Getting to Know You

It may seem like a futile effort to begin planning how you'll get to know your students now. After all, you've got weeks and weeks ahead of you before you meet them for the first time, right?

Well, that's one way of looking at things. Another way might be to start planning now so you're ready for success when the first day begins! Here are 10 things you can do this summer to get you ready for meeting your students:

1. Create a "tell-me-about-yourself" diagnostic, this might include questions about students' interests like, "What is your favorite color? Who is your favorite musician? What do you need your teachers to do to help you be successful? Do you like reading or writing more, and why?"
   
2. Plan a "That's Me" game for the first few days of school so that becomes part of your routine on the first week.
   
3. Create a list of things that were important to you at your students' age to reconnect you with what it was like to be a young person in school.
4. If you have a roster, call/visit each student on that list. This is an excellent way to begin building relationships with your students, and their families!
   
5. Speak with other young people who are the same age as the students you'll begin teaching, you might find them on a playground, in summer camps, at the mall, etc. Find out what they're interested in and being planning units around their interests.
   
6. Plan a "class graph" activity for the first week involving student interests and/or summer activities. This is both a math lesson and a visual representation of where the commonalities and differences exist in your classes.
   
7. Write a letter that you'll send home on the first day of class introducing yourself and sharing your hopes and expectations for the year ahead.
   
8. Plan a "hopes and dreams" activity. You'll give your letter with hopes and dreams for the year - but why not have your students create their own lists to post around the room. Consider including a visual element that connects these words with each student, i.e. a hand print, a footprint, a photograph, etc.
   
9. Plan a "superhero activity" where students create a superhero they'd like to be complete with a list of their superpowers and abilities.
   
10. Take a walk around the neighborhood surrounding your school. Stop into the local shops, say hello to the neighbors, introduce yourself and ask questions so you'll get a feel for where your students come from.
    

No doubt you have ideas you've been pondering lately, send them our way! We'll share them with the rest of the group.