My two favorite back-to-school activities
/By Pooja K. Agarwal, Ph.D.
Hello everyone and welcome back to the school year. I want to share two of my favorite back-to-school activities, which are a huge hit in my classroom.
Whether you have new students in your classes or returning students from the fall, K–12 students or graduate students, try these activities:
Use a trivia question to introduce students to retrieval practice (a really fun *drop mic* kind of moment)
Get your students involved in mnemonics to remember names (I’m Pooja-Pepperoni. What would you pick?)
Why I love these activities: they’re quick, they’re easy, they’re interactive, and they boost learning!
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Start class with a trivia question
Convincing students that retrieval practice improves their learning can take some norm setting. How do you get students on board?
Start and end your course with a trivia question. Sprinkle in the trivia question during lessons throughout the semester or school year, too. I’ve found this works wonders in my classroom.
Why a trivia question?
It’s unexpected, quick, and engaging
It’s a no-stakes demo where students are successful
It normalizes forgetting as a shared experience
It’s a simple example of how spaced retrieval practice increases learning
I have more tips and tricks on my website, including how to choose the perfect trivia fact for your class. You can incorporate a trivia fact during faculty professional development and parents’ nights, too.
(Do you love trivia? Quiz yourself on these 10 trivia facts from Powerful Teaching, see how 600+ teachers responded, and boost your own learning.)
Build community with mnemonics
Names are important, but they’re SO hard to remember (I’m a memory expert and I forget names all the time).
Here’s a simple strategy to remember names and build class community: Have everyone come up with an animal or food that starts with the same first letter as their first name.
Encourage students to get creative. For example, Alex-Aardvark, Jess-Jackfruit, and Taylor-Tiger (or in my case, Pooja-Pepperoni).
Next steps:
Each time students introduce themselves, have them include their word pair
During class discussion, aim to use a student’s word pair (“thanks for sharing, Ava-Avocado”)
If you or your students can’t remember someone’s name, ask for a hint with the animal or food, not their name
A week or two later, play what I call “Name Tag” (way more fun than ever-fashionable name tag stickers). In popcorn style, have one student say the word pair of another student and continue to play “tag” until everyone has been called on.
I have a lot more tips about mnemonics online. You can also try this out for yourself at conferences and parties! Mentally create a word pair when you meet someone new and retrieve it periodically.
