out as they help create a circle in the classroom. This would allow students a chance to move around and get more comfortable in their classroom. Joining in a circle, I would want my students to have an opportunity to share their name, an interesting fact about themselves, a fact about there favorite subject or hobby, or anything else they would want to share. This allows students an opportunity to learn one another’s names and possibly find something in common with their classmates. My goal for this first day would definitely be to let students gain more confidence in the classroom as well as get to know one another and their teacher. This activity should also take around twenty minutes. In a forty-five minute class, we would likely be about out of time. If there were extra time, I would definitely want to start on a class rules list. It will be important for my students to help create this list in order for them to take charge of their learning and have a hand in their learning environment. Giving them an opportunity to share what types of classroom rules will help them understand that they have a huge part in how the classroom runs. I not only want to teach my students, but I want to learn from them as well. I feel that it is very important to get to know my students in those first few days in order to understand how best to teach them, so these activities would provide me with an opportunity to learn more about my students.