A Solution for Introducing New Students to Classroom Procedures All Year

Changing class populations and year-round student transience forced me to think outside the usual beginning of the year classroom activities. Click through to see how I make introductions to beginning of the year procedures work all year in my classroom and to download cheat sheets.

Back to School stations have been all the rage for the past couple of years, and they are a great way to introduce classroom procedures and to get to know your students in smaller groups. But I’ve got one problem with them, and it’s a very practical one. I’ve been back at school for two weeks now with the students and the schedule still isn’t settled. I’m still gaining and losing students. And let’s be realistic–this will happen all year as students move in and out of the district. Here’s a solutionfor introducting new students to classroom procedures all year long.

Throwing stations at a new student can be overwhelming for them and for us–I know I will definitely forget something. With this in mind, I tried something new this year. I used Symbaloo Learning Paths to introduce classroom procedures to my students.

For those of you who have never used symbaloo paths before, they’re the magic word–free–and they look like this:

Changing class populations and year-round student transience forced me to think outside the usual beginning of the year classroom activities. Click through to see how I make introductions to beginning of the year procedures work all year in my classroom and to download cheat sheets.
Grab the Cheat Sheet and learn how to get started with Symbaloo Paths from THIS POST.

Students move their pieces along the path and complete each task on each space. I show you how to set up symbaloo paths here (there’s a free cheat sheet there that you can download).

Introducing New Students to Classroom Procedures

Any time you get a new student, send them the link and instruct them to complete each step in each space. Here is what I have students do on each space on the back to school path:

Changing class populations and year-round student transience forced me to think outside the usual beginning of the year classroom activities. Click through to see how I make introductions to beginning of the year procedures work all year in my classroom and to download cheat sheets.
 
Changing class populations and year-round student transience forced me to think outside the usual beginning of the year classroom activities. Click through to see how I make introductions to beginning of the year procedures work all year in my classroom and to download cheat sheets.
 
Changing class populations and year-round student transience forced me to think outside the usual beginning of the year classroom activities. Click through to see how I make introductions to beginning of the year procedures work all year in my classroom and to download cheat sheets.
Check out how I do Classroom Avatars HERE.
Changing class populations and year-round student transience forced me to think outside the usual beginning of the year classroom activities. Click through to see how I make introductions to beginning of the year procedures work all year in my classroom and to download cheat sheets.
 
Changing class populations and year-round student transience forced me to think outside the usual beginning of the year classroom activities. Click through to see how I make introductions to beginning of the year procedures work all year in my classroom and to download cheat sheets.
Find out more about Gamification HERE.
Changing class populations and year-round student transience forced me to think outside the usual beginning of the year classroom activities. Click through to see how I make introductions to beginning of the year procedures work all year in my classroom and to download cheat sheets.
Download the free Cheat Sheet to learn how to do it!
 
Changing class populations and year-round student transience forced me to think outside the usual beginning of the year classroom activities. Click through to see how I make introductions to beginning of the year procedures work all year in my classroom and to download cheat sheets.
Changing class populations and year-round student transience forced me to think outside the usual beginning of the year classroom activities. Click through to see how I make introductions to beginning of the year procedures work all year in my classroom and to download cheat sheets.
Changing class populations and year-round student transience forced me to think outside the usual beginning of the year classroom activities. Click through to see how I make introductions to beginning of the year procedures work all year in my classroom and to download cheat sheets.

I’m keeping the Symbaloo Link active all year and housing it in my “Class Information” folder in Blackboard. When I get a new student, I’ve been instructing them to complete their path first. Then they have reviewed the syllabus, joined Google Classroom, Flipgrid, and Remind, created their Avatar, read about our game, and given me insight into how they learn. And, best of all, I don’t have to worry about forgetting to give them anything.

What do you think about this? Leave a comment and let me know!

Changing class populations and year-round student transience forced me to think outside the usual beginning of the year classroom activities. Click through to see how I make introductions to beginning of the year procedures work all year in my classroom and to download cheat sheets.
 
And while you’re here, be sure to check out these back to school blog posts:
 

Summer is wonderful, but starting a new school year can be wonderful and exciting, too. I'm talking about ringing in the teacher new year in this blog post, so read along to find out how I go about ringing in the teacher new year.
Pre-planning for teachers at the beginning of the school year is often an overwhelming time. You not only have to start planning your units and lessons for the beginning of the school year, but you're also usually stuck in a lot of administrative meetings - and with a long administrative to-do list. So, I'm focusing on three tips to making pre-planning easier for every teacher!
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