Save the Paperwork - Innovative Ways to Begin the School Year

A Confession...

Me with Rosemary & Harry Wong (2011)

I like Harry Wong.  I like his emphasis on routines and procedures, for even high school students need to know what's supposed to go on in each classroom they visit each day.

In fact, when the Wongs visited my school district last year, the Education Rock Stars wowed us all with their ideas for incorporating procedures from day one.  When we left the Performing Arts Center after the Wongs' presentation, we were all pumped for the first day of school and couldn't wait to start planning our PowerPoints to introduce what happens to make our classrooms run smoothly.

Each of the ideas suggested for implementation by the Wongs allow teachers to get to know their students but in a more traditional way.  What if we "flipped" the ideas with a technology or a collaborative twist?

Some New Ideas

For those teachers who may be of the more traditional mind, below are some ideas for getting to know your students. 

In her blog, Teacher Reboot Camp, Shelley Sanchez Terrell offers several ways of getting to know your students with a twist.  You can read Terrell's full post here.  Here are some ideas I like:

• Show & Tell with Technology - students choose pictures from their mobile device and then explain what the meaning is behind their choosing that picture.
• Speed Dating for Group Work- explain to students that they will work in groups for an upcoming class and they need to figure out who they will work most compatibly with.  Using the online-stopwatch, set 2-3 minutes and students find out as much as they can about the person.  At the end, each student writes down at least 3 people they'd be willing to work with.

Add in Some Technology

Aditi Rao offers some great ideas for incorporating technology into your introductory activities.  My favorites:

• Have students create a Pinterest Board that represents who they are and then present it to the class.
• Using Wordle, have students create word clouds to describe themselves.
• Using QR Codes, have students participate in a QR Code Scavenger Hunt to learn about others in the class.

A Whole New Twist

• Sandy Merz challenges the traditional idea to seating assignments.  You can check out his ideas for incorporating collaboration and engagement all by finding your seat.
•  Have your students solve a mystery to show what collaboration looks like in your classroom.  Here is Peter Pappas's twist on getting students thinking from Day One.  Intrigued?  Want to use this lesson on your first day of school?  Click here for Pappas's resources.