First Day Outline
It’s the first day of a new semester. Where do you start? What do you do? How to do you start of the semester off on a good note while letting your students get familiar with you? How do you balance being fun and interesting with the standards you expect from them?
Here is the outline I follow every semester on the first day!
1) Introduce myself.
I say my name, where I’m from, a little about my hometown, and my hobbies. I then give them the chance to ask three questions about me. I tell them they can ask anything they want, and I find it’s great to start the class off with making them speak out, and it helps break down some barriers as well.
2) Introduce yourself.
Especially if it’s a lower-level class, I have the students introduce themselves to their partner following the four pieces of information I gave about themselves. “What’s your name?” “Where are you from?” “What’s your hometown like?” “What are your hobbies?” If students haven’t spoken English all summer or winter, they might be rusty, and I like immediately letting students know they have to speak English in class.
3) The Name Game
I’ve written a whole post about how to play The Name Game and its pros and cons here: www.atlasteaching.com/games/namegame Basically, I have each student stand and say his name. This is more for my benefit, as it allows me to get a jump start on learning their names.
4) Get to Know Me
Now that I’ve heard their names, I want to know how to help them. Each class will have different needs and struggles. Through this form, which I’ve written more about here: https://www.atlasteaching.com/classroom/knowyoureslstudents , I can get an understanding of each student’s personality, individual struggles, as well as what they want me to do during class to help them learn to the best of their abilities. I give students about 5 minutes to fill out the form and hand it in to me.
5) How Can I Get a Good Grade in This Class?
It’s the question going through everyone’s mind. At this time, I explain what I will be grading students on throughout the semester, and what my expectations are for each category. I used to just write what I would grade them on (i.e. Attendance, participation, exams), but I’ve found it’s more helpful to outline what constitutes as good participation. For example, good participation is not just answering questions when called on; it’s also being active in class, communicating with your partner in English, not using your phone or working on other things during class, and having a good attitude. Lay out for them all the things they need to do to nab that A!
6) Class Values
Studies have shown that the human brain is more motivated to continue with positive acts if an identity or character is attached to it. For example, a child will be more motivated to help others in the future if he is told “Thank you for being such a good helper” rather than “Thank you for helping.”
Our class values are who we are as a class. Three values I often use are
“We are a class that works hard.”
“We are a class that respects our classmates by being quite during speeches and helping our partners practice.”
“We are a class knows how to use our phones to help us learn, rather than distracts us from learning.”
7) Semester Goals
My students have been studying English for YEARS. And they still struggle with the task of “learning English.” Many of my students try to improve everything, and end up improving nothing. I wrote a whole post about how to help students learn how to set goals (which is such a valuable skill!) and battle the overwhelm of “Learning English.” You can read exactly how I do this here: https://www.atlasteaching.com/classroom/semestergoals
I also like to have students tell their partners about their goals. They seem to really enjoy verbalizing their goals, and it makes it a little more real.
8) My Favorite Icebreaker Game
I look forward to this game throughout the entire class. It ends the class on SUCH a high note, gets students moving, and gives you even more insights to their personalities and English levels. Read how to play the game here: https://www.atlasteaching.com/games/icebreakergamesesl
So that’s the basic outline I follow on the first day! If I have extra time, I’ll start going through the textbook or material just before the game. But on the first day, I like to keep it relaxed so students can get familiar with my voice and manner of speaking. And, I always like to design the first lesson without much class material, in case students don’t have a textbook on the first day (which is more common than you’d think.)