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The bell rings and the students come pouring in to the first day of school. Excitement and a bit of chaos fill the air as well as some nervous anticipation – not just from the students but also from the teachers.
Yes, the first day of school is extremely exciting, but those first few hours with your students are also critically important. In fact, they can actually make or break the entire school year. You’ve got to start out with the right classroom management strategies. And there’s also quite a few mistakes to avoid.
10 Things Not to Do on the First Day of School
- Let the little things go. The biggest mistake I made during my first year of teaching was letting little things go. A little talking here, a student with their head down there – no biggie, right? Wrong. When we let the little things go, we give our students the impression that we either don’t notice or don’t care about their behavior. And the problem is that those little things won’t stay little; they’ll quickly escalate to full-blown problems. The answer? Simply address the small things with a simple statement such as “Greg, please sit up. Thank you.” Check out my post “The Tiny Mistake that Could Ruin Your Whole Year” for more details on this topic.
- Lay down the law. My personality doesn’t lean this direction, but I’ve seen teachers, in an attempt to avoid letting the little things go, take the opposite extreme. They decide they need to lay down the law and show the kids who’s boss. So they jump on any small infraction and whack the kids with the biggest punishment possible to show them that they will not tolerate misbehavior. This isn’t a wise approach either. Yes, you need to address the little things, but often all that’s needed is a verbal correction. And if consequences are in order, give appropriate ones; don’t inflate them just to scare the students. Check out my posts “Should Teachers Lay Down the Law?” for more thoughts about this.
- Make it a “fun day.” Okay, yes, the first day of school should be kind of fun and exciting. But you shouldn’t intentionally make it a “fun day” or a “party day.” If you do, you are setting a very bad precedent and are just asking for your students to be out of control. Instead, start off the school year as structured as possible. Then, once the students are used to structure you should be able to add in some fun activities without losing control.
- Go over all your procedures. Please don’t torture your students by spending the whole class going over a sheet that contains all your procedures. This is so boring, and it’s probably also what every other teacher is doing. Yes, you absolutely need to teach your procedures, but you should teach them as they come up, not all at once on the first day. And if you have procedures written on a handout, just let your students read them for homework. (p.s. if you’re wondering how to teach procedures, check out my posts “How to Teach Procedures that Your Students Will Actually Follow.“)
- Spend more than 30 seconds talking about fire drills. Okay, if you teach elementary you might be justified in taking more like 2-5 minutes. But for middle school and high school, please don’t. Just don’t. These poor students are hearing about fire drills in every class, and it’s not like they’ve never done one before. Furthermore, it’s not as if they’re going to remember exactly which direction they’re supposed to leave the building in each of their 8 classes. Instead, go over fire drill procedures as quickly as possible. Then later in the week you can go over them in more detail when the students’ brains aren’t being overloaded with procedures.
- Dress down. Even if you typically dress somewhat casually, the first day of school is not the time to dress down. Your students only get one first impression of you, so the first day of school is the time to pull out the most professional outfit you have. Check out the posts “Do Teachers Really Need to Dress Professionally?” and “How to Dress Professionally on a Teachers’ Income” for more thoughts on when dressing professionally actually matters and how to do it on a budget.
- Just wing it. If you try to wing the first day of school you will probably survive it just fine, but you’re also wasting an incredible opportunity to start the year off right. Instead, plan every minute so that you are prepared, confident, and organized. The best way to start class is to have some type of simple assignment ready for the students as they enter the class. This will keep them occupied while you deal with the inevitable confusions of the first few moments of class.
- Let students choose their own seats. Even if you plan to allow students to choose their own seats at some point in the future, you still want to assign seats on the first day. Why? First, because it will help you learn their names more quickly. And, second, because allowing them to choose seats and then trying to figure out who is in which seat wastes a whole lot of time. In addition to having a seating chart ready, plan a way to tell students their seats as they enter class instead of after they’ve already sat down. For example, have the seating chart displayed on a smart board or projector. Or, have each students’ name and seat number on a post-it note on the wall so they can quickly find theirs and locate their seat.
- Pass out textbooks one by one. This may not seem like a big deal, but it can really waste a lot of time to call your students out one by one to come up and receive their textbook. Instead, come up with a way to hand them out quickly. I typically had them set out at the end of each row, and the students would simply pick up their stack and pass them back. This means I invested time beforehand writing down all the #’s and putting each student’s name in their book, but it was worth it to help streamline the process.
Your goal should be to actually teach something in each class.
- Waste a single moment. Plan through each procedure and activity and find the way to do it as efficiently as possible. Your goal should be to actually teach something in each class. And that’s not going to happen unless you’re very intentional about being incredibly efficient and focused.
Want more back-to-school tips?
