I’m going to blog about my first day last year, although I’m not sure that this is what I’m going to do for my first day this year. The kids loved it, but I love changing things up each year. So, I look forward to reading all of these great posts to see what you all are doing!
As I am sure that most of you would agree, I hate going over the rules and procedures in class, but I really want my kids (and parents) to know them. There are only 32 students in each grade and we do most of our, “Hi, My name is…” in advisory the first day, so I really don’t need to play get to know each other (or me) games.
Last year our school went one to one for the first time with middle school. For most students, this is the first time they have ever had their own computer, and they are very eager to use it. I use a wiki daily in all of my classes. The students need to access it every day so it is important that they can find it as well as find their way around it. So, I decided to have them complete a Wiki Quest in order to familiarize them with my wiki, gather information about them, and get them to read my polices and procedures.
The Wiki Quest has them:
- Bookmark our class webpage for daily reference
- Send me an email so they can add me to their contacts
- Fill out a GDoc Survey
- Check out my LiveBinder and email the link to their parents.
- Read my polices and procedures (and copy down important info like what they need to bring to class each day and when I assign homework).
All students finished within the class period last year. Those who finished early got to start on their first homework assignment. The first assignment is a short cumulative review and instructions to ask their parents to read my LiveBinder.
I Speak Math 
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What a great idea Julie! I have a wiki, but this year we are switching to a google site that all four 7th grade math teachers are on. It would be interesting to adapt this for our google site.
Thanks. I love all things Google! I’d love to hear how it goes.
One question. Can your students create their own pages on your Goggle site? My students all create their own wiki pages now.
I love the Wiki Quest! It’s an awesome way to get some administrative things done and get students (and parents) acquainted with some of the resources needed for class.
Great post, Julie! I have two questions: can you say more about how you use LiveBinder? And what do your students do with their own wiki pages? Thanks for the great ideas!!
I use the LiveBinder to explain my policies and procedures, as well as all of the things we do in my classroom. I have many students who are new to middle school as well as my school. I really wanted parents to be informed so I thought this would be the best way to do it. We have a middle school orientation night but there are 7 teachers that speak and we only have about two hours. I leave it up as a resource for parents all year. My student add the electronic projects that they do for my class to their wiki pages. To get a better idea you can check out their pages here. http://mathreuls.pbworks.com/w/page/42289433/6th%20Grade%20Wiki%20Pages.
Love that idea! We are using My Big Campus, so maybe I could come up with a MBC Quest 🙂 hmmmm…. 😉
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