During the first week of school, it is common for teachers to assign a writing task that to ease students in with light writing activities — like the classic “What I Did This Summer” assignment. However, I chose to focus on connection instead. This is because the beginning of the year should be about building a classroom community and expectations.
Recognizing that students may not want to recount their summers for several reasons, these are the questions I ask instead.
- What do you want your classmates to know about you?
- Tell me about a time that you were proud of yourself!
- What are you looking forward to this year?
- What are your hopes?
Let’s start the year by making every student feel like they belong!
