Season 4: Episode 1 First classes

1. How do you feel about first classes? Good, excited, dreading, nervous?

2. What things should be accomplished on the first day of class:

     course overview and admin

     getting to know each other

     names

     presenting material

     going over expectations

     student responsibilities

     assessment

     Students strengths and skills

     Setting the tone

     Need analysis

     What are your goals

      Resolutions

3. Is it a good idea to start with a game on the first day of class?

4. Is the mobile phone conversation now a staple of first classes?

Some of the sites we used are:

The game that Shaun played can be found here: http://www.braingle.com/brainteasers/47005/off-with-their-heads.html

Time capsule. You’ll need a small box or tube to act as the time capsule. You’ll need one for each class you want to do the activity with.  In class, ask the students to take a piece of paper and create a self-portrait of themselves.  They should add a sample of their handwriting giving a small profile of who they are and their English goals for the year. Collect the work and put it in the time machine. Seal it with some sticky tape.  In the last lesson of the year, open the time machine and let students compare how they are now to their time machine portrait.

An alternative way to do this is, perhaps for more digital students,  is to ask them to record a short video of themselves on their mobile phone, which they send to you for safe keeping. At the end of the year they compare themselves with the recording, hopefully noting how much they have improved at English.