First Day of School!

Today was another great first day of school! The students came in feeling excited and a little nervous, but they quickly settled in. Below are some of the activities we did throughout the day!

Locker Name Tags - Students made name tags to hang from their lockers. In each corner of the name tag, they were to write, draw, or describe with a symbol 1) someone who taught them something 2) a time when they spent 3 wonderful days 3) something they love to do 4) a favorite place

After school, I laminated the name tags and hung them from each student's locker. 

My Life in Numbers - Students were to come up with eight interesting facts about themselves that can be described in numbers. When students shared, the class was allowed to ask 2 follow-up questions to get to know the presenter even better! This was a great conversation starter!

Lunch Challenge: We eat lunch in our classroom and right now, I have students assigned where to sit (with their table groups) during lunch. Each day I will give them a Lunch Challenge in an effort to help break the ice and get to know each other better (This is from Teaching Children to Care, by Ruth Charney). Today, students needed to find 10 things that they all have in common. I had to add that not everyone would have in common because one group's list had things such as "We all breathe." 

Reflection: I LOVE asking students about their thoughts on the first day of school. I posted this prompt on the board and each of them responded in their personal journals. (Personal Journals a special back and forth communication I have with the kids through writing)

Some of my favorite things I read:

"Today was the best first day of anything, especially school! I have a framed Great Owl picture hanging in my room to remind me of our class."

"The whole day was a surprise! The interior design was welcoming and not very distracting. And the room looked like an open book."

"I love that we have a certain amount of time to write instead of a certain amount to be written."

What did you do on your first day back?