Middle School Teachers - give me your best....

You probably don't want to hear from me... I taught middle school math for 25 years. I spent the first day laying down the law and what I expected them to do everyday. Then the consequences if they didn't comply Never had too much trouble with any of them... Hope you find more helpful ideas!

I went to a workshop one time that said you should start the year out with a WOW!  I teach math, so I always like to start the year with a cool math trick. I do it a few times to see if anyone can figure it out and then teach it to the kids and tell them to go home and try it on their parents. I've used the same one for awhile, but I moved up with my kids this year, so I'm going to have to find a new one!

Here's the trick I've used in the past. 
Math I can read your mind trick

I'm the Activities Director at my middle school, so I do a lot of ice breakers, get to know you, etc. type activities with my Leadership students. This was one I did at a conference that was new to me and pretty fun.

You have to introduce yourself to a partner and say three things: name, month of birth, favorite breakfast food (or whatever three things you want) ETA: everyone shares the same three things, we just happened to do name, month, breakfast; the teacher could tailor the items to the class

So, I'd say, "I'm Misty, I was born in October, and I like cereal" and then listen to my partner, "I'm Chris, I was born in May and I like scrambled eggs"

Then I find a new partner, but I introduce myself giving CHRIS'S information and my new partner is sharing the information of their last partner.

You have to remember what you just learned but also be listening for the new info. It gets tricky.

After a couple of people, you sometimes end up meeting yourself