And We're Off...

Today was the first full day of classes at the school where I teach. There was so much excitement in the air! Most of the teachers spend the first day going over their syllabus, rules, procedures and other important information. I wait to pass out my syllabus, but quickly talk about supplies and class structure (1.5 periods in lab, 3.5 periods in class, etc.). Since I have freshmen I also give them an opportunity to ask questions about their new school (They usually have a lot). I try to mix it up so that students are not sitting and listening for the whole 90 minute period. I know I would get restless sitting and listening for that long and it isn't fair to expect them to do so.

One of the activities I started with today was a "snowball fight". I have students write three things about themselves on a piece of paper without putting their name on it (I do one too!). Once everyone has their list we each crumble our paper into a ball and spread out around the classroom. Next I set the timer (for about 1 minute) and the students and myself have a paper snowball fight. They are usually pretty reluctant to actually throw paper in the beginning. I tell them it is the only time they will be allowed to throw paper in my class and that it is the only time they can throw anything at me! :) After a little encouragement everyone gets involved and starts having fun. Once the timer goes off everyone finds a snowball (not their own) and walks around the room to figure out who's paper they have. Each student must introduce the class to the person who's paper they picked up. This is a fun way for students to get to know a little bit about each other and a little bit about me.

Each day this week we'll talk about the rules and procedures as they come up in class. This keeps students from being bombarded with nothing but me talking and allows me to do activities to get to know them.