BTS: How to Win Week 1

Back to school season is just around the corner, and students and teachers everywhere are dreading the meet-the-teacher, 2 Truths and a Lie, and syllabus overview routine. If you want to win week 1, ditch the mundane and aspire for inspiration with activities that engage students in the class, culture, and curriculum!

Day 1: Names and Norms

In my opinion, the very first day should be about two things and two things only: who is everyone and what norms need to be established? These are imperative when it comes to two of the most difficult aspects of teaching, connection and control. For learning names, challenge students to listen to each other with a game that makes it fun to remember. I like to use the traditional Name Game for first exposure. Then I like to take it to a relatable level with Among Us. 

• Among Us: This whole class card game gets students chomping at the bit to shout out names and details by engaging them with aspects similar to the popular video game so many of them play on their phones.

Once you've learned a bit about each student, it's time to design what the class environment will look like for everyone involved. As you probably already know, it's important to develop these norms as a class. You'll get a lot more buy-in if your students feel ownership in the agreements you create. Rather than simply listing out rules or expectations though, try connecting it to your school or curriculum with a bit of thematic inspiration. For example, I use the Den Building activity. 

• Den Building: This activity combines school spirit with student-centered norms in a way that encourages collaboration and compromise. It can be tweaked to fit any school or subject and makes the perfect reference point during behavior management moments throughout the year.

Day 2: Culture and Community

The second day is about bringing all those names and personalities together to create a unique classroom culture and community that will facilitate growth. For this, I like to get the students talking to each other with games like Speed Dating and Class Connections. 

• Speed Dating: Simply put a whole lot of fun questions on slips of paper and put them in receptacles around the room (I use empty tissue boxes). Then give students 3-4 minutes to draw questions and answer them in their small groups. Next tell them to switch to a new table with new people and repeat with new questions. Need question ideas? Get my Speed Dating question list here.
• Class Connections: This quick icebreaker gets students to investigate what they have in common in pairs, then quads, then octuplets, etc. until you have one shared interest or trait for the entire class.

After some fun community building, I like to bring it back to the individual once again. Many teachers create surveys for students to fill out, but I like to use something that gives them a little more inspiration, a custom personality quiz.

• Student Personality Quiz: The personality quiz I use serves three purposes. It allows me to figure out what kind of student each individual strives to be (i.e. leader, class clown, etc.). It also tells me what they do and don't like when it comes to my class (English Language Arts). Finally, it gives them school-oriented, growth-mindset results. I use this quiz to inform the creation of my seating chart, student groups, and lesson design.

Day 3: Relationships and Routines

By the third day, I have students in their seating chart, which means it's time for team building. I want each student group to learn about each other and do a little bonding, and nothing does that like competition!

• Team Line-Up: This game gives teams time to get to know each other and then leverages the details they've learned against the rest of the class. They compete in their Team Line-Up, and the rest of the class must use clues and simple statistics to beat them.
• Tower Attack: To really amp up the energy in the room, challenge students to go deeper with their team member interviews in Tower Attack. Although this game is played on the whiteboard, it has similarities to city building video games that students love. They'll be so engaged in the competition, they won't realize how much they're sharing with each other!

By the end of day three, I like to get into the syllabus, but I never do a straight present-and-read. Instead, I turn it into a team competition.

• Syllabus Scavenger: After you design your syllabus, decide the 5 most important things you want students to remember from it. Create a Google Form using the quiz template and list out 5 multiple choice questions that ask students about those elements of the syllabus. Then post your syllabus at the front of the room. Team members have to take turns going up to the syllabus to find an answer. The first team to finish their quiz wins. Pass a copy of the syllabus out to everyone. Then, ask the winning team to share the answers they found with the class. This ensures everybody learns the important details.

Day 4: Inquiry and Inspiration

At this point in the week, I take the students a little deeper in terms of understanding our purpose as a class. This means more relationship building, of course, but it also means asking them some really deep questions that set the stage for the type of inquiry and discussion we'll have all year.

• Spec Deck: This student-designed card game gets them to have conversations about their interests, hobbies, background, and more in order to find their cards and win the game.
• The Big Why: By now, the students are pretty comfortable talking about themselves, so I like to move it into the realm of how who they are motivates why they're here. Why are they in school? Why are they in this class? Why do they need to learn about this curriculum? Understanding the true reason why is a great way to reveal what's important about their upcoming learning and how it will benefit them in the real world.
• Class Likes and Dislikes: Next I give students input in how the class will be taught (within reason, of course). They get to contribute their likes and dislikes in a class, and this gives me the opportunity to perfect my lessons to the learning styles in my classroom.

Day 5: Preview and Pre-Assess

On the last day of the week, I try to get students excited for the class with some curriculum teasers, and I determine where they are in their learning with a pre-assessment. This allows me to use the weekend for grading and data analysis to set up my plans and student learning goals for the beginning of the year. 

While these activities may be great as they are, don't forget to add your own twist. let your curriculum and teaching style inspire you, so these back to school games are engaging not just for your students, but for you as well!