Chapter 7 of First Days of School by Harry and Rosemary Wong presents ideas on how to ensure the first day of a new school year is seen as important. They have some great theories. I will share them here along with my own insight.
Celebrating the first day of school by:
- making your classroom (and school) safe and inviting
- how????
- hang a welcome sign
- clean the room/building
- greet students at the school's entrances at the very beginning of the day
- greet students at your classroom door
- clearly display your name, grade, and subject
- have your classroom organized
- allow students to set personal goals
- ask students to share their expectation of you and the class
- involve parents and the community
- how???
- ask businesses to donate school supplies and to present them the first day of school
- ask businesses to donate books or other fun things for the classroom or students and to present them on the first day of school
- invite family members that drop off students to tour the school and your room
- if you have students' contact information before school starts as parents/guardians to write an encouraging note to their student
- have an open house before school starts or a few days after school starts to show parents/guardians their student's classroom
- write a note to parents introducing yourself and what you teach and send it home with the students
- ask parents to donate school supplies or their time to help your classroom
- ask local business to volunteer time in your classroom to read to students, help with small groups, or talk about future opportunities
These are just a few ideas on showing students that an education is important and that the people they see every day believe in them to be successful.
No comments:
Post a Comment