Don't Waste the First Day of School

Because "we just went over the rules" shouldn't be the takeaway.

Welcome, and happy Friday. I'm Lauren Brown and this is my newsletter on education issues that impact all of us— students, parents, educators & concerned citizens. According to Pew Research, nearly three quarters of students are already back to school. So today’s post is for the rest who start soon.

The first day of school is A Big Deal. Attendance is high, behavior is calm, and kids are sizing up the room: Which of my friends are in this class? What’s this teacher like? That makes it the perfect chance to set the tone for the year.

And yet….

When my own children were in middle and high school and we’d have a conversation over dinner about the first day of school, there was often little to report.

Me or my husband: So, how was it? How are your teachers?

The kids: Fine. I guess. I dunno. We didn’t really do anything. It’s the first day.

Of course, they did something. When pressed, I’d hear about rules, grading systems, labeling notebooks, filling out forms.

There were exceptions—classes where the teacher just jumped in and started teaching.

Think about it: by middle or high school, students have had plenty of first days. They know the rules. Reviewing them again won’t guarantee compliance—and it certainly won’t spark curiosity.¹ By 8th period—or right after lunch—they’ve already heard the rules half a dozen times. No wonder they’re checked out.

So I don’t waste my first week on rules or grading policies. B-O-R-I-N-G.

What students really want to know is:

• Is the teacher nice? Strict? Funny? Boring? Interesting?

• Will I do well in this class? Will the class be easy or hard? Will I learn anything?

• Will the teacher care about me?

• And underneath it all: Why does this matter?

The first day is the perfect moment to answer that question. Not by telling them, but by showing them.

Plan a lesson that proves you take your class seriously, have high expectations, and love your subject. Show them why history—or chemistry, or geometry, or Spanish—matters for the brain, the heart, the soul. Why you love it.

When I ask students why we should study history, someone always trots out Santayana’s line: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” True or not, it’s too abstract for most teenagers. Like steamed vegetables, history may be “good for you,” but that alone won’t make kids want to eat it.

Or chemistry. Or geometry. Or English.

As we all wrestle with the disengagement of our students, perhaps the best way forward is to hook our students. It isn’t just that a subject is useful—it’s that it’s interesting.

I know plenty of creative, successful adults who don’t know anything about the Homestead Strike or why we fought World War I. And yet, those stories are fascinating. Once students are hooked on the story, we can connect it to why it matters.²

The world is endlessly interesting. Our job is to prove that to students—starting on day one. Skip the rule sheets. Teach them something worth remembering.

For teachers, keep reading:

Below are two excellent pieces on things to consider for the first day of school.

• 5 essential strategies for the first day of school - from SmartClassroomManagment

• also from SmartClassroomManagement, 6 things you must do on the first day of school

For history teachers in particular:

Below are some links which can inspire you to create a first-day lesson about why one should study history. The topic has merit, I think, because if you don't have your own sense of why what you are teaching should matter, there is no way that your students will. It really is a good question and warrants an answer. But it has to be your answer, not mine. So here are links to help you:

Click here for some quotations I compiled about history. These can be used as fodder for discussion and/or writing activities on the first day. Use all of them, use some of them, have students pick the ones they like best to discuss or vote. You could hand out a different one to each student in a group. Re-visit them on the last day of school.

For more good quotes, check out this site: History is. . . or if you need more, click here. Or if you’d prefer some quotations about the United States, try here or here.

If you’d like a longer reading, suitable for AP/honors students in high school or to give you ideas you can adapt for other grades, try this reading I compiled for use with preservice history teachers. From the American Historical Association, see Peter Sterns, “Why Study History” from 1998 and his revised look at the question in 2020. Or James R. Grossman’s, “Everything Has a History.” and Peter Stearns on the American Historical Association website. And, for a thoughtful answer to the broader issue of a liberal education, see historian William Cronon's essay, Only Connect.

And here are a few more ideas.

• what is history? lesson idea - from Joe Taraborrelli, teachhistorywell.blogspot.com

• Teaching how historians work - from Middleweb.com; good beginning of year activity

• from Jenna Vandenberg, a fun way to teach about primary vs. secondary sources and what historians do

Hope your year gets off to an inspiring start!

1. Of course, this doesn’t mean teachers shouldn’t teach expectations and routines. However, I would suggest teachers do that in context, as needed. For example, if a teacher has a system for turning in papers, there is no need to go over that until there is something students are turning in. That may be day 2, that may be day 7.

2. See this beautiful post from math teacher Dylan Kane on how those connections happen. And see “The Privileged Status of Story” from cognitive psychologist, Daniel Willingham on why stories are important for learning.