The first day of school can be a terrific challenge. Establishing rapport is one of the initial goals. I introduce myself. I ask students to think of some of their own disappointments and rewards and to write them down on a sheet like the image above.
Students look over their papers, thinking of the stories behind each of the things they've written.
A story about something funny that happened to me. A story about something I know nothing about. Students write a story about a topic that they know well.