First Days: Setting a Positive Climate

As the first days of school approach, we aim to set the tone for our classes and to get to know our students. Many have shared ideas about ways to approach these initial days.

• Edutopia offers ideas under 4 four categories in this post, Building A Positive Community in Any Classroom. Many of these ideas work for other times of the year as well. 
• From 26 Questions Every Student Should Be Able to Answer pick a few and decide how to adapt them to your classroom setting.

• Shaelynn Farnsworh, an educational blogger with a focus on literacy, shares these ideas Kicking Off Back to School With Camera Fun. As a camera buff, I illustrate one of her ideas, creating a 6 Word Memoir alongside a personal photo. 

• In the post 8 Back-to-School Ideas That Will Get Students Learning and Laughing, Katie Dunn recaps some classic icebreakers. 

November Learning, an organization founded by famed educator Alan November, provides these videos of educators offering their ideas found on this website page,  "First 5 Days of School."