First Days

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First Days
By Brooke

The first week of school I like to get procedures and policies out of the way. I issue textbooks the 2nd week of school. On the first day, I like to review my syllabus, yes that does take a whole class period (I teach CORE
Lang. Arts and History, so I have my kids for 2 class periods). My syllabus includes class rules (be respectful, be prepared, be prompt, there are 2 more, oops!), homework and bathroom policies, a brief outline of projects for each quarter (with an explanation that projects may change at my discretion). Believe it or not when you actually go through and discuss all of this it does

take a lot of time! I also have a page on the back for parents to sign after they have read and discussed the syllabus with their child (this saved my butt this year!).That is all I plan for my first day. Seating charts and textbooks can wait until week 2. There is so much to do without books for the first week, get to know your students. Explain your expectations and how you grade, etc.