Ohhh August. Almost time to go back to school. It's bittersweet. I love the summer - time off with my family, time to skydive (my favorite activity!)... But I also love my job.
Every year I think about how I want to start. This is my 17th year teaching, and I've probably started 17 different ways. I don't like to spend class going over the syllabus because I feel like the kids spend most of their day doing that. I want some sort of activity where they can talk with each other, and I can walk around a get a sense of how they work together. We can talk about the class on day 2.
Two years ago, I made some back-to-school logic puzzles (aka systems of equations in disguise...shhh!). I felt good using them with my Algebra 2 Honors kids, but I'm pretty sure they'd be fine for kids at a lower level. You can print them out as task cards or hang them around the room and use it more as stations.
Here's the first page:
Check out the full download here for free.
If you use it, let me know how it goes!
