First Lesson Of The Year Ideas

Noreia Benhalima and Holly Youlden explain why that first lesson is so important: The beginning of the academic year 2020- 2021 might be a very overwhelming time for both teachers and students due to the current situation that the world is facing. The wellbeing of teachers and students is paramount, thus establishing healthy routines, classroom rules, and building a positive relationship with the students might contribute to building safe environments, keeping them productive, motivated, and engaged. 

It is imperative to set the expectations for things like note-taking in class, when students should be writing and when they should be focused on you, how technology will be used and what the expectations are for things like asking questions. Using the first few lessons to model routines and then reinforce them consistently is essential for saving time in the future. Even small things like how we hand out worksheets in lessons (e.g. whomever I pass the sheets to on the set of tables is responsible for handing them out straight away to the others on the table, in silence, and returning to their seats) can be massive time-savers if students know how to do it efficiently and have time to practice. 

So.. Looking for some inspiration for your first lesson with your shiny new classes?

Look no further! Check out some of the ideas below from your fellow WA teachers. If you’d like more information on how to implement the idea speak to the teacher directly!

By: Axelle Diot

Suitable for: All year groups

Idea: A nice ice-breaker is to have students secretly share something they did during the summer holidays that they are the most proud of (on a piece of paper, via an anonymous google form, etc.). The other students would have to guess who it is from.

By: Anonymous

Suitable for: Year 7

Idea: I complete a quiz with Y7 students about what to do in certain situations to help them understand the rules and routines of the classroom e.g. a question might be 'What do you do if you need to ask a question?', 'What do you do if you think you have finished your work?' and then they can use mini whiteboards to answer. It's not the most exciting thing in the world, but I find young students love quizzes and they also enjoy the novelty of mini whiteboards!

By: Maribel Portillo

Suitable for: Year 7 MFL

Idea: Usually Year 7s who are new to a language think it'll be a very hard subject, so RN came up with this idea that we all use now: we show them a slide with a lot of cognates in the TL ( target language of study) and ask them to know how many of them they can actually recognise. They realise they can understand a lot by just relying on previous knowledge and common sense, as they instantly get a positive feeling about languages.  Then we continue with a short conversation where different characters introduce themselves and ask them to continue using their previous knowledge to guess the different questions and answers and to find out patterns in phonics and spelling.   

By: Ruhina Cockar

Suitable for: All year groups

Idea: Creating a partnership agreement with students is a great way to jointly establish the atmosphere and boundaries within your classroom that everyone wants to have. How do you want students to speak to you? To one another? How would you like to be acknowledged positively? What will happen if someone calls out? Or breaks something in the agreement?

One of the best ways to do this is to create a google document with it all written in and get the students to sign it to ensure they understand and agree to it.

By: Alison Sullivan

Suitable for: Year 7

Idea: I introduce the class competition that I run every lesson. The class is split into two teams and they can win points for their team by answering questions and working well but lose points by speaking after the countdown or over each other. I always get a student to keep the points tally each lesson. Getting them involved in this way really helps them feel engaged in the lesson and happy to be there. 

By: Anonymous

Suitable for: Y7-11

Aim: Encourage students to take ownership of their own learning.

Outcomes: Changes the mindset to promote their asking for help and extensions.

Idea: I asked the class, "Who is responsible for your learning?"  

The teacher can conduct this as one of those word/text collages where more frequently mentioned words/phrases get bigger on the screen.  We want them to realise that they are responsible for their own learning.  Teachers are responsible for giving them all the help, explanations and tools they need to learn, but they are responsible for putting in the effort. 

By: Anonymous

Suitable for: All year groups

Idea: Get students to give themselves a target for your subject for their year, ideally as the first thing they write in their new books. This should be a SMART target, and you can support students in figuring out where they want to be at the end of the year. This is a nice way to get students thinking about their own development, and students I've tried this with have said it helps them feel positive and focused at the beginning of the year! This also works really well by changing it from a target to a “dream” for your subject which you can get students to read to every week and reflect on their progress towards achieving that dream.

