Compiled by Andrew Ellingsen, DCSD Instructional Coach Welcome back to school! As you’re preparing for students to come later this week, here’s a brief rundown of some first day activities that happened in DCSD classrooms last year! What’s your favorite “Back to School” activity? Comment below and add to the growing list of ideas!
1 Comment
Allysen Lovstuen
8/28/2018 05:58:06 am
On the first day I have a sticky note with each student's name on it stuck to my door. As they walk in they grab their sticky note. Encoded on the sticky note are directions to their seat (some years the color of their first and last names matches a hard to spot grid in the classroom leading them to their seats, this year polar coordinates were used, sometimes binary comes into play,...). Students have to work together to try to figure out the code and find their seats. It usually takes about 20 minutes. As they go I nudge them along as needed, but try to stay out of it. Once they find their seats we talk about how this activity highlights some aspects of this class: I expect them to be actively involved, we can all learn from each other, it takes teamwork to be successful, my role is to encourage and provide nudges when needed but not to take away their chance to think, etc. I really enjoy getting students actively involved right from the start and the stickies help them know right away that they are in the right place. After that activity and some brief intros they start brainstorming a list of "do's and don'ts" for group work based on their past experiences (think, pair, share style). Once we have a large class-wide list we look for themes and pull together our norms for the year fitting these specific do's and don'ts under those larger norms.
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October 2018
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