Meet Mrs. Hunt

One of the first things I like to do in a new school year is introduce myself to the students I serve.  Last year was the first time my position had ever existed in my district, so I felt like I needed to get out there and make sure my students knew the purpose of my job with them.  I actually first did this activity as a student in one of my graduate classes.  I thought it was a pretty good, fairly quick activity that I could adapt for 8th and 9th graders.  It also helps me learn about them.

This year, I only did this activity with 8th graders, mostly because the 9th graders did it last year, and most of them already know me.  Anyway, the majority of the 8th graders did not know me.  In fact, as I was hanging around before class started a couple of students asked if I was a sub.  I told them that is the perfect example of why I am here...I want them to know who I am and I want to know them.

Here is what I did:  I used some larger than normal size sketch paper.  I didn't think 8.5 x 11 was really big enough, but it would work if it's all you have.   Every kid gets one piece.  I also brought in my marker bucket, but it has crayons and colored pencils in there too.  I ended up having to tell them to just pick two things and hand it off to the next person.  Some kiddos will take forever to choose a color - they have to dig to the bottom of the bucket while everyone else waits. 

So, students divide their paper into four parts.  This is how I explain the different labels:

Family - tell me what you want me to know about your family.  You can include who you live with, or just whoever you consider your family, because family doesn't always have to mean blood relative.  I really try to make sure they understand that I am not asking for deep dark family secrets or anything.  I explain that my family was not perfect and I probably would not have wanted to spill the dynamics to my school counselor.  That's why I reiterate about just telling me what they want me to know.

Favorite - I just ask for a favorite something - it could be favorite food, favorite movie, favorite song, etc....you probably get the idea.  They can tell me more than one, but I ask for at least one.

Four Things (you do well) - I was trying to keep with the "F" theme here.  I have done other things like Fun (what you do for fun) and Fact (one fact about you), but this seemed to be a little more challenging for some students.  Some kids, as you know, have a hard time admitting they are good at something.

Future - I just ask them to tell me what they think about when they think about their future.  It can be at any point in the future - next year, next week, twenty years from now.

So I give them about 7 - 10 minutes to finish up.  As they are working I talk about where my office is, I talk about what kinds of things I can do for them, we talk about confidentiality and when I have to breach it, those types of things.  I make sure they know that if they get called to see me it does not mean they are in trouble, so don't ever be worried or afraid to come.

Here is the one I did for myself that I share with them.

 

Here are a few examples of what the kiddos did:

 

Not everyone took it seriously, hence the kid that said his future included being a hobo.  I of course told them there were no right or wrongs, and being 8th graders I got some interesting things.

The whole thing takes about 20 minutes, a couple of classes had more questions for me so I might have stayed longer in those.  When I leave I look over everyone's papers.  I figure out who was absent so I can catch them up when they return.  I look for "clues" on who I might want to see early on, who might throw a red flag, that kind of stuff.

These also serve as good excuses to call kids to my office if I get a concern from a teacher or something like that.  That way I don't really have to "fib" or tell them there was concern expressed about them.  I just tell them I am working my way through all the students and it was their turn to meet with me.  I pull out their paper and we go through it - it can kind of start the conversation going.

How do you introduce yourself to your students?  I would love to hear from you!

Disclaimer:  I hope this post makes sense!  It is late and I am pooped and I want to get it posted because I've put it off for days.  I feel like I am writing like I would be talking, and that is not always grammatically correct.  So, I apologize if my grammar and usage are not proper.  I'll try better next time, hopefully. :)