On the first day of school, I greet my students at the classroom door and I randomly assign them to a team to sit at while we wait for the bell to ring. We do introductions, review of my classroom rules, consequences, procedures and expectations, and they work on a Math activity with their team members while I walk around listening to them and creating my seating chart. I’m a teacher who uses Powerpoint daily, so of course I will have a presentation for my students to view and to keep myself organized.
I usually have about 8 teams with seats for 4 students on each team. I use PowerPoint in my classroom, so when the students walk in they will see a slide with the class title, my name, and room number. Once the bell rings, I introduce myself to my students and I announce which class and period it is. Using my Powerpoint slide, I then share how long I’ve been teaching at the school, the schools I studied at, and my hobbies of travel and Disney. After my introductions, I then have my students introduce themselves to the students sitting in their team, and I use Kagan team building chips to do so. The chips have questions on them, I usually have the students take two to three questions each, and students take turns answering the questions while I quickly try to take attendance on the computer while students are introducing themselves, since attendance needs to be submitted within the first 15 min online.
The presentation I create for day 1 includes all activities for the day, this allows me to include directions for students to follow, so students know what they’re supposed to be doing in the activities. I create slides to help me introduce my classroom rules, and some procedures and expectations, such as what to do at the beginning and end of the period, and the restroom and tardy policies. Using the slides allows for visuals for my students, helps me stay organized, and it helps me pace myself, too. At the end of the first session, I have the students work on a team activity. I prefer to select an activity that could be completed/solved during the remaining time in the class period, so I recommend you know your bell schedule. I also want a group activity for students to work with their team members so they can learn from day 1 that they will be working together at times during math class. While students work on this, this is when I’d walk around and quickly try to create a seating chart on paper. I want to be sure students sit in the seat they were assigned to the next time they have class, which most do, and it’s a tool that helps me begin learning my students’ names.
Every school year my presentation for day 1 has changed, sometimes I’ve worked with my team to agree on classroom rules and consequences, or we agree on the first day activities we will use. The last few years the focus has been on growth mindset and social emotional learning (SEL) in the classroom, so the activities have focused on getting students to work together in teams to try and solve a puzzle together. When I taught 8th grade I used activities from Youcubed.org, specifically the Four 4’s on day 1. I also used, “Can you solve the bridge riddle,” by Alex Gendler, as found on ed.ted.com, for 8th grade, and 9th-11th grade. For 2026, for one of my classes, I’m currently planning for students to review with a mental math activity I’ve created, using the Kagan structure of Quiz, Quiz, Trade. Students will walk around with an index card that has a math problem on one side, and the solution with an explanation on the other. The point is to get students talking to each other about math and especially to explain their thinking, something I’ve noticed as a teacher people need practice with. I create the questions, I print them on 4 x 6 index cards, and I hand write the solutions on the back of the card.
Some teachers share their course syllabus with their students from day 1. Lately, I haven’t been because I found that when I did that I talked a lot, and I rarely reviewed the information after the first day. Instead, I share the basics from the course syllabus, and then distribute a paper copy to my students to take home and return signed around the second week. This way I can continue to review the information as we begin doing math activities and lessons, while I continue to wait for new students to be programmed in my class.
Day 2
Day 2 will involve more review of my classroom rules and expectations, opportunities to practice the procedures I’ve already introduced, with some more getting to know each other activities. I want my students to know and follow the restroom and tardy policies, the appropriate voice levels to use and when they should use them, how they can participate in class, how they can get my attention, where materials are kept, and what the end of the class period will look like. These are the procedures I have found to support my classroom to run smoothly and feel organized. It takes time to learn the procedures, so students will be practicing daily for the first weeks, especially since new students continue to enroll or arrive to class days after the first official day back. (I also review weeks later, especially when we return from breaks and at the start of the second semester). To review and encourage student discussion of your procedures, I would display a Powerpoint slide with each procedure and ask students to take turns sharing them with each other. For middle school students, I recommend having the students take turns restating the procedures to each other and for both middle and high school I would call on students to state aloud the expectation. I prefer having students listen to each other share the information than me reading it aloud to them, again, like on Day 1.
On day 2, I’ll have students individually complete a getting to know you form on paper that I will keep. If there’s time, I have students share with their classmates, using the Kagan Structure, Stand up, Hand up, Pair up. Time the students, select who will go first, and then announce when it’s time to rotate and find a new partner. I will also continue to have students work together in a team to solve a problem, as well as have discussions with their shoulder partner and face partner, so students can begin getting to know their classmates. For the day 2 activity, I recently began using one of Sarah Carter’s activities, from Mathequalsloves.com, an activity called 31-derful puzzle. My students spent at least 20 minutes trying to solve this puzzle with a team of 4 students. Students working together is important to me, so I want my students to get to know each other. To facilitate this, I use Kagan strategies, such as Timed-Pair-Share or Rally Robin, activities where students work in pairs, so with their shoulder or face partner. The schools I’ve worked at have invested in having teachers Kagan trained, and personally I have found the structures useful because students know who will speak first, how much time they will have, and are a bit more accountable when they know they all have to share. If I don’t see my classes daily, then on day 2 I will introduce a math activity, which will usually include a review of skills that my students should know, but probably need review with. I usually don’t teach the same classes every period, I usually have at least a couple of preps, so you’ll need to decide what math skills to review based on the grade level of your classes.
Day 3
Day 3 is when we start doing math, and this could be a review of previously learned skills with grade level standards. You’ll need to be familiar with your pacing plan to know what lesson will be done on this day. For the last several years, my classes have been at least 85 minutes long, and we were expected to complete two math lessons each class session. Unfortunately, this wasn’t realistic as it didn’t allow for enough class practice for all of my students. Not everyone is at the same level of understanding in your class, but getting them to practice is how I and they figure out what they don’t comprehend. Usually around Day 3 is when my school asks Math teachers to administer a pre-test to our math students, which in the past few years has been the i-Ready Beginning of the Year (BOY) diagnostic assessment. Students take this assessment three times a year and the assessment identifies what grade level they are at. If they are in middle school, the program assigns lessons for them to practice at their level. For high school students, we use the program IXL to have them practice skills that are aligned to their i-Ready score/grade level. I usually provide class time for students to practice these lessons, because when asked to complete for homework, the turn in rate is low or the time taken to complete is short.
I’ve been fortunate that my school sites have usually provided voluntary paid time to plan with the grade level team, so I usually have the first week of classes planned with a tentative pacing plan for the first math unit. Admin shares which classes we will have the last weeks of school, however this can change, so hopefully admin has shared with you what classes/courses you’ll be teaching during the new school year and has provided planning time so you can work with your grade level team. If you’re new to teaching the subject or grade level, ask your team members for a pacing guide so you know what they have planned. If you’re the only one teaching that grade level, well here’s what I do: I backwards plan from when the assessment should be given and which topics need to be covered beforehand so students are ready to assess, breaking down the skills weekly and creating a pacing guide. This is very helpful to have established, knowing which topics I should be covering weekly. This doesn’t mean I have all activities selected for each day, either, I just know what the class should be working on in order to be able to cover a sufficient amount of learning objectives before the first assessment.
The first days of school are about getting to know your students and sharing your procedures and expectations with them so your classroom stays organized and you can focus on teaching the math standards. It does take time for students to learn your procedures and expectations, so review and provide opportunities for students to practice. I do start teaching math day 2 or day 3, depending on my bell schedule, but I still include time for students to practice procedures and to review with the class when necessary. Best of luck this school year!