California Career Briefs: Get Acquainted

       

California Career Briefs

“Getting to know your students and establishing a positive classroom environment can greatly increase student success.”

- League for Innovation: Creating a Community of Learners

Get Acquainted

Did You Know?

When students make early, strong connections with their instructors and peers they  are more likely  to persevere and succeed in their classes. One of the best ways to build a relationship with your students is to learn more about them and how they learn best. With this knowledge, you will be able to relate and appreciate what they bring to the class. Today’s activity will give students an opportunity to share their information and get them out of their seats  to get acquainted.

Here’s how…

• Set the tone by energetically and enthusiastically welcoming students to class.
• Explain that to get to know them, you want them to answer a few questions.
• Distribute the Student Activity and give students a few minutes to respond.
• Using concentric circles have students meet/share their responses.

Instruct students to form two circles with participants facing each other in an inner circle and an outer circle.

Give participants about 1 minute to introduce themselves to their partners and share their response to question #3.

Invite the inner circle to form new partners by moving four spaces to the left, greeting participants as they pass.

Ask the new partners to introduce themselves, and share their responses to question #7.

Continue activity alternating partners and questions.

• Share some of your own responses to the Get Acquainted questions.

Above and Beyond!

A learning community does not just happen; it is created intentionally. Set up an informal time to meet for coffee before or after class or suggest “the class” attend a campus event together.