First Day Plans (Among Other Things)

I tried to make a post back on Monday but for some reason it didn't work out. Teacher meetings started on Tuesday, and so far things are going well. I've got orientation night tonight and let me tell you, I'm EXTREMELY nervous about how this is going to go. I've got a few minor things in my room that are still crazy out of place, and then I've just got a lot on my plate at this time. But I'm really enjoying the team I'm working with and getting to know them all.

I've found a few good ideas for the first day of school, and here is what I plan on doing on Tuesday when they all come back (same plan, times 3 for 90 minutes each):

• Rules & Procedures: We will be going over my behavior matrix for the classroom.
• Me Bag: I'm going to introduce myself to my students using a 'Me Bag' filled with fun things about myself. Their homework for the night will be to bring a bag with 5 items that tell me something about them that will be shared on Thursday and Friday. The bags will not be due until Thursday to give them plenty of time to think about it.
• Calendar Math: I've made a smartboard math activity. Even though I have 5th grade, I feel like the things I'll be asking are challenging enough for them to do so. For those of you who want more information, I got a lot of my ideas from Teaching in Room 6.
• Mad Minute: Four days a week we will be doing mad minutes. This is an idea that I got from my student teaching class and feel is important, especially when I have 90 minutes for mathematics. The kids will all start out with 80 seconds to do 20 problems. If they pass the 20 problems this week, they will get 70 seconds next week. This is repeated for all four operations and is done every week.
• All About Me Cubes: I found a pattern to make a 3D cube that I'm going to have the students fill out. Each side will have to tell me something specific, that way there is some uniformity to this.
• How Much Is Your Name Worth: If there is time, we are going to do another activity I found online where the students have to add up the cost of their names if each letter is given its numerical order as a value (ie, A=$1, B=$2, etc). There is also a graphing activity that can be done on the next day, so if I have to push this back to Wednesday, I can do both the first and second day activities on Wednesday.

 So, what do you all think? It should cover 90 minutes, correct? Anything YOU would add if you were a math only teacher?