First Day!

I can't believe it!

Another first day has come and gone!

I was very calm going into this one.

Like I said yesterday, I didn't label anything before my new nuggets arrived.

Those students who came to school for our open house the night before had already picked lockers and I simply assigned the rest.  

The lockers were still only labeled with marker since I wasn't sure who was going to actually show up yet.

The nuggets were thrown for a bit of a loop when they discovered that they could pick where they sat to begin the day.

Don't worry...there's a method to my madness.

I haven't assigned desks prior to the first day for a few years now.

I like to see how the group interacts with each other first.

Who bugs whom.

Who the besties seem to be.

Which couplings are Chatty Cathies.

Etcetera.

I have found that this works the absolute best because I don't have to do a ton of rearranging after the fact.

Over my lunch break I worked up a quick seating chart and moved them around in the afternoon.

Some things I like to do on the first day:

get-to-know-you activities

share about our summers

let them ask questions about me

give them a quick tour of the room

a couple simple worksheets

go over expectations and procedures

practice expectations and procedures

give lots of bathroom breaks but let them know which times will be our regularly scheduled break times

finding out how they get home each day

I had a few nuggets that tried to push my buttons on the first day.

However, since I had already gone over the expectations I let them know that their behavior wouldn't fly by reminding them of the expectations and talking through how they could be more successful.

There are a few that are going to be definite "toughies".

I ended the day with some simplified end-of-the-day procedures.

While lining up I had 4 of my new boys wearing their backpacks on their fronts and saying, "Look!  I'm having a baby, too!"

Characters!

I can't wait to get to know their little personalities!

Laters!

Mrs. B