what every teacher needs to know for a successful first day of school

Although the first week of schoolhouse isn't here just yet, we know yous're on the lookout for fun and engaging lessons to share with your class. Teachers know that they may need to be actress flexible this schoolhouse year, but you tin can however plan a ton of awesome, quick, and like shooting fish in a barrel first-day activities! So what should you lot do? You want commencement-day activities that are quick and easy to organise, and will requite your new kids a first day to remember.

I distinctly remember my commencement day as a teacher, I planned enough to last the whole first week and was a bundle of nerves that morning. The first day of school for teachers tin can be a stressful one! Every year later, meeting my new class and getting through that showtime day was exhausting and liberating all at the same time. The nerves were e'er at that place, but I began to feel somewhat comfortable with how the starting time 24-hour interval would run.

Welcoming Your Students

#i Welcome Notation on the Classroom Door

Parents and students will arrive at your classroom door at least 15 minutes prior to the start of the school day, peculiarly on the start day! I found having a poster-sized welcome notation displayed exterior of the classroom was extremely useful. It helped both parents and students, giving them conviction in knowing how the forenoon was going to run as presently equally the classroom door was opened.

Young girl at school

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I always made sure that the note explained that parents were almost welcome to come in and assist settle their children. Notwithstanding, it too gave the parents the opportunity to leave once their child was settled at their own desk.

It doesn't need to be fancy, a handwritten note on butcher's newspaper is perfectly fine! I used bullet points to make it simple and conspicuously outlined what would happen when the door opened for the twenty-four hour period.

#2 Name Tags and Desk Plates

Equally students entered the room, I would welcome them and help them find their name tag. This greeting ensured that the parents knew who the teacher for their child was straight away and the students felt welcomed.

My students were and then kept busy with their parents sorting out their school supplies and finding their ain desks. Having prepared desk plates for each pupil helped to make this a smooth process.

This normally freed me up to welcome students and practise a quick check to encounter if there were going to be any students who may not cope well with the separation from their parents. It also gave me a gamble to help out students who had come straight from before school care or whose parents were settling in other siblings at that time.

Ensuring students take name tags and their names on the desks filled them with confidence and a sense of belonging besides.

I e'er kept them in a container for relief teachers to utilize during the school year on days when I was away from the classroom. This was always welcomed by the relief teachers, equally they instantly knew the names of the students in my class.

#3 Become Sorted!

Information technology'southward frequently easy to forget that students are probable to make it with a school bag full of books, jotter and other miscellaneous items such as USBs, headphones, photocopy newspaper, tissue boxes etc. Having a plan for how you are going to sort all of these items as soon as they walk in is key!

I used to go through the book list and create tray labels for every item. I would place them on baskets or just on a table in the corner of the classroom.

So, I welcomed the students and parents and together they sorted their items around the classroom. This also made my job a lot easier when sorting through other items throughout the mean solar day.

Fun First Mean solar day of School Activities

#4 Desk Activity

Name tags collected, property put away, it'south now fourth dimension for the parents to say their goodbyes and settle their children at their very ain named desk. Have a fun desk activity prepared for this moment.

Colouring sheets are perfectly fine, or why non create a word search with the names of the children in the class to proceed their minds off the daunting fact that their grown-ups are now leaving for the day!

Use our Discussion Search Generator to easily create a customised word search.

#v Icebreaker Games

Try incorporating a couple of fun icebreaker games into the twenty-four hours to break up the sorting, full general procedures, and routine chats.

It's a fantastic opportunity for you to get to know the students and their personalities, identifying those that are leaders and those that adopt to sit back and lookout man.

For some awesome ideas, head to our blog: 12 FUN "Getting to Know You" Icebreakers for Kids.

#6 All Nearly Me Activities

Nosotros have some fantastic first-twenty-four hours activities that are adequately simple and will ease your students into school life again afterward several weeks off!

I would e'er complete the start action with my students as well! They loved hearing about me, what my hobbies were etc. It also provided them with a clear understanding of what they needed to practice when they began the activeness on their own.

#7 In This Class We…

If you really desire your course to work as a team this schoolhouse yr, then you need to work together to form behaviour expectations for the year.

