As a secondary ELA teacher, I am anything-elementary-school-averse. It’s just my personal preference. I don’t do call and response to get my students’ attention. I don’t make my students line up to go anywhere (except for fire drills, but that’s another discussion). And I thought that the typical “meet the teacher” and “all about me” activities were too childish for middle and high school students. That is not to say, however, that getting students’ attention, or going somewhere in an orderly way is not needed at the secondary level. While I am pleased with how my classroom systems create order in all aspects of my classroom, I realized that I just couldn’t and shouldn’t avoid get-to-know-you activities the first week of school. Here’s what I realized after a few years of teaching, and how I build relationships with students in a way that is authentic to me.
Meet The Teacher & All About Me Activities- Should I?
If we want to get to know students (we do) and we want them to have a team-like mentality in our ELA classrooms, we have to allow students time to socialize. At the beginning of the year test scores, achievement, and all that are pushed by administration. It can be really overwhelming to hear that, then feel like it’s ok to build socialization into your lessons. But our students need to be able to socialize both from a developmental standpoint, and a mental health standpoint. I fully recognized this early on, but always felt like the “get to know you” or “all about me” activities were too childish.
Start Small With All About Me Activities
So I considered how I felt as a middle or high school student. I was always just getting my own bearings the first week, but was also super excited to see my friends again. I was feeling shy, always unsure of who I was, but ready to learn, meet my teachers (remember this later) and have a successful year. So as a teacher, I thought, why not put on some music and allow students to talk about themselves first. Students LOVE talking about themselves. Secondary students also LOVE having options and including art in their work. I think it can feel almost rebellious- “I’m in English but I don’t have to use words?! BET.”
But you can’t just tell students to talk about themselves and walk away, nothing will get done. They need guidance. They need to know what to talk about. So I created a simple BINGO All About Me worksheet, told them to fill it out with words or pictures, then left a spot for them to tell me anything else I should know, according to them. If that sounds awesome, I made one that you can steal, here. Now students can take time to reflect on who they are, and what they actually want to share about themselves.
Moving From Individual Work To Sharing “All About Me” With Classmates
Now students have a solid thing or two to say about themselves when I model the first transition of the year- moving from individual work to group work. They are learning about procedures before they even know it! I allow students to discuss for a set amount of time, then we come together whole-class (there’s that secret practicing procedures again!) and share something cool they learned about a peer. Now the entire class has conversation starters, should they want to speak to someone they haven’t before. I am always surprised by how much information students are willing to share from day one. I keep these All About Me worksheets in a binder all year to reference, which is incredibly helpful!
A Note on Respect From Day One
It is worth noting that a quick reminder before the whole class discussion “Hey guys, in here we respect everyone and that means not laughing or making noises/faces when you hear something that’s different from what you like” goes a long way.
Here are some other ways to allow students to tell you/ their peers about themselves:
- Create a class playlist to listen to all year (Like this resource you can just print & go HERE)
- Have students fill out a survey on Google Forms for easy organization
- Play “would you rather” to fill an awkward 5-10 minutes at the end of class
- Play two truths & a lie, and give as many students a turn as possible before the end of class
- Share some of your favorite things and have students go to one side of the room or the other, depending on if they agree or disagree with your preference (i.e. “I love chocolate ice cream! Anyone who is with me, go to that side of the room. Anyone who disagrees, go to the other!” Then make the “other” students share their favorites.
Meet The Teacher- Important at Any Age
The first week of school activity that I went back and forth on the most was the Meet the Teacher activities. At the heart of it, I wondered “everyone does this- is it really needed? Am I just doing it for the sake of doing it?” But there really is a reason every teacher should introduce themselves to students on a deeper level. I realized that as a secondary teacher, I OFTEN see my students more than their own parents. And that is just seeing them for 90 minutes a day! That’s significant. I figured, if that’s the role I play in my students’ lives, they deserve to know me better than my name and a picture or two on my desk.
So I again contemplated how do I allow my students to get to know me, without direct instruction or feeling like an elementary school activity? I also think that’s the magic of back to school season, secondary teachers can get creative and be a little “elementary” in the name of fun, simplicity, or both!
I didn’t want to stand up in front of my class and give them a lecture about me, so I gave them my notebook instead. They could explore my notebook and figure out who I was themselves and even together with their peers. I created this activity at the height of the pandemic, so it was a digital notebook. As we returned to in-person learning, my “notebook” (it’s not for any purpose other than this activity) became a physical one and got longer with each year, and students could see my development as a person.
The Impact of My “Meet The Teacher” Activity
I created a notebook with my family, the things I love, my pet, my travels, and other things I was ok sharing with students. I maybe added an entry or two, but it is mostly images. Here is the template if you’d like to try it in your own classroom.
I realized throughout the year that my students started doing the same thing as me- they were referencing all the things I love and we were building relationships all because of this short 30 minute activity. That’s a significant return on investment in connecting with students.
Here are some other ways to get to know students this year:
- Send home a “Meet the Teacher” postcard so students know you before they walk in the door (I made you another template here!)
- Bring a favorite snack to share with students over casual conversation. Kids love food. You cannot go wrong here.
- Have students “Investigate the Teacher” based on what they see around your classroom
- Play two truths and a lie- all about YOU
What The First Week of School Should Be About
You’re going to feel pressure all year to do it all. The. things. You shouldn’t, but you will. Your administrators might be amazing, or they honestly might suck. Many school systems (read: almost all) and society in general puts the responsibility of test scores and academic achievement on teachers from day 1. That’s another post for another day.
If you focus on building relationships with students from day 1, you’re going to be in a really good spot when you have to do those unwanted tests and tasks throughout the year. Want more support with building student relationships? Check out this post here. If you make time for socializing and meet the teacher, and all about me stuff that first week you will build the foundation for a class of kids who don’t mind spending everyday together. You will also build a class of kids who understands who you are a little bit and trusts that you’re there for a reason, not just an adult to teach ELA and go home.
So I challenge you to find these two activities that best complement who you are and your teaching style, as opposed to just skipping over them, or letting them be a last-minute thought as you start Day one. In working towards positive student relationships, I know this will be a great year!
I’m Glad You’re Here,
Kameo
