Do you remember tension you feel every time meeting a new person? No doubt, we fear everything we are uncertain about. Thus, getting to know new people is a matter of time. It becomes even twice harder to establish liaison with students you meet for the first time, as you do not feel the audience and have to hold a lesson.
First day school activities eliminate dead silence and all inconveniences related to getting to know each other. Although they should be chosen and held properly not to raise any personal questions or hurt anyone. We have picked up a few activities to kick start your introductory lessons and get all the students involved in learning.
Learning Styles
This type of activity assists in getting to know your students better. Dividing learners into 3 groups: audio, visual and kinesthetic, will help them comprehend information better. You as a teacher will get a positive feedback and your students’ progress. It is all due to the manuals you may develop while preparing for classes according to 3 types of learning styles. You may use VARK Questionnaire or any other test defining learning style.
Engaging Question
This is a universal type of activity as you may apply it either presenting a new topic or revising a previous one. Just pick up a topical question in your science and ask students to dwell on it. This type of assignment provides an observance of different outlook on one and the same concept. If to apply while revising a topic, engaging question develops critical thinking.
Icebreaker
The icebreaker activities may be different from asking students to complete sentences regarding your subject to back-to-back activities. We, at Unicheck, would like to suggest you to implement an ice-breaker consisting of 3 main questions: student’s name, type of activities he/she admires, things he/she expects to get while learning this subject.
Image Description and Interpretation
You have to prepare several pictures with blurred painting on them. Ask students to guess what is depicted, as well as hypothetical reasons for making such a drawing. This type of activity forces imagination and can be a smooth introduction to a class. After that you may compare students’ ideas with the real content of pictures.
Syllabus Speed Dating
Syllabus Speed Dating was represented by Karl Eifler, American education professor. You can simply make your students get acquainted within seconds. Divide students into 2 groups, and give one group a syllabus. Students sit opposite one another, and ask 2 questions, one – regarding syllabus, another – any private question.
Career Prospects
Ask your students to write about their career goals by answering simple questions: what career they would like to pursue in a couple of years, knowledge and skills they need for that, how namely your subject can be beneficial to achieve their goal. This type of assignment is favorable for making students start thinking about their career, so that their learning in college could be more valuable for them.
Wrapping It Up
Having your first lesson with the audience you absolutely don’t know is always an awkward moment. You don’t really know how to engage and get acquainted properly. The assignments we have outlined above will help stir audience and create a friendly atmosphere for further effective collaboration.
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