Here in Australia we are preparing for the start of the 2016 school year.
So in between spending time with family, friends, long lunches and relaxing we are printing, laminating, cutting, putting up displays, reading curriculum documents, planning, buying stationary, carting bags from school to home and back again.
Some bloggers are posting some helpful tips that might help ease us all back into the work groove.
Julie over at Oz Curriculum HQ is hosting this link up and some other bloggers have joined - so once you have finished reading my tips head on over and read what others have blogged about.
Set the scene for the first day
This is like making a good first impression - that saying 'don't judge a book by its cover' springs to mind.
As parents walk in on day one with their children they are checking us out.
They will notice things like clean spaces, names on tables, lockers ready to go, where the tables are, what's on and not on the display boards and how we say hello to their child.
There are huge expectations in this window of time - we agonise over how our room looks and the flow of the room. I will be posting photos of my room set up later in the week.
These photos are from last year.
When students arrive on the first day and equipment on the first day
Play it by ear and don't push the kids too much.
It is also hot and will be a long day for some kids!
If your school is like mine - the kids come with a box of stationary and lots of excitement.
So I get them to find their desk, put their box on it and then put their bag away.
I get them to sit on the floor and welcome them as a grade - I team teach, so this means we then meet as a double grade and welcome them as a big family.
We talk about our shared expectations for the year - the routines we will have - logistics about moving in and out of our room and around the school.
We particularly welcome new students to the school and buddy them up so they know where the toilets, drink taps and where the specialist rooms are.
When we are all here, we go through the box and store it all.
Name tags help!
Activities on the first day
As I mentioned above we over plan - so be realistic about what you can do.
This is a page from our shared plan that we have up on our smartboard (IWB) for each day.
Yep - we start swimming on our very first day with the kids.
We start work on 'Me' - this way I get to know them, the grade get to know each other and we can put up a display on the first day.
Click here for the link to this task which include dates for 2020!
Happy first day everyone.
