You Have It - What Will You Do With It Now?

Have you been thinking about what you will do the first day of school?  Is that the same as last year and the year before?  Will it change to incorporate the technology you are beginning to implement?  Here are some stolen ideas that you could think about using.  To me, these said technology will be integrated in the class from day one.  If you have other ideas that you plan to use, please add a comment and share with the rest of us.

• Several teachers said they create a quiz or an interest survey. Instead of pencil and paper create a form in Google Docs and have the students complete it that way. Or another suggestion was, on your class blog or wiki, post the survey or quiz there and have the students post their answers. While it is important for the teacher to know the learning styles or interests of the students it is important for the kids to know each others as well. Other teachers have the students create the rules for the class. Again, a great way for students to collaborate would be to use a Google Doc, Wiki or Blog.
• From deenawarwick: I teach 4th Grade on on the first day of school, I always give my students a pop quiz. Every question on the quiz is about me: where I'm from, my likes, dislikes, etc. It is the funniest thing to watch the kids scramble for answers and then read the answers they chose. At the end of the quiz, I usually show a power point revealing the answers. In the past, I would have students volunteer answers themselves during the answer portion, but this year I think I am going to have students create their own power points to reveal their answers. This will give them an opportunity to become familiar with some of the technology we will be using this year along with getting to know each other.
• From mldesilva: This year I have made a (electronic) sticky notes board at http://stixy.com. I have a welcome sticky on the board explaining to students that I would like each of them to drag a sticky to the board and on it to introduce themselves and tell us something about themselves that they would like to share with the class. They can add pictures to their sticky, link a document, change the color, pattern, etc. The goal is to be to get them to use technology in a very easy way to start the year. It is the simplest program, yet it will get the job done. In the end, we will have this great board covered with information about my students. They are able to be creative, share something about themselves, and feel empowered that they created something on their first day.