Start of the School Year

It's so hard for me to believe that year 3 is about to begin! In a week and a half, my new crop of 8th graders will be coming into my classroom for the first time this year.

I still have a lot to do before next week, in terms of getting both my classroom and my materials ready for the new students. I am determined to do some team-building activities in the opening of the school year, as well as routine teaching, introduction to me as a person (as well as a teacher), and procedure building.

I have certain decisions to make, still, but there are certain parts of my beginning of the year procedures that are already set.

For example:
1. I know that I prefer to give the students my already made rules, rather than "brainstorm" the rules with them. I do, however, believe that last year's lecture on the rules was ineffective, and I need to create a different method to teach them the rules this year. I saw one interactive idea, where it's got boxes with numbers and lines, so they can fill in the important information, and you can check to see that they are paying attention.

2. I know that I plan to spend at least 1 - 2 days on problem solving activities before getting started with the first unit. I don't know exactly how we'll implement the first unit - but I believe doing a couple of fun, math-related/problem solving activities are important, especially since this year's curriculum is much more heavily weighted on the problem-solving side.

3. I want to do two early quizzes: one about the rules, procedures, policies, and Mr. Golan and one about a topic that I teach them to be successful on very quickly, in the opening of the school year.

4. I will continue to use hand signals (non-verbal signs) for certain interruptions to a lesson: a raised R for rest room, a W at the throat for water, pinching the nose for a tissue, and holding a pencil up in the air for the sharpener. This will allow us to focus our attention on the math at hand, rather than these distractions.

5. I want to do some kind of activity where I get the students thinking about what math IS - beyond formulas, procedures, and calculations. I'm not sure how to get them to the realization that math is about recognizing patterns, about order (and chaos), and can be beautiful.

6. I know I want to go over the materials/supplies expectations with them. I also was thinking about doing either a classroom scavenger hunt and/OR a rules/expectations scavenger hunt. I also plan to do a textbook scavenger hunt to familiarize the kids with their new textbooks (which may be different from what they are used to).

7. I was thinking about doing a "Mr. G by the Numbers" ice-breaker, where I share with them 10 - 15 numbers that are important to me (or perhaps do it as a quiz where they have to match the numbers to the important facts). And then have them create their own and share out (and decorate it nicely to hang up?).