By: Sophie Nash 

Suitable for: Y11, Y12 MFL but can be adapted to other subjects

Idea: 

Y11 - Start with some motivational quotes in the target language with introduction, development and depth activities based around these. I think that this can be quite inspiring at the start of the year and also includes some higher level vocabulary and structures in some cases. This is a quick do now that I think sets the year off on the right track and encourages discussion and thought about what the students want to achieve this year. This can be modified for other subjects by having quotes by key figures in those subject areas.

Y12 - Ice breakers such as 2 truths 1 lie (we are lucky that these can be in the target language and are therefore relevant) + an introduction to the IB course. We also look at idiomatic phrases in different languages, trying to work out what they mean.  

From surviving to thriving: hints and tricks of the trade

Written by Charlotte Bailey

Why did you decide to teach? This is often a question that we are asked at INSET or by our family members or friends that listen to all the negatives of our teaching week and wonder ‘Why do they stay’? But I guarantee you, teaching is one of the most rewarding professions, (it’s true, I’m not biased), if you throw yourself into it and share how you’re feeling - everyone has gone through something similar. 

First year of teaching, for the majority of teachers in this building, was one of the most difficult and challenging moments. If you struggle with your first year, it’s normal. I’ve tried to come up with tips I wish I had known before starting, so you don’t have to: 

Say how you’re feeling. This is something that everyone struggles with in any job, but I think in teaching everything is so go, go go that often teachers with more experience forget that you’re new. Don’t pretend to know what you’re doing if you don’t feel confident, ask. I cannot stress this enough as I definitely didn’t ask enough. It’s ok to say that you’re struggling and need help, everyone needs help and you will not be viewed as less because of it. Alongside this, it’s important to know your limits, it’s ok to say no. (I think we all need to learn this lesson again, in all honesty). You know how much you can take and sometimes you will have to put some things on pause for a moment. 

Use your mentor. I would suggest to use your mentor effectively, creating a focus for each week to discuss. Often I found it useful to come prepared with what I would like to ask or talk about in each meeting, then you very much lead your own development. However, using your mentor to tell you what you think you should focus on is also invaluable. You will not master everything all at once, create a focus for each term. 

Use your observations. Relating to your mentor, observations are terrifying, to me anyway. However, as I’ve developed as a teacher they are of course one of the most important ways to progress. To make this more effective for you (and in some cases less emotional), I found that writing down my own reflections before the feedback session ensured the feedback meeting was much more of a collaborative process, rather than someone telling you everything you did wrong (which doesn’t happen as WA staff are great at feedback), and less overwhelming. 

Share your ideas. It’s very easy as an experienced teacher to get stuck in a rut of teaching the same thing the same way, because it requires less planning. Arguably you are our most valuable resource; you’re fresh with knowledge, that we may not have thought of in a while, and are willing to experiment and be creative in the classroom. Share your ideas with us! If something went really well for you in a lesson, share it in department time! We’re always looking for new ideas! Equally if there’s something you can’t work out how to teach well, that’s what we’re here for.

Use the rules. The concept of G22 can be quite overwhelming but I promise, it’s not really 24 hours they stay in that room, contrary to one child, that was convinced he had to sleep there. G22 appears so drastic for the silly behaviour of a child but consistency is key, make clear boundaries and if students cross those boundaries make it clear and use warnings. Support systems come from both the rules but also staff, we all have had our fair share of difficult experiences with behaviour - it’s never personal. 

Other departments will further your success. One great thing about WA that I always found is that you find your friends everywhere, not just in your department. In turn this leads to learning how different departments do things and learning what works best for you. Often there are key people that your mentor will suggest you go to watch, which you should, but also use these people to find your own teaching style. I personally teach with humour because I’m hilarious (again, not biased), but also because I need to have fun in my classroom for me to enjoy it as well! Others choose to use more group work, or silent writing, or even love a silent classroom, every person has their preference and you have to find what works for you. 

Finally, try to keep a social life. This is a difficult one as it often seems impossible to even think about anything else except work in first year. One thing I have learnt is that there is never any reason why teaching should take you into the early hours of the morning. Make yourself rules, perhaps have one day in the week where you go out to dinner with some friends. Or a rule where you don’t work past a certain time in the week.

Overall WA is a great place to train and learn from others. You’ll be absolutely fine and I hope that this has helped you think about your goals for the year ahead!