Back to School: Same Old, Same Old?
It's back to school for the Lang Ladies. There is only one chance to make a first impression, right? So why are we going to spend the first day doing the same predictable thing that we did last year? I am not a fan of spending the first precious moments of a school year on droning through the syllabus, handing out the bureaucracy, and going over the student handbook. These are important things, certainly, which need to be done, but there is plenty of time to do those things on day 2 or 3. Here are some funky fresh ideas to make your same old same old, memorable, motivating, car-ride home discussion worthy, and bring them back the next day wanting to learn more language!
1. Get them up and moving around! They are expecting to come in sit down and listen to you tell them about their book, the rules, the supplies, etc. Save that for later and start class with a meet and greet in Spanish or French. If they are novice speakers, teach them quickly to ask and say their name and then have them move around and greet classmates. If they are more advanc ed learners, give them and alias, via an ID card, and have them introduce themselves as their alias. They can even ask more involved questions: Where are you from, what's your phone number etc. If you don't have a set of ID cards, check these out.
2. Show them some culture! This is an especially fun idea for novice students that may not know anything about countries that you are going to study throughout the year. Why not find a great video on youtube, there are so many travel videos with facts and music, and make a fun game to go along with the video on Kahoot or Quizziz.
3. Gotta go over the syllabus! If you really can't avoid going over your syllabus on day 1, make it memorable! How about letting the kids take control? Give them the syllabus in small groups with a trival pursuit style game, questions on one side of the card and answers on the other. Each group should have a complete set, so that they answer all the questions you make, leading them to look thoroughly through the syllabus.
4. Getting to Know You: Play a getting to know you game on the first day. With novice mids through intermediate Spanish learners, try our dice getting to know you game. For advanced levels, give them a bag of M&Ms to draw candies from (5-7) for each candy, they have to give a fact about themselves in the target language, ie. favorite movie, place they visited over the summer, etc. For true beginners, use the name game to get to know learners.
Bottom line: the first day sets the tone for the whole year, so why not make it dynamic, student centered, and memorable? Why not make it Funky Fresh!
