Opening Script
After my students arrive, my tentative script is as follows:
Hi, class. Welcome to the 5th grade! My name is Ms. Mercer and I’ll be your teacher this year. I am very excited to see what God has in store for our class. We’re going to learn a lot, grow a lot, and hopefully have a lot of fun, too. But, in order to have the absolute best experience possible, we need to have a few procedures set in place. What is a procedure?
(Call on student with hand raised)
Those procedures will help us to be effective in our learning. What does the word effective mean?
(Call on student with raised hand)
We won’t learn ALL of our procedures today, because there are a lot of them. We’ll save some for later on this week, and there may even be some procedures what we don’t learn until next week or the week after that.
Right now, I’d like us to practice our first procedure.
This procedure is called “2 finger bathroom pass.” Why do you think it’s called that?
(Call on student with raised hand)
This procedure shows the way that you should ask me to use the bathroom. If you need to use the restroom, you should put up your hand and show me just two of your fingers. When I see your hand with 2 fingers in the air, I will know that you need to use the bathroom. If it’s a good time and if you haven’t asked a lot so far, I will give you a thumbs up. When I give you a thumbs up, you may then get up quietly and go to use the bathroom. What do I mean when I say “get up QUIETLY?”
(Call on student with raised hand)
That’s right. Now, what do you think I will do if we’re in the middle of something and it’s just not a good time for you to leave, or if you’ve already asked me to go to the bathroom a lot so far? It’s possible that I might give you a thumbs down. A thumbs down means ‘wait’. You should try to wait until our next break or lunch or recess to use the bathroom. But, if it’s really an emergency, you can let me know and say “Ms. Mercer, I REALLY have to go.” And I’ll say, “Okay,” as long as you don’t do that too often.
Let’s Practice!
Who would like to be a volunteer and pretend that they need to go to the bathroom?
Alright, I’m going to start talking to the class, and after you wait about a minute, you may put your 2 fingers in the air, and I’ll give you a thumbs up. When I do, you may QUIETLY get out of your seat and walk out the door, and then walk back in QUIETLY and return to your seat.
Let’s try it!
“So, class, I know that a lot of you have lived in lots of different places all over the world, and that is so exciting to me! I love hearing about different places all around the world, and I'm looking forward to hearing where you all have traveled to so far. I would like to tell you a little bit about where I’ve lived right now, because I've lived all over the world, just like some of you have. I was born in the Dominican Republic, and I lived there for 5 years….”
(Student will give the "2 finger" signal, and then exit and re-enter the classroom quietly.)
Alright, that was done excellently. Thank you so much. By using that procedure correctly, you have shown us that you are a respectful person and that you are thoughtful of others, because when you left to pretend to use the bathroom, it didn't disturb anyone. Very well done.
Hi, class. Welcome to the 5th grade! My name is Ms. Mercer and I’ll be your teacher this year. I am very excited to see what God has in store for our class. We’re going to learn a lot, grow a lot, and hopefully have a lot of fun, too. But, in order to have the absolute best experience possible, we need to have a few procedures set in place. What is a procedure?
(Call on student with hand raised)
Those procedures will help us to be effective in our learning. What does the word effective mean?
(Call on student with raised hand)
We won’t learn ALL of our procedures today, because there are a lot of them. We’ll save some for later on this week, and there may even be some procedures what we don’t learn until next week or the week after that.
Right now, I’d like us to practice our first procedure.
This procedure is called “2 finger bathroom pass.” Why do you think it’s called that?
(Call on student with raised hand)
This procedure shows the way that you should ask me to use the bathroom. If you need to use the restroom, you should put up your hand and show me just two of your fingers. When I see your hand with 2 fingers in the air, I will know that you need to use the bathroom. If it’s a good time and if you haven’t asked a lot so far, I will give you a thumbs up. When I give you a thumbs up, you may then get up quietly and go to use the bathroom. What do I mean when I say “get up QUIETLY?”
(Call on student with raised hand)
That’s right. Now, what do you think I will do if we’re in the middle of something and it’s just not a good time for you to leave, or if you’ve already asked me to go to the bathroom a lot so far? It’s possible that I might give you a thumbs down. A thumbs down means ‘wait’. You should try to wait until our next break or lunch or recess to use the bathroom. But, if it’s really an emergency, you can let me know and say “Ms. Mercer, I REALLY have to go.” And I’ll say, “Okay,” as long as you don’t do that too often.
Let’s Practice!
Who would like to be a volunteer and pretend that they need to go to the bathroom?
Alright, I’m going to start talking to the class, and after you wait about a minute, you may put your 2 fingers in the air, and I’ll give you a thumbs up. When I do, you may QUIETLY get out of your seat and walk out the door, and then walk back in QUIETLY and return to your seat.
Let’s try it!
“So, class, I know that a lot of you have lived in lots of different places all over the world, and that is so exciting to me! I love hearing about different places all around the world, and I'm looking forward to hearing where you all have traveled to so far. I would like to tell you a little bit about where I’ve lived right now, because I've lived all over the world, just like some of you have. I was born in the Dominican Republic, and I lived there for 5 years….”
(Student will give the "2 finger" signal, and then exit and re-enter the classroom quietly.)
Alright, that was done excellently. Thank you so much. By using that procedure correctly, you have shown us that you are a respectful person and that you are thoughtful of others, because when you left to pretend to use the bathroom, it didn't disturb anyone. Very well done.
After this procedure has been explained and practiced, we will continue to work our way through the agenda for the first day of school.
Ideas of what to include in a first-day script are adapted from:
Wong, H. K., & Wong, R. T. (1998). The first days of school: how to be an effective teacher (2nd ed.). Mountainview, CA: Harry K. Wong Publications.