It’s August and that means the Beginning of School Scaries is creeping up behind you so you start searching your curriculum for activities for the first day of class. But, nothing seems quite right, so you go to Pinterest looking for some fresh new first day class activities only to find they are all geared towards elementary and primary students. And while we all love a “What I Want to Be When I Grow Up” pic for a Kindergartener, we know that our high schoolers will roll their eyes and add us to the try-hard teacher category. But who wants to just read the syllabus and share the website logins and count those as activities on the first day of school? You are way more creative than that!
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Avoiding the First Day of Class Exhaustion
How I Used To Do My First Day of School Activities
Flashback a few years to the first day of school in my classroom and you would see a gigantic teetering stack of colored code papers. As students shuffled in, I would give them my best razzle dazzle smile and welcome them in. I even let them pick their seats because I was the “cool teacher”. After a tedious introduction where I cracked jokes and used witty sarcasm like a bad stand-up comedian, it would be time to tackle the pile. First up, we would have the syllabus: three pages of dense text and policies. But it’s on colored paper so it’s engaging right? Wrong! Every other teacher in the building is reading off their dense syllabus and even if there is not printed in color on neon paper, it doesn’t mean I was any more fun. Next would be paper after paper to sign and return so that soon my students have at least five or six packets just for my class.
Do you think my students remembered me? Probably not… But I put my handouts on my special Astrobright paper! I was funny and got a few laughs. They got to sit next to their friends. That definitely deserves a special spot in their hearts right? Wrong! It was like I have never met high schoolers before.
Why I Changed My First Day of English Class Activities
After the fifth or sixth year of me coming home on the first day of school with a headache, parched throat, and a desperate need for a nap, I decided I was doing way too much. It was time to change how I get out my information on that first day.
As I started brainstorming new ways to do my back to school activities, I realized a few things. First, I was not really showing my students how I teach at all. Do I ever stand in front of my classroom for 80 minutes (we have semester block scheduling) and lecture them? Of course not! Will I ever completely do all of the work for a lesson and just my students watch me? Never! Should I have my students just sit at the desks and not interact with one another? No way! So why was my first day of class looking so different?
I think the first day of class sets the tone for the entire school year or in my class semester. Think of that first day as an interview and while everyone else is going the traditional route, you want to show them something different. You want your students to buy into your class and do it as quickly as possible. You want to build community with your students and have them become connected with each other. These things can’t happen if you are standing, lecturing, and overwhelming your high schoolers.
Even better than setting the tone, I realized that I need to stop doing all the work. My classroom is set up to challenge my students, make them problem solve, work together, build character, and take ownership of their learning. I needed to find activities on the first day of school that would reflect that teaching philosophy.
So what did I discover? After brainstorming, researching, collaborating, and tinkering, I decided the best way to approach that first day was to do stations. I turned all the valuable information digital, created some getting to know you activities, added student choice, and sprinkled in some glitter (who doesn’t love glitter)? And you know what: my students loved it! They were excited, engaged, relaxed, and confident because they got to do the work, have fun, and get to know how I run things in my classroom.
So if you are ready to change up your first day of class activities, here are my first day of school activities high school English teachers and all high school teachers can use for that first day of class to keep students excited and engaged.
Seven Easy and Fun First Day of School Activities Stations for Any High School Classroom
First Day of School Activity Station #1: Canva Creations
Have students create a Getting to Know You Profile slide on Canva to help them share about themselves. We want to get to know our students and learn all of their names quickly but more importantly, we want to make connections with them. This activity can do both while also checking in on the students’ tech skills and problem-solving abilities.
Students will go on to Canva. They can create a free account connected to their Google account information. Students can choose a Presentation Template to get them started or build one from scratch. Canva allows the students to easily customize the slide to their personality with color choice, fonts, graphics, and of course content.
I have students include the following things on their Canva Creation to help me get to know them:
- Name (Nickname, Preferred Name, Full Name: Whatever the students want to be called within reason: T Swift’s #1 Fan isn’t making the cut!)
- Selfie
- Word or Phrase They Want to Describe Them ( This also will tie into our first unit on Identity and Perception)
- Images and Graphics of Interests: Books, Movies, TV Shows, Hobbies, Siblings, Pets, Etc.
- Future Job or Career Path (Upgraded: What I Want to Be When I Grow Up Idea so we can stay the “Cool Teacher”)
- Catch Phrase, Inspirational Quote, or Life Motto
Students will submit these to me by the next day in class and we will share them. Options for sharing them could include Classroom Bingo, Speed Dating Sharing, or Gallery Walk. Feel free to be creative with how you share but give time for students to learn about each other and give them a chance to talk about themselves!
First Day of School Activity Station #2: Syllabus Signing
I have always been a digital girl and with the way the world is now, I want my students to become comfortable with technology for everything. I present my syllabus in two ways. First, I created a Meet the Teacher One Pager that has only the most important information on it:
- Getting to Know Me (Teaching Philosophy and Contact Info)
- Must Know Policies (Cellphone Policy, Plagiarism, Late Work)
- Grading
- Units for the Semester
- Picture of Me (For my parents more than my students: I hope they remember what I look like!)
