10 Things to do and to avoid on the first day back from Christmas break

Christmas break is almost over.  This inevitable day has been breathing down your neck for a while now.  And now, your mind has to shift to what you will do with your students on the first day.  It can be a dreaded day.  The kids are still wiping the drool from their faces, as they haven’t seen the light of day before noon in a couple of weeks.  They completely unplugged their brains and filled it with junk food, caffeine, and video games.  And it’s your job to pull them out of this stupor.  Here are a few considerations for that impending day.

(And yes, I put a Hallmark Movie Picture in here. But more on that in a coming blog. But seriously, look at that picture and tell me you can't write the script in your head.)

I know it feels like they don’t remember anything from two weeks ago.  That’s mostly because they don’t remember anything from two weeks ago.  Spending one class in in-depth review may feel overwhelming to them.  Plus, review is boring.  And these kids are ready to talk.   And talk.  And talk.  You are setting yourself up for some struggle. 

You do need to review with them.  They do need to remember the skills that they were learning before Christmas.  Spread your review out in little snippets throughout the week.  I use bellringers, and 2/3 of the bellringers will be review questions.

This sounds odd, because it is.  One year I decided that I would spend a couple of minutes with them chuckling at the odd and embarrassing gifts they got from Aunt Gertrude.  I was expecting answers like matching socks, that weird white elephant gift, or clothes that don’t fit.  A girl raised her hand and announced that her parents got divorced on Christmas.  The room got real quiet.  So much for laughing at Aunt Gertrude.

I do like to get the kids talking in class.  I will give them a couple of minutes to answer some goofy little questions.  It gets some of the chatter out of them and gives a prescribed time to start and stop talking.  It honestly doesn’t matter what you ask them to discuss.  They will choose their own topic pretty soon.  “What was the latest you slept in?”  Let them talk about it for a minute, then see who had the record in the class.  That shifts the attention and control back to you.  Then you can segue into chemistry.

The quality that you will receive on the first day is minimal.  It likely isn’t an accurate assessment of what they know anyway.  You can convince them that you mean business in other ways.  Just don’t pound them on the first day.

I actually schedule the quiz before they leave for Christmas.  They know that in only a few days upon returning, they will be held academically responsible.  For me, the quiz is over the selected polyatomic ions that I have them memorize.  They started that process before Christmas, but they know that in only a few days, it’s going to get real.  It creates a healthy tension in their mind.  They don’t want to get back to real work, but they know it’s coming.  Also, by scheduling it before Christmas, they know that it isn’t a punitive quiz because I am so disgusted by the way they are acting.  It’s back to business.

Everyone knows that Christmas is supposed to be connected to emotions of joy, peace and tranquility.  But many households don’t experience that.  Constantly digging and asking what was so great about their break might feel overwhelming and fake.  I know that this Christmas one of my student’s mothers passed away and another spent some time in a mental health facility.  That isn’t going to be made into a Hallmark movie any time soon. 

Be earnestly excited to see your students again.  Sometimes coming off a two-week break all a student needs is to be seen and valued.  They don’t need to be reminded that their Christmas was different than everyone else’s.  They don’t need to be reminded that their gifts were less.  They don’t need to be reminded that they forgot all the chemistry.  They need to know that you see them and are so excited to journey with them again. 

Don’t sit around and commiserate.  Get going.  Get your class up to speed.  By 15 minutes into the first class of the semester, my class will feel like chemistry again.  We have a lot of work to do.  I will redraw the map of learnedness versus time and show them where we are at.  (read this blog to see what I’m talking about) We’ve got climbing to do, so strap in.  We are blasting off again. 

You are going to need it today.

Want to connect your students to your curriculum in a new way?  Try Stoich Decks games.  Use Up & Atom to engage their brains in converting to moles.  Try CHeMgO for a competitive way to help students get the ionic formula practice they need.  Use Trendy to create great conversations about periodic trends.  Go ahead, gift yourself some games. You deserve it.