I created a Student Questionnaire that I had the students fill out on the first day of class. This questionnaire asked the students for information regarding: name, grade, address, e-mail address (if applicable), parent/guardian name, phone number, profession, and e-mail address. In addition, I asked the students if they have access to Internet at home. This made it very easy for myself to find out if I would have any problems with assigning web quests or posting homework assignments online.
I then created a Student-Teacher Contract for us to read together aloud. The contract outlined the rules of the classroom, how their grade will be calculated, and my extra help schedule. I also made sure to include 5-6 blank lines at the bottom of the contract. I think that it is important for the students to be involved in the rule making process. I allowed them to come up with a few rules/expectations that they had for me.
They came up with:
a. Make sure all paperwork (handouts) are hole punched.
b. All quizzes and tests should be returned and graded to the students within 2 days of taking the exam.
c. No homework every other Friday.
I think that incorporating the students into the rule-making process made the kids happy. In all five of my classes, they all came up with similar rules.
I also created an "Introductory People Search" for the students to complete for the second day of class. It is essentially a grid with 25 boxes. In each of the boxes there are different phrases. For example, "Speaks more than one Language" "Was born in a different country" "Has more than one pet"
Each student is given a different colored pencil and they have to go around the room trying to get every other student in the class to sign one of the boxes. This process took about 15 minutes. I then had the students sit back down in their seats and we went over the people search as a class. This enabled me to really get to know the students and it enabled them to get to know each other and myself. I thought that it was a fabulous activity!