Using our In This Class… – Expectations Posters, encourage your students to write downwards what each of these things means to them:

excellence
respect
kindness.

Then, utilize their responses to create a wonderful classroom display!

Your students will honey that they've already contributed to a whole-form activeness. Even better, they will exist motivated to demonstrate the course expectations every bit they will have a clear understanding of what these expectations hateful.

Heed to teacher Ash Curmi talk about expectation setting on the Teach Starter podcast.

Remember to reiterate your collaborative rules and expectations throughout the day.

For example, explain the packing up routine and lunch process just before lunchtime, reinforce bookwork expectations during writing time, and remind students of respectful linguistic communication as the need arises!

Relationships and trust are important. Go to know your students and settle them. You have the whole twelvemonth with them, so don't panic and bombard them with data on the very start day.

#8 Scavenger Chase

Yous may need to practise a tour of the school, especially if you have new students in your classroom. This can exist done as a whole class past using our QR Code School to Library Scavenger Chase.

This is a fun action that volition allow for new students to walk effectually the school and for older students to reacquaint themselves with the school grounds and where their new classroom is located.

In this scavenger chase, they will finish up in the library, and then why non organise to have a dorsum-to-school story picked out to read to them while they are at that place.

#9 Ask the Students Questions

I would always have a few questions for students written on pieces of butchers newspaper scattered throughout the room. Just like the image below by Adventures of a 3rd Grade Instructor.

The students had a goal, to place a viscous notation on each question by the end of the day.

Information technology wasn't a forced activity that they had to do within a designated fourth dimension. They only need to make certain they answered each question by the end of the day. We then looked at the answers and discussed them equally a course (usually the next day).

#10 Summertime Snapshot

Students love to share what they've washed over the summer!

This summer may have been a little different for some students! Help them share what they've been upward to with our Summer Snapshots template.

Once they've finished the suggested drawing prompts, your students can create some of their own original hashtags to share with the class.

#eleven Let Students Explore Their New Classroom

For students, i of the nearly exciting things almost the first day of school is getting to know their new classroom! Once they have settled into their desks, give your students the opportunity for a physical motion break with ourClassroom Scavenger Hunt – PowerPoint Presentation.

This is the perfect activeness to accustom your students with their new classroom. Each slide in the PowerPoint provides a prompt to find something in the classroom. The best role is, the slides are editable and so you tin customise the presentation to accommodate your grade.

Only retrieve to ask your students to recollect about where they got things from and so that they can be returned afterward! Or, why non task them with drawing a picture of each item instead?

#12 Getting to Know You T-Shirt

Of grade, it'southward non all about learning what your students like at school. You can't have get-go-day activities without getting to know your students' interests out of school too!

This awesome Getting to Know You T-Shirt activity is just the creative lesson you need to become your students to share their interests.

Have the class introduce themselves to each other past sharing their T-shirts! They may find some new friends who share common interests that will set them up for the twelvemonth to come.

#xiii Would Yous Rather? Writing Task

Ahhh: a skilful ol' fashioned writing job!

At that place'due south nothing similar asking a student'southward opinion to get them writing. You can do merely that with our fun Would You lot Rather…? Question Cards!

Provide your students with a card to prompt them to write an opinion piece, or amend yet – a story!

We accept plenty of writing templates, such as thisNarrative Writing Planning Template. Requite one to your students and encounter what creative stories they can come up with.

Don't forget: this volition assist you lot assess their handwriting, spelling, and narrative writing skills too! It'south a win-win!

And, that's a wrap! Except for this one, final tip…

What to do if it all goes haywire!

If I felt the students were getting overwhelmed, I would read them a squeamish book about beginning school! Here is a great list of 36 books for the starting time day of schoolhouse for you to cull from.

I had a scattering of books gear up to keep my desk, so I could grab ane and just start reading to them. It's such an overwhelming day for everyone involved. Reading books brings a sense of at-home!

What is one matter you lot do on that first day of school? Let us know!

Share these first-day activities with your teacher friends who are teaching in person or online!

Nosotros promise you enjoy your get-go twenty-four hours of school!

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Source: https://www.teachstarter.com/au/blog/the-first-day-of-school-a-fail-safe-guide-for-teachers/