Want to Start the Year off Right? Teachers Share Their Best Tips
August 2, 2023
What do you do in your classes during the first two weeks of the school year?
A ‘Class Contract’
After more than 20 times beginning the school year, I have experimented with many ways to use the first two weeks. At this point, I have my start-of-the-school-year activities down to a time-tested list. However, I am open to reevaluating and reflecting on this list.
The first few weeks back provide a valuable opportunity to hear new ideas from my colleagues I can use to tweak, add, or change my start-of-the-year activities so they best address my goals. The key goals during this time period are for students to get to know me and what kind of teacher I am, for me to get to know them, for them to get to know each other, and throughout all of these activities, for me to assess their reading, writing, executive function, and attention skills so I can start planning lessons for the year.
To help my new students get to know me, I share a Google Slides presentation that highlights things about myself, my summer, and my family, which I hope gives them an introduction to me as a person. I sometimes follow this up with a Kahoot or Blooket game I have made about the Slides presentation to switch gears, gauge their preference for these platforms, and assess their skill level with technology. We discuss what we want the class to be like, the characteristics of great classes we have had before, what we need to do to create that kind of class, and what the consequences are if members do not follow these expectations. Our answers to these questions are used to create a class contract.
A written copy of the contract is printed, posted, and used through the year as a visual reminder of our promises to each other. My hope is that this lesson gives students a sense of my approach to the class, that I value their ideas and my desire to give students a voice in the classroom.
Another way I show students I value their experience and let them know what kind of teacher I am is spending class time going over our classroom environment—such as where they can find lined paper, pencil sharpeners, and other supplies—so they feel a part of this new space. I like to make them feel comfortable in the classroom and help them settle into common procedures, such as trips to the water fountain and borrowing pencils.
To help me start to know my students, early on I assign an autobiographical poem in which they list their likes, dislikes, and significant people in their lives. It gives me a chance to assess their use of various Google applications and their level of independence in completing an assignment. Another way to get to know them is through written questionnaires about what they do in their free time to how they feel about school. At the same time, I assess their ability to write in complete sentences and their vocabulary skills.
To help the students get to know each other, I give plenty of class time for icebreakers and games that give us a chance to readjust to being in school again after the summer. These activities are chosen to be low stakes in terms of academic challenge, which gives the students less reason to resist, avoid, or show learned helplessness. I also contact parents right away to introduce myself, listen to any of their concerns or questions, and open the lines of communication for the year ahead.
Together, these activities help me get the year off to a good start. I find that, as the year goes on, the choices made during these early weeks have a significant impact on the quality of my instruction and the rapport I develop with my students. My hope is to build the capital needed in this time to make the rest of the year successful.