My First Day of School - Starting Out and Tower Building

I start the first day of school by having my students line up at the door. I introduced myself and have them introduce themselves one by one. I shake their hand and I give them instructions to find their seat. I have a seating chart on the first day of school, so that when I look up from my seating chart I can already start calling my students by their name. I think about my students and where I want them to sit. And even though I don't know them yet, I've already started figuring out little bits and pieces about who they are. I look at previous transcripts, I figure out which of my students have IEPs or 504s, and start to create a seating chart based on the information that I do have.

My classroom is arranged in table groups of four. And the first task when they walk in, is to make a name tag, pick up their syllabus, and introduce themselves to their group. I usually add in silly questions that they can use to talk to each other. Once, everyone is in the classroom, I formally introduce myself, and make sure that they are in the right class and in the right period. (Sometimes, my freshman get a little confused). I then formally ask them to introduce themselves. Their share their name, their favorite food, and how they are feeling about this class. I structure the talk so that the student who is sitting at the table with the hearts goes first and then they share clockwise (I use playing cards to label my desks). I think this time gives my students the permission to speak and shows them that structured talk is a good thing (and a norm in the class). By getting to know each other, even through a small conversation, my students start to lose the fear that usually exists in a math classroom.

I have a slide deck that goes through little pieces that are fairly important. I share about who I am. I let them know that their syllabus needs to be signed. I let them know how to go to the bathroom. I start with little routines, not a lot of them. My high school students have 4 classes, all with different teachers and different routines that the students have to memorize. I try to be sensitive to that, and share my routines little by little.

Then we start our first activity. One of my favorites is tower building. Students have about 5 minutes to discuss how to build the largest tower using only the items in their backpack. I have variations of this activity by having students use 10 pieces of paper and a strip of tape, or the materials that are already on their desks (mini white boards, pencil box, rulers, glue sticks). The first part of this activity though is solely talking. Students talk to each other and discuss the strategy that would help them best build a tower that would be the tallest and the most structurally sound. Once students have time to discuss, they then have about 15 minutes to build their tower.

While students are talking and building, I make my first observations of my students. Which students are happy to take the lead and start the activity right away, and which students let others control the dialogue and the work. How do the groups interact? Is the equal contribution from each person in the table?

We hold a mini competition to see which table groups built the largest tower, which I make a big deal of as I take out my measuring tape and write the measurements of the tallest tower and the group members on the board for the day. We then debrief about the activity. I ask them question about what strategies worked and didn't work. Did they use the right materials and utilize their time well? After we have a class discussion on that, I have my students think about their group work. I show them that the activity which seemed to measure their ability to build a tall tower, was actually an assessment on how well they were able to work together. Did everyone fairly contribute? Did anyone try to take over and not let other people voice their opinions? Did anyone disengage with the activity?

In my classroom, collaboration matters and it's important to have fun. An activity that does both... It has worked for me for about 5 years. It helps to set the right start for the year for me and for my students.