First Week Of School Activities
To Get You Started Right!

Can you help me with some first week of school activities to make the first week of school less stressful? That's a request I get from many teachers.

The first week of school is so important, it can set the tone for the beginning of the school year and quite possibly the whole year.

Every year, I was filled with mixed feelings about the start of the new school year. I felt excited, regenerated, nervous, overwhelmed - I could never sleep the night before school started.

I always spent a week at the end of August to organize myself for the 1st week of school and set up my classroom to make it a welcoming environment.

Everyone is different - You do what's good for you! But, please keep in mind, YOU MUST KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!

Start off on the right foot, because believe me, the kids will know - they are sizing you up, just like you are doing to them. You can never take away that first impression.

First week of school activities begin with setting up your classroom. It's important to make your classroom a "welcoming" environment - and that is so true - for you, your students, admin and parents!

You want your kids to feel safe and happy, as well as making it a learning place. You want them to want to come to school, just as you do. And you can start with the look of your classroom.

Your classroom layout, displays, decorations, bulletin boards and classroom furniture are important to help motivate and stimulate your students. Be sure to have a look at my various pages dealing with classroom layout .

First week of school activities include ordering your classroom supplies, teacher and student supplies. Each teacher's classroom supplies will vary depending upon the grade they teach. And don't forget your own teacher supplies. Have a look at the teacher supplies that I found essential.

Every student wants cool school supplies. Have a look at my page on student supplies and get a list of necessary supplies that all students will use on a daily basis.

Finally first week of school activities should include achieving these goals.

My first goal is to ease us back into the swing of things - which means a lot of review from the year before. I would give my students a spelling test of 20 -25 words of the previous grade. I also gave them 15 add, subtract, multiply, divide questions from the year before - one operation per day.

My second and most important goal for the first week of school is to get to know a little bit about my students' personalities and for them to get to know me as well. I do that through various games and activities.

Have a look at my page about getting to know your students .

The third goal is to set the foundations of the classroom - e.g. the rules, routines, timetables and what's expected for the year.

The final thing I did to end the 1st week of school was to give out a little certificate that I sign and date, that said "I hope you had a GREAT FIRST WEEK" or "Welcome Back - Good Luck". It also had some type of school symbols or funny animal picture. And believe me, even the Grade 6's loved them.

Sooo, that's about it - Be organized and prepare yourself by using these first week of school activities.

Be thankful and grateful that you have a job you love or really like. Be YOURSELF and ENJOY!!!

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