Hello there!

I’ve been taking a little break this past month, but for good reason! This school year brought many changes-a new role, sending my oldest to pre-k, and a new baby in the family!

I was at school for 3 weeks with kids before maternity leave, so I wanted to share what I did. I started seeing individuals/kids the first day, and really concentrated on that. Although I got organized in terms of upcoming testing/assessment, I did start any before I left.

The first week:

As I mentioned in this organization post, I created a set of “getting to know you” cards and used them for every single group I had. It ended up working perfectly! Starting the first week, and especially because I was leaving, I structured my sessions like I normally would: a greeting, share, review of expectations, and activity.

We used a set of these cards from my TPT store for each group, depending on the developmental level of the students, how well they knew each other, and how well I knew them.

I started off having them toss a sticky ball at my whiteboard. That lasted almost a week, and it fell off the wall…oops! So then we used it with Jenga. It was a great way for me to get to know the kids!

The second week:

Depending on the goals of my students, week two consisted of a review of tools and an activity.

With some friends, we did a review of expected/unexpected behaviors, whole body listening/personal space, and got to know new friends in the group through friend files.

With another group of students, I started my “7 self regulation tools” unit in small group form. I think this is a GREAT way to reinforce tools that kids can used throughout school, and remind them of the expectations for using them. I never get tired of this unit!

If neither of these fit, I did a quick review of whatever the student’s goals were (5 point scale etc.) to get some baseline data. I always use these first sessions to get baseline data for the future!

What did you do in your first weeks of school?