No matter whether you’re a brand-new educator or a 30-year veteran, every teacher hopes to begin the school year on the right track. In teacher education programs and staff rooms around the country, there is no shortage of advice for the back-to-school season. Having a positive start sets the tone for a successful school year.
However, back-to-school advice varies wildly and can get confusing. Some educators recommend that teachers “don’t smile until December,” while others suggest letting your students sit wherever they want on the first day of school.
As all experienced teachers know, every year presents new challenges, fresh research, and shifting classroom technology. We have to adapt and remain flexible. That’s why I keep a core set of “go-to” strategies every year but tweak them for the modern classroom. In fact, it’s taken me many years of teaching to feel truly confident about my return to school.
If you are looking to streamline your classroom management and engage your students from day one, here are my top six proven back-to-school strategies for secondary teachers.
1. Empower Yourself by Learning Student Names Quickly
Being called by one’s name immediately develops a positive rapport. Secondary students want to feel recognized and respected as individuals rather than just a face in a crowded room.
Fast name-learning is also an excellent classroom management tool. When students realize you already know who they are, they are far less likely to misbehave.
Tips for mastering student names in the first 2–3 days:
- Ask about preferences: Ask students if they use nicknames and clarify how to pronounce their names correctly.
- Greet them at the door: Use their names as they walk into your classroom.
- Embrace mistakes: Repeat their names throughout class and laugh it off when you make a mistake while assuring them you’ll do your best to make the corrections. Teachers are only human, after all!
Use Engaging Icebreakers
To make remembering names easier, start with interactive icebreakers. You may want to try this free icebreaker or these student team builders.
If you want to try something fresh this year, I highly recommend using a hexagonal thinking activity (like this one from Betsy at Spark Creativity), which gets students moving, talking, and finding critical connections on day one.
2. Prioritize Intentional Community Building
Building a welcoming, inclusive secondary classroom is essential for student buy-in. I like to build community-building activities into the beginning of each class period during the first few weeks of school to foster a positive, supportive environment.
Because I teach on a 90-minute block schedule, I start my periods with low-stakes warm-up questions. A mixture of whimsical, serious, and practical, these questions get middle and high schoolers talking without feeling put on the spot.
Quick Icebreaker Questions for Secondary Students:
- If you could talk to any animal and it could understand you, what would you say?
- Would you rather have three arms or three legs? Why?
- How do you take care of your physical, emotional, and mental health when school gets stressful?
- What social media platforms or websites do you visit the most? Why?
- You have a tutoring session next week, but your tutor is a character from the last TV show or movie you watched. Who is it?
- It’s burger night! What toppings are essential, and what is the ultimate side dish?
- If you could only take three things to a deserted island, what would they be and why?
To add a visual element, you can invite students to share a photo (always keeping it optional for privacy) of their pets, favorite books, a favorite hangout spot, or a favorite school-appropriate meme.
Another collaborative favorite of mine is the classic survival scenario, but taken to the next level. I love using this Deserted Island Challenge Activity, which acts as a print-and-go cross-curricular icebreaker. Instead of just picking random survival gear, students embark on an imaginative journey where they have to strategically choose three unique individuals to accompany them on the island. Getting middle and high schoolers to debate their choices, collaborate, and compromise under pressure is an incredible way to spark critical thinking and break the ice on week one
3. Minimize Chaos with an Alphabetical Seating Chart
Earlier in my teaching career, I took another teacher’s advice and let my students choose their own seats for the first week of school. The philosophy behind this made sense on paper: I’d see who gravitated toward whom and know who needed to be separated later.
However, this strategy backfired. Students immediately sat with their existing friend groups and formed exclusive cliques. This made it incredibly difficult to develop a unified community of learners. Furthermore, it was deeply intimidating for any students who were new to the school or didn’t have friends in that specific class period. It also allowed the students who wanted to opt out of learning to hide in the back row.
My current strategy: Organize your seating chart in alphabetical order for the first week of school.
This serves three distinct purposes:
- It helps you learn student names incredibly fast.
- It subtly establishes your authority and structure from the opening bell.
- It removes the social anxiety of finding a seat for vulnerable students.
After about a week, once you have a better sense of student personalities, IEP/504 accommodations, and group dynamics, you can strategically rearrange the seats for long-term academic success.
4. Don’t Do All of the Talking on Day One
Remember the economics teacher played by Ben Stein in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off? In that classic scene, he drones on to a room of comatose students, calling out, “Anyone? Anyone?”
Besides boring your students to tears, constant lecturing during the first week of school completely exhausts your energy and can easily lead to a case of early-season laryngitis.
It may seem difficult not to talk at your students during the first days of school—there are so many rules, safety procedures, and syllabus points to explain! But save everyone’s sanity by encouraging your students to do the heavy lifting.
Try this instead: Use an activity called “syllabus chunking.” Break your syllabus into small sections, assign them to small groups, and have the students collaborate to explain the class expectations back to you.
If you’re still tempted to lecture for 60 minutes, think about the last professional development meeting you attended where a presenter talked at you via PowerPoint for hours. Remember how unengaged you felt? Don’t be that presenter for your students.
5. Establish Predictable Classroom Routines
The first week of school brings a lot of anxiety for secondary students (especially incoming middle schoolers or high school freshmen). They are flooded with silent questions:
- Will there be a ton of homework?
- Where do I turn in my papers?
- What do I do if I need to use the restroom or visit the nurse?
- What happens if I’m absent?
Spontaneity has its place in education, but not when it comes to basic structural procedures. Students need predictable routines so they can clear out the mental clutter and focus on learning.
Take time before the school year starts to explicitly map out your routines. Once you know your own procedures, design brief activities to teach them to your students.
The Power of the “Reset”
Mastering classroom procedures requires intentional review. That’s why I like to use a Classroom Management Trashketball Game after the first two weeks of school have passed.
It makes a perfect Friday activity when everyone is exhausted from the hectic return-to-school routine. A quick review game brings energy back into the room, reinforces your expectations, and continues to build community.
6. Embrace a Flexible Teaching Approach
Prepared teachers always have comprehensive lesson plans, unit designs, and curriculum maps. However, truly effective teachers know that it is imperative to adapt on the fly.
Life is unpredictable. Impromptu class meetings, unexpected assemblies, and fire drills will interrupt your perfect pacing. Learn to accept these interruptions—and maybe even enjoy a fire drill on a beautiful afternoon!
Carrying a flexible mindset applies to your daily schedule, too. If an activity completely fails during your first-period class, don’t repeat it out of stubbornness. Tweak it, pivot, and improve it for your second-period class. Every class period has a different dynamic and unique learning needs; your teaching approach should reflect that.
Of course, even after more than two decades in the classroom, I still get butterflies in my stomach the night before the school year begins. But by implementing these core strategies, the transition from summer break to a new school year goes significantly smoother.
What helps you get ready for a successful school year? What new strategies are you testing out this term? I’m always looking for fresh ideas—let me know in the comments below!
