Molly Birrenkott
Professor Koontz
TEDU 410
27 February 2017
First Days of School
Before the students enter the classroom, I will lay out the materials for the icebreaker, our
first energizer, on their desks. For the first day of second grade, I would begin the day by
greeting each child by name at the door to make them feel more welcome and comfortable. After
each student is in the classroom and any school announcements have been made, we will begin
the icebreaker.
The Icebreaker (Energizer 1):
 The point of the icebreaker as an early morning energizer is to warm the students up to the
classroom and have all of the students get to say at least one thing that day. It will also give all
of us the opportunity to get to know a little bit about each other.
 First I will explain the rules for Two Truths and a Lie— “For this game, I want you to quietly
think of two things that you did over the summer, and make up one thing you did not actually
do over the summer. After you have thought of your two truths and one lie, I want you to
write them down on the piece of paper I placed on your desk. Once you have finished writing,
place your pencil at the top of your desk so I know you are done. Does anyone have any
questions?” I will then use this time to be sure that the students understand how to raise their
hand if they have questions, and not to just yell out.
 Noting that they need to keep quiet will set an example of how individual work should be
done without speaking to one another. Placing the pencil at the top of the desk will set an
example of what to do when work is finished so that I have an idea of how many students are
still working.
 I will go first to set an example of how the game is played and then students will follow.
 To conclude the activity, I will say “I loved hearing about all the different things everyone did
this summer! I am excited to continue getting know each and every one of you.”
Next we will have our morning meeting. Because the students will already be at their
desks, I will use this time to demonstrate how we move about the classroom. I will first “act out”
an appropriate way of walking in the classroom by walking slowly and keeping my hands at my
side. Then I will tell them that I will call them up by table group, which will be labeled, to come
from their desks to the carpet. After the students are seated in the morning meeting area, I will
begin.
 Because it is the first day, I’ll explain to them what is happening— “This is where we will have
our morning meetings, but today’s morning meeting will be a little different because it is the
first day of school.”
 Greeting— With the students sitting in a circle facing inward, I will begin by greeting the
student sitting to my left by saying “Hello,
. My name is Ms. Birrenkott. I will then ask
them to greet the person to their left until each student is finished.
 Sharing—I will ask each student to share their favorite color. I will then say “Everyone in this
classroom deserves respect, so let’s make sure we are quiet while our friends are sharing their
answers.”
 Group Activity—Because it is the first day, we will play “Mix and Mingle”. The students will
walk around the meeting area and when I say “freeze” they will pair up with a partner. I will
give them either a question or topic to discuss and then they will talk about it with their partner.
 Message— We will read the message written on the whiteboard out loud as a class. The
message will be “It is going to be a great year in Ms. Birrenkott’s second grade classroom!”
For my read aloud, I will read the book First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg.
 The read aloud will occur right after lunch and recess so that students have had their time to
use their energy and are ready to get back to work.
 To get to the carpet, I will repeat the demonstration of how to walk quietly and safely, and then
call up the students by table group again. When they are at the carpet, if there is any talking I
will say “catch a bubble!” If the students are unaware of what I mean by this, I will explain that
“catch a bubble” means to fill their mouth with air like a bubble and sit quietly.
 While I am reading the book, if there is excessive talking at any point, I will use this same cue
to keep the students quiet.
 When we are finished with our read aloud, I will say “When I call your name, you may stand
up and return to your seat. I want to see everyone walk back the same way we practiced
earlier”, so that students do not all get up at one time and run back to their desks.
After the read aloud and students are back at their desks, I will have another energizer to
make sure the students are still engaged and excited about the first day of school.
Energizer 2:
 For this brain break, I will use my “activity box” game. In the box, there are clothespins with
different activities on it, for example “15 jumping jacks” or “the electric slide”. To start out, I
will say “Raise your hand if you like to be active with your friends or family.” Then I will say
“Sometimes when the class starts to look sleepy, or I feel like we just need a break from our
work, I will give us a brain break. For this brain break we’re going to do five different
activities from the activity box.”
 As the school year goes on and the children get a better understanding of the procedures in the
classroom, I will allow one student to come up and choose the pins from the box. But because
it is the first day, I will be the one to choose from the box and model the appropriate behavior.
