Back in the Saddle

August has hit again.

Time to start planning.....Serious Mode!

I always start the year with some kind of activity to get to the know the students. What will that look like this year?  Because I like to do things a little bit different each year (that is just who I am) I need to tweak or change-up what I have done in previous years. How can I incorporate choice, technology, Google Classroom? Hmmmmm.....

Some ideas that I have not come close to finalizing but have been inspired by ideas shared on Pinterest such as I wish my teacher knew and All About Me. These are a few additions from some of the previous ideas I have used.

Ultimately I would like students to be very open with me and share who they are and what they need from me to be successful in the math classroom to make their year one of success.  However, I also want the students to create something that can be shared with their classmates so their peers can also learn about who they are.  How do I divide and combine at the same time without overloading the student?

The other conflict is having students to use their strengths and areas of expertise to create/share.  I am again torn with students creating a paper or physical representation versus an electronic version to be shared in Google Classroom. The physical aspects are great for others to see on the classroom walls but the electronic versions are so "clean." As I am writing this I am already leaning more towards a video to be shared in Google Classroom. The fear....pushing students over the edge with technology expectations at the start. The goals is easy sharing not a lengthy assignment to cause stress.

OOOO.....I guess I would have to create a sample to show them that perfection is not the expectation???

The other task (for in class) would be students creating classroom rules and expectations.  I have done this several times in the past but have found two classroom rule activities (Back to School and Classroom Rules) that have again inspired some changes to my previous years activities. I am thinking of still asking students to respond to questions and create a mini-poster to be shared in the classroom but would like to add Instagram or Twitter to the mix via hashtags.  Can I get students to share their works with hashtags on either or both modes of media?

I need to focus and fine tune these brainstorms.  Any words of advise are appreciated:)