Getting to know your students can be tricky–especially when your caseloads are out of proportion to recommended ratios, and you’re teaching virtually. But we all know that building relationships with your students is critical for us to become their “people” when they need us. However, we don’t always know what kind of vibes we’re putting out into the world, and we need to know that our students are going to trust us when the chips are down.
I am pumped that I stumbled across the work of @Ms.Massoud, a virtual math instructor, who suggested offering students a chance to share their initial impressions of her as their teacher. Her “2020 Beginning of the Year Survey,” Google doc says, “Now that you have “met” Ms. Massoud, what is an assumption you make about her? (This is light-hearted and can be appropriately fun! Be creative!)
Friends, the comments did not disappoint!
These are just some of the assumptions they made about her:
“I’m so sorry I just feel like you cannot keep a plant alive if your life depended on it.” (This one was too close to home for me…how do they know???)
“Ms. Massoud might be a meddler, only cause she cares so much.”
“That she at least slightly cares about her students.” (Ha! Just slightly! Ms. Massoud was thrilled with that one.)
“She’s a dog person, her house smells like incense, shes like yoga, and like to take walk on the beach.”
“She’s pretty and she is easy to understand, she’s not to[o] mean but not to[o] nice either, she’s just right.”
**Grammatical inaccuracies are their own.**
This activity would be an excellent way for students to share their initial impressions of you and allow you the opportunity to correct any misconceptions they might have, especially if you are new to your school this year. You’ll need to set up boundaries of course, but I think this is such a fun way to be vulnerable and open yourself up for growth.
THE FEELINGS LADY 