 I will raise my finger to my lips to signal that I will not begin until everyone is quiet. Then, I
will choose the first pin and read it to the class. After we have finished the first activity, I will
signal for everyone to be quiet again so they can hear the next activity. I will do this each time
until we have completed five activities.
Closing Circle
 I will ask someone to raise their hand and explain how I like students to walk to the circle. If
no one remembers how, I will demonstrate it again. I will call the students by table and we will
meet at the carpet.
 At the carpet, I will ask them to sit in a circle like we did in our morning meeting.
 I will say “I want everyone to brainstorm one thing that made them smile today, and then we
are going to share just like we did during our morning meeting.” I will share one thing that
made me smile, and then go around in a circle and have each student share one by one.
 Ending with one thing that made them smile that day allows the students to reflect on the
positive parts of the first day of school and end the day on a good note. It also gives me time to
reflect on what went well and what didn’t, and use that in preparation for the next day.
Practicum Observations
In regards to the goals of a responsive classroom, my practicum classroom shows
strength in teaching classroom routines and establishing expectations for academic work. When
the children enter the classroom, they know to put their coats and backpacks in the closet located
at the back of the classroom. After their things have been put away, they sit down at their desk
and the teacher chooses one student to pass out their morning snack. The students all sit at their
desk and eat their food with minimal talking. When they are done, the teacher then chooses one
student to clean up the trash from each student’s desk. All of the students understand how the
morning routine works and it is generally completed without complication.
My practicum teacher has very high expectations for handwriting in her
classroom. Because it is a kindergarten classroom, they are still getting used to writing and often
have trouble with some letters. For example, they may write their “s” backwards, or make a letter
in the middle of a sentence capital. The teacher will be sure to let the students know when their
work is acceptable by using phrases such as “You did such a good job creating spaces between
your words. Good job!” When I walk around the classroom, students will often ask me “Does
this look okay, Miss Molly?” which lets me know that they are aware of the expectations for
their handwriting. Similarly, the students know expectations for walking in the hallway of the
school. When they get ready for lunch, they wait for the teacher to call them by name to line up.
They also know that the line should be in boy-girl-boy-girl order, and when they notice that it is
not, they will ask raise their hand and say “Is there supposed to be a (boy/girl) between us?”
Once they are in the hall, they will only walk as far as the teacher has, and they will keep their
hands to themselves and there is minimal talking.
I also see a lot of room for improvement in the classroom. Behavior expectations
are not often met, and I would not necessarily call the classroom climate warm or inclusive.
When the students are working on their journals where they write down their morning message,
there is often a lot of talking and the students will constantly get out of their seats and call out the
teacher’s name. This behavior is generally met with yelling from the teacher, which does not
work on the children. After the yelling has stopped, the students will go back to the same
behavior as before and the cycle continues.
There is also a lot of favoritism throughout the classroom. The students who do
their work correctly are treated with warmth and praise. If a student does not complete their work
in the time given to them, the teacher will often turn to me and say “Oh, that one never does any
of their work. I won’t be sending them to first grade” loud enough for all students to hear, which
does not align with the responsive classroom expectations. A better way to handle this situation
as a teacher might be to say “I noticed you weren’t working on the assignment. Were my
directions clear or would you like me to repeat them for you?” This would ensure that the student
feels included in the classroom and is not called out in front of all of their classmates.
Unfortunately, my teacher didn’t have any lesson plans from the first few weeks of
school for me to look over. From what I have observed in the classroom, expectations for
procedures were touched on in the beginning of the year, but may not have been reinforced
enough for it to become a routine. Certain things such as handwriting and placements of
materials in the classroom were more clear for the students, which may have been something that
the teacher constantly reinforced since the first day of school. Other behavioral expectations such
as talking out and completely work efficiently may not have been made quite as clear, and
resulted in students believing they can get away with certain things in the classroom.
Sources
Anderson, M., Denton, P., & Kriete, R. (2015). The First Six Weeks of School (2nd ed.). Turner
Falls, MA: Center for Responsive Schools, Inc.
http://www.reallygoodstuff.com/community/21-read-aloud-books-for-the-beginning-of-theschool-year/