Today was the first day of school and I lived to tell about it! I also fed myself AND am now blogging.
I’d say today was a success, other than the fact that I just popped some Ibuprofen to numb the pain in my legs and my roommate / coworker / live-in comedian is moaning about how she needs a cane and some orthopedic shoes.
Don’t tell her I told you that.
Today was an absolute BLUR and naturally I didn’t take enough pictures.
We started by reading Froggy Goes to School. It was a great introduction to rules and procedures.
After Froggy, we studied our school’s behavioral matrix and brainstormed ways that we can be respectful, responsible, and safe while at school. I also taught my new students how to use sticky notes appropriately so that they don’t lose their stickiness!
Next we did the polar opposite of rule-following by having a “snowball fight” at school!
(Shoutout to Karen H. for the suggestion on my giveaway post last month!)
Students wrote 3 facts about themselves on a piece of paper but did not write their names. Then we made “snowballs” by crumpling up our papers. Students had the length of one song to have their snowball “fight.” When the song ended, they unrolled and read their snowballs aloud one at a time and we tried to guess who wrote it. We all loved it!
Then we graphed our First Day Feelings…
The excited column went all the way to the top of the white board before I had to move the chart in order to use my eBeam. YAY! (I’ll admit the results may have been a little skewed due to the fact that we just threw balls of paper at each other in school…)
We spent the rest of the morning playing a special version of Four Corners. They LOVED it and it was a great way for me to quickly get to know my new babies!!
After lunch and recess, I read aloud Tacky the Penguin.
We talked about how Tacky was disrespectful and some things he could have done differently. Then I gave the kids some independent work to do so I could start math assessments.
(REALLY? Testing on the first day of school? YES. Don’t get me started.)
I was impressed with most of my students’ writing. YAY! Actually, when we played Four Corners, writing is what most of my students indicated that they needed to improve the most on this year. Interesting!
We wrapped up the day by reflecting on our first day together and discussing our future plans, hopes, and dreams for second grade. We whipped up this quick anchor chart of things they can say instead of saying “I can’t.”
It’s ugly. Of course I’ll be remaking it.
Last, I shared some words of wisdom with them:
I wish Kid President was in my class!!
I can’t believe it’s over already! I love my new students. Hopefully I’ll still be saying that in a few months, and hopefully the rest of the year will be as fun as today was!
I can’t believe my brain is still working and that my eyes are still open. Sweet dreams, my friends.
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How was your first day??