Teach 4 the Heart founder Linda Kardamis wrote Create Your Dream Classroom specifically to help teachers revamp their classrooms and prepare to have the best start of school ever. And no, you don’t have to worry about finishing an entire book before school starts. The Back-to-School Power Pack will guide you straight to information you need to start the school year right. Click to read reviews or order it now.
Plan to stop DISRUPTIONS before they start
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Don’t expect to get to everything you wrote in your planbook for the 1st day!
Right- you should give it a lot more time than that since students are learning with you! It’s always important to keep that humble mindset that students are growing with you and as their leader you have their pace set.
I think its important NOT to make the first class all about “YOU”. Yes, you will go over the syllabus, classroom rules and procedures, assign textbooks, etc. All of that is important. I also think its vital to actually TEACH the first day. It sets a precedent for your (high) expectations for the rest of the year. BUT don’t forget to do something fun! I have the students complete a “get to know you” form to share some personal and practical things about themselves to help me get to know them. We also play ice breaker games to help the kids get to know each other. I think those activities are really important in building rapport and creating that safe, comfortable classroom environment we all want!
How about teaching kindergarten should start teaching first day or start with some activities like colouring
This advice is more geared towards upper elementary through secondary school. Colouring would be totally appropriate for kindergarten – although if it were me, I’d plan at least some academic activity the first day, too.
Indeed Linda Kardamis, I would make sure I leave excellent first impression the first day of school to the entire class students for successful academic year.
SomE very good suggestions.
I always teach math on the first day of school and send home homework. In the afternoon I always ha e an art project that includes cutting, coloring, and pasting. All these allow me the opportunity to observe and evaluate their abilities…even on the first day (I teach a 1/2 multiage)
I do the same thing.
Great stuff! I’m starting my 9th year & have never thought of/read some of this!
I think its important NOT to make the first class all about “YOU”. Yes, you will go over the syllabus, classroom rules and procedures, assign textbooks, etc. All of that is important. I also think its vital to actually TEACH the first day. It sets a precedent for your (high) expectations for the rest of the year. BUT don’t forget to do something fun! I have the students complete a “get to know you” form to share some personal and practical things about themselves to help me get to know them. We also play ice breaker games to help the kids get to know each other. I think those activities are really important in building rapport and creating that safe, comfortable classroom environment we all want!
Some good thoughts–thanks for posting! I’m a veteran middle school teacher who DOES allow students to choose their own seats.(unless some medical reason has been brought to my attention & student has specific needs). And it works just FINE! Students are already nervous & I don’t know them anyway–this allows me to observe how they make their choice. They are glad to have a choice & it eases nerves a bit. If it is not a good choice, then I can easily reassign later.
I have found that having students choose their own seats causes some students anxiety. Think about the student who doesn’t know anybody, or the student who doesn’t feel like he fits in. These students hate choosing their own seats especially on the first day.
I let my students choose their own seats as well. But my choice is less of a choice on my part. I often do not get my rosters for a class until the morning of. Even then they are often wrong. I would never be able to assign seats because students would be missing from my list, and such. I’d end up giving them more anxiety and issues with assigned seats in this case.
This is true for me, too. Sometimes even the class schedule changes midway through the first day if it “isn’t working”. Plus, in our tiny town, I know almost every student personally and can probably tell you where they’re going to sit anyway.
I allow them to choose their seat also. They can remain in that seat as long as they make good choices. It gives them a bit of say- so and some accountability right of the bat. A couple usually need to move within a day or two, but most handle it fine.
I let kids choose seats, too.
1) It lets me learn their names with their face, and not a desk, so I’m more likely to remember them in the hallway. I often have them switch seats during the first week of classes, too. So I get more practice at putting names to faces.
2) I get to see who they choose to sit to, and sneakily assess problem situations that I might not know about if I make the seating assignments blindly (Like chatty conversationalists, back row hiders, etc). Or, see pairings of kids that work really well together that I wouldn’t know as soon either (some bffs are REALLY into school, and get more out of it when they can jump into activities together).
If all goes well, I’ll often base my seating assignment on their choices (and on the requirements of IEPs, special accomodations, and student needs). Also, I let them knoe on the first day that where they choose to sit that day won’t neccessarily be their seat the next.
Agree, I also let students choose own seats in gr. 6. This avoids social drama that may already be going on that I am unaware of, and lets me observe who they like to be with, how much self control they have, and their personal seating preferences. I always tell them that if they can handle the spot they picked, they can keep it for a while.
I also let my students choose their own seats. This is because I often do not have a roster with any significant amount of advanced notice. It also changes throughout the day, often while I am teaching a class. I don’t give seating charts until almost 2 weeks in because by then my roster has stabilized and I’ve gotten to know students well enough to move them around.
