What Does A Good First Day of School Look Like?

He who opens a school door, closes a prison. ~Victor Hugo

Do You Remember Your First Day of School?

laborenglishzone.blogspot.com

Was your first day of school so full of enthusiasm, energy, and anticipation that you woke up early the next morning just to be sure you were there on time?  Or was your first day of school the hum-drum of syllabus day, monotonous and boring?  Maybe you didn't even go, you skipped out to sleep in late and you'll probably skip tomorrow too.

teachingjunkie.blogspot.com

We want our students to stay in school.  We want our students to succeed! So we have to hook their attention on the very first day of school and maintain the momentum throughout the semester. 

Why is it that the First Day of School is always so exciting yet a rather large disappointment?  It's because we fail as educators to grasp student interest, real them in tight, and hook them on the material that is their future.  

I was able to develop my Lesson plan for my first day of school and present it to peers.  Yup!  I need some work too.  While I still believe I had an good overall plan, I need to express my enthusiasm through body language, speech, and facial expressions more vividly.  I perceived time was moving quickly, yet, when I watched a video of my presentation, It looked like I was moving slowly.  It's amazing how our perceptions change! As I watched my video, I made a list of comments on my performance.  Here is what I had:

    "I say "so" way to many times. My directions were not clear at all. I may have just completely ignored Janae's question and confusion about the initial activity. I need to fix my "Example" expectation. My name isn't Ms. Rice :) I repeat some words a lot while I'm talking. The students were easy to manage, no problems there. I need to spend more time explaining each item on my expectations poster. STOP SAYING EXCITING!! Why did I say I was going to throw the posters out? Also, I had forgotten to mention that each class of the day will be creating a poster and then the next day each class would vote on the best one to be hung up in the classroom all year."

This Wednesday, I will be presenting an example of an Interest Approach.  Hmmm...What will be in store?

Stay tuned to find out more!