Students will scan a QR Code with my Meet the Teacher pdf and they can look over all the important information. Once students know what I expect, I have them scan a QR code for my Syllabus Google Form where they will answer questions about my expectations and then sign (write their name as consent for their understanding of my expectations). I now have all my student signatures in one Google Sheets area for future reference.
IMPORTANT NOTE: I also send this Meet the Teacher One Pager and Syllabus Google Form directly to all my parents and ask them to sign a copy as well. While I ask the students to open the link and have their parents sign it, I want to ensure that if the students do not follow through, the parents have access to these essential documents. Also, an added bonus is they now have direct communication with me for the semester. I find that sending that initial email helps encourages parents to email me which is my preferred communication and we have already established a positive parent contact.
First Day of School Activity Station #3: First Day of School Selfie
NOTE: The rest of these stations are more for fun to give my students a chance to show off their personalities and relax on their first day back.
This year I purchased a “First Day of School” sign and created a selfie station in my room. High school students love taking selfies and I wanted to give them a chance to take a cheesy “First Day of School” pic and use me as an excuse for why they are doing something so lame. We all know they secretly love these types of pics but don’t want to admit it. I challenge my students to do something in the picture that shows off their personality so I get to know them even better.
I also gain permission from my students and parents to share these pictures out in the world so other students can see how much fun we are doing in my classroom. Plus parents and students love seeing themselves on social media.
First Day of School Activity Station #4: Wonders & Worries
Creating a “Wonders & Worries” Digital Box is a great way to allow students to showcase their voices with no repercussions. Not all of my students are going to be outgoing and I wanted to give them a place to share their thoughts and ideas too. This “Wonders & Worries” box asks students to scan a QR code and complete a Google Form where they can share their thoughts on this school year, this class, or me as a teacher.
Want to make it a true box experience? Have paper and pens (flair pens of course) for students to write their worries and wonders without adding their names. Place a box, bin, or container for students to drop them in when they are done.
First Day of School Activity Station #5: DJ Station
Music is the key to my students’ hearts. Whenever we have time to work in the classroom, I have music playing. Now, I prefer instrumental because it helps increase focus, but my students find my classical music choices (even popular song instrumentals) to be lame. At this station, students will add song suggestions (school appropriate of course) that I will consider adding to our class playlist. Once again, I use a Google form for simplicity, and because they know their name will be attached to it, hopefully, no inappropriate song suggestions. I remind students, that the more songs they add, the fewer Taylor Swift songs I will add. Even though I love my girl, Taylor but for some reason not all my high schoolers feel the same way! If you know me you know that I am always trying to find ways to bring Taylor Swift to the classroom.
After the suggestions are in, I create a new Spotify playlist titled the class name, semester, and year and add in the songs. If they are songs that I know and trust, I will add them right away. If I do not know the song, then I will listen to it first for content and then add it to the list. Anytime we are working independently, the Spotify playlist comes out and we jam to their choices. Students love hearing their own songs and always ask me when their song is coming on next.
First Day of School Activity Station #6: Classroom Community Expectations
In this station, allow students to create a list of classroom expectations. Students can focus on anything: behavior, procedures, seating, etc. Classroom ownership is so important for high school kiddos. They feel like they are adults but most of the time get no say in most of their day. By giving them a chance to add expectations that they think are fair will allow them to feel like this is their community. I also tend to find that students set harsher rules and regulations than I normally have for my classroom.
After the first day, I take all of their suggestions and create a pretty classroom expectations poster that hangs in the front of the room for the rest of the semester. I can refer to this class list any time students are getting a little rowdy or pushing the limits as they love to do towards the end of the semester.
First Day of School Activity Station #7: Creating and Crafting
Let them create and play! High school students have just spent the last two months, doing whatever they wanted. They scrolled social media for hours, stayed up until dawn, and slept in until dusk, they went where they wanted and did what they wanted. Now, they are back to sitting at school for eight hours a day, waking up early, and spending the evening with activities and homework.
Give them a chance to chill! This station is all about creativity. Think of this station as your mom’s craft room. Bring in markers, glitter, stickers, PlayDough, colored paper, paint, and anything else you have lying around. Their only task: create something. Once they are done, ask them if you can snap a pic of it or better yet, keep it displayed in your classroom. Make them feel proud that you love what they created.
Short on Time: How to Trim Your First Day of Class Activities
Now that you have seen how I run my classroom on that first day of school, let’s chat about the timeframe. Maybe your schedule looks a little different than mine because you have an adjusted first day or you teach for a short amount of time. Maybe you teach all year and not in a block schedule. It really does not matter your schedule because these activities are all about you and your students’ needs.
Since these activities are all in stations, you can add in or opt out of any station you want. Adjust the activities to what you need to cover and what you want your students to focus on. Have more than one day to devote to getting to know your students? Great! Break these activities up into days or maybe do one activity at the beginning of every class for a week as a warm-up.
Even More Back to School Activities
I have loved sharing my first day of school stations with you and I hope you and your students will have as much fun with them as my kiddos do. Feel free to use these ideas as inspiration for your first day adventures. Show me what you did for your first day by tagging me or sending me a DM @theteacherrewrite on Instagram. If you want to extend your summer just a little bit longer and don’t want to have to think about how to set up these stations, you can use my First Day Class Activities. I can’t wait to see all the amazing activities for the first day of class that you share with your students!
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