How to Stress Out Your Students on the First Day of Middle School Math
Want to make sure your middle school math students feel completely stressed out on the first day of school? Here are three ways to make that happen!
1. Give Your Students a Test
You want to know what your students know and what they don't know. What better way to assess their understanding than a test?
Better yet, hand them the test the moment they walk through the door.
Tell them where to sit and have them work on the test for the entire class period. That way, you can look over the tests later and decide what you need to review with your students.
What a wonderful way to welcome students to their new math class!
2. Be Super Strict and NEVER Crack a Smile
You want your students to respect you, right?
Well, you'd better let them know who's in charge.
If your students see any weakness in you, especially on the first day, they'll surely take advantage of you for the rest of the school year.
Be stern. Be strict. Lay down the law.
And most importantly, NEVER crack a smile!
3. Make Your Students Feel Like Failures
Give your students some really difficult math problems on the first day.
Tell them that their understanding of these problems will count toward their grade.
Better yet, put them into groups and have them discuss these difficult problems with their classmates.
Students who are already afraid of math will feel even more stressed. They may even feel like they've failed math class on the very first day.
There you have it! Three great ways to make sure your middle school math students feel completely stressed out before the school year has even begun.
Have a Great First Day of Middle School Math
I hope you caught my sarcasm in this post!
Many students are already afraid of their new math class before they even walk through the door.
Love them. Respect them. Make them feel like winners. Help them believe they can be successful in mathematics.
Be careful about giving pretests on the first day of school, or even during the first week.
Once you've established relationships with your students and classroom routines are in place, there will be plenty of opportunities to assess what they know and what they still need to learn.
The first day is an opportunity to help students feel comfortable, valued, and excited about learning math.
Thank you for having the courage to teach math. May you have a great school year!
Save These First-Day Math Teaching Tips
Save this article to your favorite classroom Pinterest board for a reminder of what really matters on the first day of middle school math class.