In elementary, I allow my students (Parents help), choose their seat when/if they come to orientation. I give them a sticky note and allow them to choose. They write their name on the sticky note and leave it on the desk. That way, the parents can help guide this process, give me insight on their parenting style, and find out about medical reasons for sitting in certain places. A few years ago, I had 2 boys that had been best friends through school and chose seats next to each other. With the parents present, I warned the boys that they will be moved if it becomes a distraction. The boys were well behaved all year so they could sit next to each other…even when I changed the room arrangement and groups. Set up the high expectations and it will work. You find out a ton about the students when they choose their own seat.
I disagree with not going over procedures the first day. I always did, and I rarely had to bring them up again. Also, I had to give out texts one by one because I had to record the number of the textbook for each student. But I always had time for a mini-lesson, as we were on an 87 minute block schedule.
I wrote the number of the text book on the outside and matched all books #32 together. Student 32 received book 32 for reading, LA, math, science and history. This worked well for me. Maybe it may help you too.
I have to give out textbooks this way as well. We do not write in the books so I can’t really assign ahead of time and I don’t always know who is going to be in the class. This year, I instructed the students to get a book and sit down. Then I asked for them to tell me the book number when I called their name. It went much quicker.
This seems like the type of teacher I wouldn’t like.
I disagree with not going over procedures the first day. I always did, and I rarely had to bring them up again. Also, I had to give out texts one by one because I had to record the number of the textbook for each student. But I always had time for a mini-lesson, as we were on an 87 minute block schedule.
I would suggest that you don’t skip lunch in an attempt to fit a few more things in. Stop and breathe for a minute even if the teacher in you wants to keep going. You are better off taking a moment to refuel mental and physically!
Wishing all of you a fabulous year 🙂
Adriana
I disagree with letting the kids pick their own seats. I always let them pick on the first day, so I can see who chooses the front, who tries to hide in the back, who is friends already, etc. The first thing they do is make a table tent with their name on it, so while they do their student survey, I memorize their names and their faces. Usually only takes about 15 minutes, and it’s important to me that I can say goodbye to them at the end of the day by name. They have some ownership as well, in an area that doesn’t really matter to me (what seat their hind-end is in). Thank you, love and logic. Issues of preferential seating in IEPs and 504s can be addressed the second day.
I disagree with not going over procedures the first day. I always did, and I rarely had to bring them up again. Also, I had to give out texts one by one because I had to record the number of the textbook for each student. But I always had time for a mini-lesson, as we were on an 87 minute block schedule.
I disagree with not going over procedures the first day. I always did, and I rarely had to bring them up again. Also, I had to give out texts one by one because I had to record the number of the textbook for each student. But I always had time for a mini-lesson, as we were on an 87 minute block schedule.
My goodness I don’t understand why you felt the need to post your comment like 5 different times when it said the exact same thing. (Emily) Anyway, I agree you should go over procedures the 1st day but you shouldn’t go on &on about it, they just tune out.
I have been teaching 25 years and you are exactly right on all 10!
I believe that the first day sets the tone for the rest of the year. I teach high school and I do go over procedures on the first day, but I might be open to fixing that! I also jump right into content on the first day to get their feet wet! I am usually more tired the first day then any other day!
I had this year’s class model my procedures for next year’s class. They each got to explain part of a procedure in one or two sentences. I have a Power Point presentation for next year and I inserted the videos. I’m expecting this will save me time and energy, plus I think the new students will be much more engaged. It’s much more entertaining than just listening to me talk!
Love that idea!!
I would like to look at your article “The Tiny Mistake that Could Ruin Your Whole Year,” but the link won’t go, and when I searched the title, it said there was a database error when I clicked that link.
The link should be fixed now. Sorry about that.
Hi, I will be a teacher for the first time this school year.. I am really afraid and terrible so I am always reading a lot of articles that deliver for me as a beginner pieces of advice.. However your articles were incredibly helpful and useful
thank you from my heart
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Letting students pick their own seats allows me to see who knows whom, where established groups are and other group dynamics.
The one year I randomly assigned students a numbered seat was the year it took me three times longer to learn names.
This is just what works for me.
(and I’m known for not changing seats unless there are circumstances)
This is a great podcast! I just got my first permanent teaching position for this upcoming school year, and while I’ve done long-term subbing before, they were always for after the holidays. Needless to say, I’m a little nervous about how I’m going to come across to my new students since I’M the one coming up with the rules and procedures. This helps me to think about the little things that I tend to forget about!
i agree with you
because you’re right
ok so i’m going to a new high school in arlington and im really nervous. what happens if they dont like me? what happens if ppl bully me just for how i look? idk what to do. i’ve been told that ppl with be my friends on the first day and some ppl won’t, but that doesn’t matter, the reason why im leaving a comment is bc i need advice from you guys and ik you guys could help me?
