First Day of School Preparations

Seating Assignments

Options for assigning seats:

  1. Tape an index card to the corner of each desk. On the index card, identify the periods you teach and the names of the students who sit in that seat. Include the letter A or B in the upper right-hand to assist in identifying roles for communicative activities. As students enter, they circulate to find their seat and begin the drill immediately.

Sample:

  1. Project the seating chart on the overhead with details such as windows and doors identified. As students enter, they find their seats according to projected seating chart.

Routines and Procedures

Decide which of your routines and procedures students will need to know for day one. When the situation warrants it, teach that procedure. Before dismissing the students, discuss the routines/procedures they must follow upon entering class and throughout the instructional period on day two. Continue to teach and reinforce routines/procedures each day.

The Learning Environment

Common classroom requests and exchanges must be conducted in the target language. To facilitate the use of those expressions, create a word wall of the common requests and their accompanying visuals.

Post signs in Spanish such as, Entrada, Salida, ¡No inglés!

Syllabus

Compose a welcome letter to your students and their parents that will describe the course of study, expectations, grading policy, rules, etc. Distribute this document to your students on the first day. Allow a few minutes for each of the first few days to review one portion of the letter with your students. See the Sample Syllabus.

Communication in Spanish

Use this scoring tool when students are speaking in small groups or in pairs. Share the scoring tool with the students prior to the activity. You may not be able to assess every student in one class period; however, by the end of the week, you will most likely have had several communicative activities allowing you to assess each student at least once, if not twice.

Assign points to each of the following based on the focus of your lesson.

The student… / Points
Possible / Points
Received
Follows directions.
Speaks in the target language.
Uses appropriate vocabulary.
Uses appropriate grammar.
Total