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First Day of School Ice-Breaker: Ask Me Anything

08.14.2023 by Judi Holst // Leave a Comment

What is an easy ice-breaker for your first day of school?

Do you want a no-prep, easy activity to engage your students on the first day of school? Seriously, this takes no preparation at all, which is why I loved starting the school year this way.

Whenever I went into a new class as a student, I would always have a million questions going on in my mind. Most of them weren’t about the actual class. I wondered why something in particular was hanging on the wall. I wondered if the teacher loved dogs as much as I do. I wondered if the teacher was married. I wondered if the teacher had a good sense of humor. I wondered if this was my assigned seat. I wondered the cute boy’s name sitting next to me. 🙂

However, most of my teachers wouldn’t talk about this stuff, and I left class with just as many questions as I had when I entered. This is why I love this activity.

Cute boy sitting next to me

Ask Me Anything: The Teacher

After attendance, I would sit on a tall stool in front of the classroom, and tell the students that in a moment, I am going to set a timer for five minutes. I told them that they needed to think of at least one question that they wanted to know the answer. Do they see something in the classroom that they wonder about? Do they have a question about the class and what it involves? Do they have a question about me personally? (I also told them that I can refuse to answer any question.).

I teach middle school, so they always asked me my social security number and address. If they asked me age, I told them I was 80, and then said, “Don’t I look great for my age?” Of course, you would find out the instant charmer who would reply that they thought I was only 25. Then I would start the timer and call on people. If there weren’t a lot of questions, I gave them the challenge that I was looking for the most creative person in class. The hands instantly went up, but then I had to be prepared for some weird questions.

Ask Me Anything: The Students

Next, the students are going to do the same activity with each other. My students already sit at tables, but if yours don’t, put them into groups of four. I have them figure out who is the oldest in the group, or whatever question you want to use. Have that person raise their hand. This is a good way to see when each table is ready.

Tell them that as a group, they are going to ask the person with their hand raised any question that they want for one minute (or two minutes if you have enough time). Obviously, that person can refuse to answer a question. I also tell them not to refuse every question, or the people at their table will think they are lame. I role-play this with one table because I also want them to see it isn’t about talking about yourself, if you are the one asking questions. As a teacher, you need to stress that the whole table should ask questions to only the person answering the questions.

Before You Begin

Before you begin, you might want to brainstorm possible questions. I also put up a list of possible questions on the whiteboard, in case they can’t think of any. I usually use my list of attendance questions. I wrote about my attendance questions here: https://judiholst.com/teaching-tip-build-your-culture-and-climate-with-attendance-questions/. You can find a link to the questions at the bottom of the blog post. If you don’t to use the overhead, you could give them examples such as:

What job would you like to have when you turn 16?
What. is the best thing that happened to you last week?
What is your favorite thing in your bedroom?
Who do you wish was in this class, but isn’t?

After Each Student Goes

Then I start the timer for 1-2 minutes, and when the timer stops, I call on a student from each table. They have to tell me who they interviewed and one thing they learned about them. Yes, I make them say the student’s name because it’s important to learn each other’s names as quickly as possible. Then you tell them that the next person to go is sitting clockwise of the last person answering the questions and you start over.

Wrap It Up at the End of Class

At the end of class, you could wrap up this activity by calling on a student and telling them to raise their hand. I use my attendance sheet, since I don’t know their names yet. “Mary Kay, raise your hand. Okay, who can tell me one thing they learned about Mary Kay?” I try to call on people that are not sitting at Mary Kay’s table.

The “Why”

It’s important for students to feel comfortable as quickly as possible in your room. There is time to go over the rules and syllabus another day. This stress-free ice-breaker doesn’t require students to walk around the room and talk to a bunch of people that they don’t know. My introverted side cringes when I have to do this on the first day of anything. Many students have said that they became friends with another person in my class just from this very first activity. As a bonus, you don’t even have to prepare any materials!

If you would like to read about more first day activities, you can find my blog post here: https://judiholst.com/?s=first+day

5 Tips for Surviving Week One as a (New) Teacher

08.10.2023 by Judi Holst // Leave a Comment

Tip #1: Find Yourself a Mentor

It’s been a “minute” since I have written on my blog. It’s funny how my goal last year was to write on my blog each day or at least once a week. Such a dreamer! So what brings me back? This week, I spoke with one of my friends, a couple of times, who is a brand new teacher to middle school. It reminded me that although the new school year is exciting, it also isn’t easy for new teachers. Sometimes, as veterans, we forget all of those unanswered questions that come up daily for new teachers. So my first piece of advice is to find your “person” that you can talk to without judgement. Don’t hesitate to ask those burning questions that will help you to sleep better at night. Everyone needs a mentor!

Tip #2: Design Your Discipline

I wrote about discipline on my blog awhile ago with some tips that might be helpful, so I won’t go into a lot of detail. You can find it here: https://judiholst.com/5-tips-on-designing-your-discipline/. I remember the days when kids would come in and sit down silently on the first day of school. It was eerie and freaked me out! If you teach secondary school, you know that this isn’t the case. But have heart. You see in the secondary grades, I picture some of my students like peacocks. They walk in, strut their feathers, watch to see who is paying attention, and then establish their dominance. It almost makes me giggle to watch them.

Here’s the thing, though. Watch for these kids. Get them on your side EARLY! Give them things to do for you. Put them in charge. Have them hand out things for you. If you pass something out that will require a trash can later, send that student around to collect the trash. We BOTH know that students aren’t going to get up and throw it away themselves. The peacocks will be the ones, later in the year, that have your back and the other kids will listen to them. Some people may see it as rewarding their behavior, I see it as creating an ally.

