Back to School Stations (With handouts and ideas on how to use!)

This no-prep back to school station activity will teach you about your students and set up important relationship capacity skills for your classroom community. Included is a black and white copy of the station markers for printing convenience.

This activity includes:

Station 1: How do I read?

In any classroom, it is important to know your students relationship with literacy. How print-rich is there home? What reading habits do they have? Do they have a negative or positive relationship with reading? Whether teaching art, biology, or English, knowing how your students read is important to their performance in your classroom and how they retain information.

Station 2: Classroom Norms

Almost every classroom has class norms nowadays. Classroom norms help students buy in to classroom management, and gives them voice in how their learning environment is managed. In this station, students explain why the norm is important to them, and what they think would happen if the norm was not in place. This also taps into a student's metacognitive process, giving you a peak at how they are at thinking about thinking.

Station 3: Mini Biography

All the typical icebreaker questions are asked here. Students are given an opportunity to unequivocally talk about themselves on paper. At the very bottom, students are also given the opportunity to tell you something they'd like you to know about them. This can be an opportunity for them to ask for accommodations, or just inform you on an important aspect of their life.

Station 4: Learning Style

This is not your typical learning style survey. In this station, students are given a set of scenarios, from the mundane "What do you do if you don't understand the lesson?" to "How do you learn to survive in a zombie apocalypse?" Students will be forced to think about how they learn, and have a laugh at the same time.

Station 5: Best Class Experience

Perhaps one of the most important questions to ask students is what their best experience in a classroom was. This gives you insight on what they believe a positive classroom environment to be, and how your students believe that experience came about. This gives teachers perspective on how your students believe a good classroom is run.