• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Advertising
  • Write for Us
  • Job Board
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
    • Consulting
    • Advertising
  • Shop
    • Books
    • Shirts

The Educators Room logo

  • Start Here
    • Impact Statements: Teacher Expertise
    • Newsletter
  • Browse Topics
    • Content Strategies
      • Literacy
      • Mathematics
      • Social Studies
      • Educational Technology
      • ELL & ESOL
      • Fine Arts
      • Special Education
      • Popular Topics
        • Teacher Self-Care
        • Instructional Coach Files
        • Common Core
        • The Traveling Teacher
        • The Unemployed Teacher
        • The New Teacher Chronicles
        • Book Review
        • Grade Levels
          • Elementary (K-5)
          • Middle (6-8)
          • Adult
          • New Teacher Bootcamp
          • Hot Button Topics
            • Menu Item
              • Principals' Corner
              • Charter Schools
              • Confessions of a Teacher
              • Interviews
              • The State of Education
              • Stellar Educator of the Week
            • Menu
              • How to Fix Education
              • Featured
              • Ask a Teacher
              • Teacher Branding
              • Current Events
  • Podcasts
  • Courses
    • Practicing Self-Care to Avoid Teacher Burnout- An 8 Week Course
    • Becoming An Educational Consultant
    • Teacher Branding 101:Teachers are The Experts
    • The Learning Academy
    • Books
    • Shirts
  • Education in Atlanta
  • Teacher Self-Care
  • The Coach's Academy
menu icon
go to homepage
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Advertising
  • Write for Us
  • Job Board
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
    • Consulting
    • Advertising
  • Shop
    • Books
    • Shirts
×

August 2, 2016 Elementary School

Making All Students Feel At Ease

  • About the Author
  • Latest Posts

About Paula Kay Glass

Paula has a Masters degree in education with an emphasis on child development and child behavior. She has been an educator for 22 years. She founded a private elementary school in 2003 and is now working through the Moore Public School District in Moore, Oklahoma as a special education teacher. Paula is also a contributing writer to The Huffington Post and has a children's book published. Paula has three grown children and resides in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. You can contact her at glass foundations@sbcglobal.net or paulaglass@moorepublicschools.com.
  • Staying Within Law: Special Education Teachers and IDEA - September 1, 2020
  • Teaching With Minecraft EDU - April 3, 2019
  • Self-Care Is Priority One for This Teacher - February 13, 2019
  • Preparing Students For Teacher Absences - February 12, 2019
  • Respect in the Classroom: Earned, Not Expected - February 11, 2019
  • Dissing the Family Crazies: A Christmas Story - January 6, 2019
  • Band-Aiding The Mental Health of Our Children - November 23, 2018
  • We Must Love Them - November 5, 2018
  • Take One For the Team: The Need for Self-Care - August 19, 2018
  • The New Teacher Smell - August 19, 2018

It is so important to make our students feel comfortable upon the first day of school. We need to remember the backgrounds that our students come from. And we can’t assume that just because we have kids from middle-class homes that they are coming from places that have everything together.

We also need to remember the kids who are new to the school, or those who are maybe joining an inclusion class from being in a lab all day the year before. Most kids will come back eager to see their friends and ready to make new ones, but some kids will not have anyone.

[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent="yes" overflow="visible"][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type="1_1" background_position="left top" background_color="" border_size="" border_color="" border_style="solid" spacing="yes" background_image="" background_repeat="no-repeat" padding="" margin_top="0px" margin_bottom="0px" class="" id="" animation_type="" animation_speed="0.3" animation_direction="left" hide_on_mobile="no" center_content="no" min_height="none"]I usually try to play some games on the first day of school, just to ‘break the ice’, even with my young kids. Click To Tweet

One of the games we play is called ‘Piece It Together’. I have puzzle pieces from old puzzles that I have spray painted. Each child gets a piece. When I say go they have to find one other person that their piece fits together with. When everyone is matched up, I have them stop and visit with that person. When I say go again I have the pairs team up with another pair. Again when I say stop the groups visit with each other. Sometimes I will have the groups go and completely match up until all the pieces are together and we talk about how we are a group and all pieces need a partner. The kids love this game and it works really well when you have a large group of kiddos.

Another game I play is called ‘Find It!’ and it uses a map that I’ve drawn of my classroom. The kids have to physically go to each place that has a star and write down the name of the students I have at those places. I then have the kids gather around and ask each student to choose their favorite area of the classroom. Those kids come together and visit with each other. This activity works well for smaller groups of kids.

Finally, I have a game called ‘I Have, Who Has’, which is a knock off of the science and language arts games by the same title. I have programmed index cards with different activities that kids do during the summer, such as swimming, going to the lake, going on vacation. I hand all of the cards out, but I keep the first one. It reads, “I have flippers and swim in the water. I splash and make people laugh. Who has…” and the kids will usually fill in the blank for me with, “dolphins!” or “Sea World!”. Then the person who has the matching card gets to read it. Inevitably, at least one student will always identify with one clue and will want to share a story which leads to a discussion with other kids. This game takes some preparation ahead of time, so be sure you are ready to do it.

What kinds of activities do you do in your classroom on the first day of school to ensure that all kids feel at ease?

students

 [/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Related posts:

Default ThumbnailMaking Incentives Work for Students Default ThumbnailIntegrating the Arts Default ThumbnailFormative Assessment: Getting Started Default ThumbnailFirst Day Jitters
« 40+ Tips for New Teachers - From Veteran Teachers (Uncensored)
Using Literature For Relevancy »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

The Educator's Room was launched in 2012 to amplify the voice of educators. To date, we have over 45+ writers from around the world and boast over twelve million page views. Through articles, events, and social media we will advocate for honest dialogue with teachers about how to improve public education. This mission is especially important when reporting on education in our community; therefore, we commit our readers to integrity, accuracy, and independence in education reporting. To join our mailing list, click here.

What we do

At The Educator's Room, we focus on amplifying and honoring the voice of educators as experts in education. To date, we have over 40 staff writers/teachers from around the world.

Popular Posts

  • Ask The Educator's Room - Picking Battles, Fighting Loneliness
  • Looping Kept Me From Quitting Teaching. Here's Why
  • Educators Need Safe Spaces Too
  • It's Time to End Elitist Music Education

Featured On

Buy Our Books/Courses

How to Leave Your Job in Education

Practicing Self-Care to Avoid Teacher Burnout

Using Your Teacher Expertise to Become an Educational Consultant

Check out our books on teaching and learning!

The Learning Academy

Footer

↑ back to top

About

  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclaimer
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Accessibility Policy

Newsletter

  • Sign Up! for emails and updates

Contact

  • Contact
  • Services
  • Media Kit
  • FAQ

 

Copyright © 2021 The Educator's Room.