I would highly recommend the book…Teach Like A Champion 2.0!!!! by Doug Lemov
i need help, im going to a new school a high school in arlington and i need advice? please? anyone of you could help it would be nice
I just wanted you all to know that your comments are deeply considered. I’m a first year teacher, about to teach 5 rotations of 30 sixth grade students in math. I’m confident in my content knowledge, but I have been having nervous feelings about my first day. I want to get to know my students, but handing out a sheet requiring them to list all their favorites seems generic. I’m pretty sure all teachers do the same thing. I need to research a better way. I plan to go over procedures that are specific to my class. Good luck to everyone!! Thank you again for all the helpful advice!!
Before the first day I alphabetically arrange my students by their 1st name when I seat them. This allows me a little help with learning their names quickly. I also list students in my grade book/online progress book so that when I enter grades I don’t have to waste precious time thinking about their last names, since most students only put their 1st name on papers. (Also, when I take up papers to grade they are already in order for my gradebook). I take upwards of 30 to 45 grades per class, per 9 weeks and this can be very helpful with my time management as a teacher).
This is so helpful thank you for sharing!
My school tells us what to cover the first two days. It’s procedures, procedures, procedures.
I’m not sure how restrictive your instructions are, but you can totally practice procedures AND whet their appetite for what you’ll be learning, too.
As a student, I can see how many of these could be helpful from a teacher’s perspective, but concerning tips 1, 3, 6, and 7, I would absolutely disagree. Maybe these will help you “control” your class (which isn’t a good mentality to have in the first place), but I can guarantee you’re only setting yourself up for your students to dislike you. Chances are, students already know your reputation and teaching style from your past students, so you’re not fooling anyone by dressing formal and having your schedule laid out “to the minute”. You’re simply setting an unreasonable precedent for yourself by making students think you will ALWAYS have a detailed plan each day, so unless you’re willing to hold yourself to that standard, and hold yourself accountable to be “THAT” teacher, you’re not doing yourself any good, and are, yet again, setting yourself up for your students to dislike you. By being this generally strict, tediously planned out teacher, students don’t feel that they are in a comfortable learning environment, and I can tell you there is NOTHING worse than having a teacher that isn’t approachable. Want your students to respect you and behave in your class? The answer is definitely not by being strict and giving out busy work. Students won’t care to focus, or bother to learn if they feel that the teacher is only working to complete lesson plans on their own time and especially if they dread coming to your class. Planning things out to the minute will only do yourself harm. While planning is a necessity, every class is different and lessons should be personal to those groups of students and catered towards their questions, needs, and learning styles. Please consider your students and their potentially awful, or potentially great, first day as your priority. By prioritizing YOUR schedule, needs, mood, and desire to “actually teach something in class”, you’re only setting yourself up for failure for the rest of the year. Thought a student’s advice and personal experience might be beneficial 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing your perspective. I want to clarify a bit, since I know it’s hard to get a true flavor of my recommendations from just one article. You are absolutely right that teachers need to be approachable – that’s so important! If you read through the various articles on the site and listen to our podcast, I hope you’d be able to tell how much we value good student-teacher relationships. However, I’ve also learned from sad experience that an out-of-control classroom can ruin that relationship just as fast as anything else. The best teachers are both kind and strict – building important relationships while also holding students accountable.
I see that this post was created several years ago…and I hope that can only mean that several of your “not-to-do’s” has changed due to perspective over these years. I am a 20+ year teacher and I can tell you that I (respectfully) disagree with you on a lot of your advice. I did teach Pre-K for 10 years which molded me into the teacher that I am today. I have been in upper elementary every since and I can tell you that, even in upper elementary, these students need to walk into our building feeling like this is going to be a fun place to learn. We do have a lot of fun the first day and they leave school WANTING to come back the next day. I feel that many of your suggestions would create quite the opposite. We also have school t-shirts printed each year that we wear on the first day. This helps parents identify school faculty and staff. I think “dressing down” is yet another way to make parents and students feel welcomed and not so intimidated. I know that we may have to agree to disagree, but I have found so many positives in implementing many practices that are in stark contrast to your suggestions. I do not mean this to sound like I am attacking or anything…just want to offer a little different perspective and how this can be equally effective.
Thank you for sharing your feedback! I can see how you might have a different perspective as a Pre-K teacher, as it’s usually their first school experience. We aren’t completely against fun, just cautioning against out of control fun. 😉
Agreed!? The first day is suppose to be fun, full of team building activities and individual ones. My school uses the flex seating idea and we don’t have assigned seating. Some of these suggestions may be good for a first year educator but a well seasoned one knows what works for them. The “X List of Don’ts and Dos” for the first day aren’t one size fits all, even with this list. Just comes off generic like other educator blogs and reworded.
Thanks for your thoughts, Rob! Different teachers definitely have different styles that work for them. 🙂 I definitely did team building/get to know each other activities on the first day, but they were also structured. 🙂