Tip #3: Think Positive Intent on Emails From Parents

It’s the first day, and you already get an email from a parent. Your heart starts beating quickly, and you already have thoughts of being fired. You can already picture the parent banging on your principal’s door with their complaint. You are absolutely positive it isn’t an email about how much the child loves your class. Heck, the child hasn’t even gone home yet.

Here is what I want you to do when you read that email. Read the email in the voice of Mary Poppins. Seriously, try it! Don’t read in it in our normal sarcastic “here is the email that talks about everything I’ve done wrong.” Instead, read it in a cheery voice. You see, most parents have positive intent when writing the email. They just have a question that they want answered. Although some people aren’t very good at expressing their thoughts in a positive way, and it hurts your soul, keep in mind that they just want what is best for their child. It usually doesn’t have anything to do with you personally.

Tip #4: Don’t Apologize

While we are on the subject of emails, here is a rule that I have learned along the way. Don’t apologize in your email response, unless you truly did something wrong. It took you hours, or even a day, to get back to the parent? Don’t apologize. Teachers are busy people. You had to speak to the child outside of the room because of behavior? Don’t apologize. I have watched a lot of videos on how to be a leader in business, and this was a tip that was mentioned frequently. Now if you messed up and you need to own it, that is a different story. You are part of a team when it comes to teaching. You, the parent, and the child make up that team. Respond in that manner…as a teammate.

Tip #5: Plan for Back-To-School Night

In our school, Back-to-School Night happens the second week of school. You feel just like you are getting your groove, and then you have to put in TWO 12-13 hour days. It comes up on you quickly. This was always my least favorite day and made me want to crawl out the window. The parents are lovely, it isn’t about that. It just put me out of my comfort zone.

So what do you do for this night? First of all, start taking some pictures of the students in your class now! If you are doing a slideshow for that night, parents always like to see real photos, especially if their child is in the photo. Now think about what you would want to know that night. At our school, the parents follow their child’s schedule and switch classes every 8-10 minutes. So, we have to give the same spiel 6 times, and fast!

Here is what I would want to know: What does a typical class period (or day – for elementary) look like for my child? If I was a fly on the wall, what would I see them doing? As I walk through a typical class period with the parents, this also gives me time to tell them the “why” of what I am doing each day. Why did I start with an attendance question? Why did I play a quick warm-up game to practice a skill? Why did I do a short mini lesson? Why won’t they have a content grade right away because of the pre-assessment? Why don’t I know which speeches the kids were giving each semester? (This was because the students voted on their projects each semester.). It’s a win-win situation for me and the parents. I’m not sure they cared that I went to San Diego State or played softball in high school. That can go on my website for the school. Keep it more “student-oriented” and less about you.

Teacher Hot Line:

When I think about how much a new teacher has to learn, I almost think I should create a teacher hotline. But teachers are broke, so I don’t see anyone paying me for my advice, and having that as a career. Ha. That being said, if you have things that you wonder about as a new teacher, feel free to send me your questions, and I will use them for future blog posts.

Final Extra Credit Tip:

Have faith in yourself! You’ve got this. Good luck this year. Your students are lucky to be in your class.

Teaching Tip: Make Your Class The One They Talk About From Day One!

08.18.2019 by Judi Holst // 1 Comment

Are you the kind of teacher who was dreading the end of summer, or were you excited to get back to a routine and your students? I admit, I was the first example. I didn’t want to give up my lazy mornings, my lunch with friends, my time with my hubby, and just being “Summer Judi.” Believe it or not, not all students will be as excited to be back on their first day either. When you are a middle school teacher, that is not a shocker. Give them time to talk to friends with some ice-breakers.

Day 1 With Staff

On the first day back to work , I dreaded the routine meetings, the absolutely dreaded “skit” of introducing new staff members that we did each year, and I dreaded having to talk to people in the morning. Ha.

Happily, I was surprised my first day back. Our school has a new principal, and he gave his welcome to staff, we didn’t have to do the skit, and the best part was the ice-breaker we did. The staff competed in groups for a “Selfie/’Usie’ Scavenger Hunt.” We broke into groups, making sure we included at least a new staff member, and we were given a list of things we had to find around the school. We had to complete each task, take a picture of the whole group doing it, and then text it to our administrators. Running around the school like our students would, we tried to get it done before everyone else. I’ve included some of the tasks below:

We had to find something with a teacher/school emblem on it:

My favorite, though, was making your principal do something that middle school kids would do; we had him slide down the railing on the stairs:

To be honest, this is the only thing I remember about our first day. I loved being in a group with people I don’t normally see throughout the day, and it was fun to get to know one of our new staff members.

Day 1 With Students

This could be a great activity to do with your students, either with their phones, Ipads, or cameras. Not sure about having your students run around school on the first day? “Roll It Get To Know You” Yahtzee is another fun ice-breaker. I found this as a free download on Teachers Pay Teachers. Thank you, Carol Miller, for offering it for free. I made the mistake of assuming that most kids had played Yahtzee before, and it was more difficult to explain at first than I had planned. They enjoyed the game once they got the hang of it. How do I know? They asked if they could play it again the next day.

What’s the point of this blog post? Don’t be that teacher that goes over the rules and syllabus your very first day. Give kids a chance to get to know each other and have some fun. Be that class that students will talk about when they get home when their parents ask about their day. I have a feeling you will have kids excited to come to your class that very next day.

Whiteboard Trivia

On an extra note, for some students it’s uncomfortable to come in to the classroom for the first time and not know what do until class starts. Write a question on the whiteboard and encourage them to answer it while they are waiting. You can read more about “Whiteboard Trivia” on my old blog.