Secondary ELA's First Days of School
How do I start my year?
It might be best to tell you what I teach first because what I teach drives how I start the year.
My schedule last year:
1) AP Literature
2) AP Psychology
3) Civics and Economics
4) Honors English 11
5) Civics and Economics
6) Prep
7) English 11
This year my schedule will be a little different:
1) Women's Studies (first semester) and
Journalism (second semester)
2) AP Psychology
3) Honor English 11
4) AP Literature
5) Prep
6 and 7) District Curriculum Work
AP English and English 11 (Honors or not) all begin the same way: Boot Camp and Literary Terms. My Boot Camp post goes into detail about how I set up my first two weeks and why I set it up that way.
Both of my AP classes take a base-line full-length test the first week of school, but I really try to do it on day 3 or 4. This still gives then enough time to switch out (this happens more than I would like), but gets a score early enough in the year to mark their starting point.
In psychology I start with Personality Puzzles. They are a good get-to-know each other activity and introduce students to some basic psychology ideas.
To be honest I have no idea how to start women's studies or journalism. I created these classes, and have to write them from scratch. Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Enter to Win One of the Cool Prizes
Be sure to hop over to see what the other secondary English teachers are starting their year with.