Ok. So HELP!!! might be an exaggeration of my worry over this matter, but it is still something that has been on my mind.
Has anyone put particular thought into the first day of teaching a class for the semester? During my big practicum I am going to be starting 2 classes from scratch. This means they haven't had their 'real' teacher teach them at all. This means that we have to instill the rules, routines, the mood of the class, the respect, the expectations, etc. We need to make our presence felt. We need to make it so the class knows you are the teacher.
I guess I'm a little worried of messing up the first day, and playing catch up for weeks.
This is what I've been thinking.
1. Welcome class
2. Syllabus
3. Fun activity that prepares the students for the content of the course.
Any thoughts?????
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Just to let you know that first week
ReplyDeletestart up issues and good practice will be
a seminar topic in December just before
you leave for practicum.
Phil
Glad you posted this Dave. I'm having the same worries myself. The first day is going to be so important I think, even though we will have been in the school for all of January. For me, I will be teaching 3 classes right away in February from the start. Many of the students will have had my sponsor teacher before but either way I will be starting a new semester and possibly taking over for the teacher's maternity leave when she goes on that in March sometime. So basically, I could potentially be setting the stage for 5-month deal with my students.
ReplyDeleteMy biggest issue is going to be not coming across as a pushover. I think the best things to do will include not letting them talk while I'm speaking, not allowing any cell phones/ipods, and just general respecting class rules for the first few weeks so that they get into a routine. But, like you said, a fun classroom activity to lighten things up after the whole syllabus/classroom rules talk will be essential.
Does anyone have any good get-to-know-you activities that grade 11/12's won't think is lame??
I guess we will be talking about this in class too, but something I'm thinking about also is how we can establish ourselves as an authority figure while we are in the classrooms in January when we may not be teaching but will be in contact with some of the students we will be teaching in February.
This is definitely a valid concern that has been brought up. It's tricky to know where the line is. And it's true grade 11/12's aren't going to want to play name games that younger kids would. And I think everyone has been stuck playing a lame game before that they hate and it's not fun. And definitely not a good idea for a first impression (or at least in my opinion). Because then the students would think that you are a joke and boring. Lose, Lose. I'm glad that we will have a class on this before we go out for our practicums as I think this will be an extremely useful class.
ReplyDeleteI'm having the same concerns!! I'm also feeling that it's hard to incorporate the "get to know you" activities for the higher grades. Espeically when they're "too cool for school" at this age.
ReplyDeleteAlso, does anyone have any fun ideas for getting to know students' names and taking attendance in the first little while without doing the loooong drraaaagging-oooooonnn attendance!?
I've also been thinking a lot about the general mood and atmosphere I want to have in my classroom; i think to create a sense of community and encourage discussion I'm going to do the old fashion circle thing for my socials class...