New Year Ideas for Secondary Students
Welcome to the new year and to a new semester! I love a fresh start and what the new year brings! Excitement and opportunities abound! I love the opportunity to reset and have a clean slate in front of me. I also bring this into my classroom and try to get the students excited to share these good feelings of opportunity!
If you have any behavior or classroom management concerns stemming from last semester, this is the perfect time to do a reset. It does not mean the struggles have to continue for the second half of the school year. My suggestion (before you plan fun activities) is to take a look at your classroom procedures and figure out what systems you can implement to prevent some of the undesirable behaviors displayed. This is the perfect time to freshen up your classroom procedures because you know your students well and what worked and what didn’t last semester. This post about Classroom Procedures is full of ideas and freebies!
REFLECTIONS AND GOAL-SETTING
This countdown-style reflection and goals activity is perfect for secondary students! It’s fun and really does get them to think about who they are, how last year went, and what they want to see for their new year. Click the image to check it out!
My friend Nancy at Fourth and Fritcher has this fun foldable which is great for a quick, goal-setting activity! They also make a fun bulletin board, too! The image to the right links to this free resource!
CELEBRATE WITH A LITTLE CONTENT
Feel like you are ready to get to some content, but still want to bring the fun of the new year, too? These color-by-number activities have students completing math practice, then they get to color and a cute new year picture! These also make cute bulletin boards. Each image links to the resource.
I love this resource from my friend Kim from White’s Workshop! It’s not math, but it is too cute and opens up great conversations. I love the idea of learning about how other countries and cultures celebrate the new year! Your students will learn about the New Year’s traditions celebrated in New York City, Spain, Haiti, Brazil, Japan, and Australia.
KINDNESS CHALLENGE
What better time to start a kindness challenge? Students love the opportunity to learn ways to show kindness to each other. But arbitrarily telling students to “be kind,” is not enough. This resource is a fun and interactive way to help facilitate ways for them to show kindness. Print the tearaway posters and have students tear off an idea to complete. They are editable, too, so you can personalize them for your students and school.
LETTER TO FUTURE SELF
After students have had the chance to reflect on their last year and set some goals for the new year, have them write a short letter to themselves. Take them and keep them until the end of the school year and pass them back so they can get some closure and track their progress. Get my template for free by clicking the image.
Have a wonderful new year! I hope it is filled with love, fun, and efficiency!
