Getting To Know You...

I've talked about my "Day 1" classroom activity a few time, but never actually explained what it was! Getting to know you're students and building a positive, tight-knit classroom culture is by the far the most important thing that needs to happen the first month of school.  In order to do this teachers try to come up with activities that students will actually be in to and that will help with the goal... I have tried a few over the years that I liked, but decided to do something a little different this year... The get to know you beach ball! Not only did I love the idea of it, but it ended up working even better than I imagined!

Here is my beach ball:

You might be wondering what all the writing is, they are questions that help students get to know you, and each other, and of course helps you as the teacher get to know a little bit about everyone.  I decided to theme my questions but the colored section on the beach ball ( those that know me are absolutely shocked! Not lol), color coding is a major part of my life, as you will come to find out.  

White: Academic/School related questions (ie. easiest subject, most challenging subject, one academic goal, etc)

Green: Favorites (favorite color, movie, tv show, musical artist, etc)

Orange: Do You... (Have any siblings, pets, speak other languages, have a hidden talent, etc)

Blue: Personal Characteristics (personal goal, three adjectives to describe yourself, nickname, if a. Movie was made about your life what actor/actress would you want to play you, etc)

Red: This or That (chocolate or vanilla, pepperoni pizza or cheese pizza, beef or chicken, etc)

Yellow: Dreams (what would your dream vacation be, dream house look like, dream car, dream job, etc)

The get to know you beach ball! Beach ball bought at Target ($1 at end of summer sale), questions/categories written on with a sharpie

The best thing about this beginning of the year activity is that it can be done/used more than once! For the first month of school, any time we had an extra minute or two at the end of class I'd grab it from behind my desk and toss it to a kid.  When I did this the first day of school I had students sit on top of the table, at their assigned spot.  Since that is how the activity was introduced, my students immediately put their stuff away and sit on top of the table at their assigned spot as soon as they see me grab the beach ball.  You could of course have the students sit in their seats if you didn't want them sitting on their tables or desks.  

This activity is so great (can you tell I'm a fan? lol) you could totally use it with another group of people, not just students... Sports team, project team at work, whatever! Can you tell I'm a little excited about it? 

Now for today's outfit! Usually I pick out my outfit the night before, hang it on the hook on the outside of my closet door, set the coordinating jewelry on the bathroom counter, pull out the makeup I'll wear and hair products and set my shoes out.  I do this for two reasons, if I don't plan out my outfit I get really indecisive in the morning and I'd rather spend that time sleeping, the other reason is because I move SO SLOW in the mornings, my brain isn't quite working so I like to have everything planned out.  However, last night I decided to take a candle light bubble bath, put on some slow jams, pour myself a glass of champagne and relax... After said relaxation session I was quite sleepy and decided to just call it a night, without laying out my outfit.  Thankfully, my brain was working this morning, otherwise this could have been disastrous, like navy blue and black together, or gold clothing accents with silver jewelry disastrous! In the end I left the house is a fabulous rock inspired outfit, if I do say so myself :) 

Blazer (Nordstrom Rack) T-Shirt (etsy) Corduroys (jcrew: toothpick skinnys) Studded Boots (Steve Madden, Nordstrom Anniversary Sale 2013) Bracelets (Etsy)

Well you can't totally see the fabulousness of the boots, they are fabulous, let me tell you, but you get the idea.  Off to do more grading, I swear it never ends!

Until next time,

Karissa