While this year definitely started different than any other school year, what didn’t change was the excitement and smiles on all of the students' faces. (mine, too!) Our first couple of meetings included icebreakers just like a typical school year. To help get to know one another, we played a game of “Would You Rather”. Students were asked to make a choice between two things meant to help tell me a little more about themselves. For example: would you rather be outside or inside, fly or be invisible, and be in LA or math class. It was a lot of fun to see all of their responses and hear their laughter as we talked about our answers.
Students then created a virtual phone. We have so much about ourselves on our phones, I thought this would be a great way to see who they are. Students showed me four pictures they might have on a photo roll, a tweet they “created” about their feelings being back at school, three of their top songs on their song list, and “exchanged” messages with me about what their goals are for the year.
While it may be “different” or a “new normal”, I cannot wait to continue to see my students learn and grow this year!