Getting to Know You

The first day of school is full of anticipation and excitement. This year it was also one of the hottest days of the year. It was hard to bring a ton of enthusiasm to the day when we were all melting. However my 30 grade 6 & 7 students were troopers! I was really impressed by their great attitudes. It was obvious that they were also excited to start a new year and were not going to let a humidex of 44 degrees spoil it.

The first morning is filled with all types of administrative activities; attendance, allergy forms and epipens, busing routes etc... These "housekeeping" routines are very important and I find that if I can have an activity that students can work on, I can usually get through these tasks fairly quickly. I have developed a "Introducing Me" questionnaire that I find works really well for me and luckily takes a bit of time to complete. Each year I tweek it a bit, This year, I added a new question;

"If you were allowed to get a tattoo today, what would it be and why? Explain and draw your tattoo below."

The question did just what I wanted it to do; encourage a deeper self-reflection and elicit interesting and varied responses that allow me a unique window into the personalities of my new students. Here are some of the responses;

"If I was allowed to get a tattoo it would be a dove flying up to a cross to show that I believe in God. The dove is for the people in my family that died."

"If I were allowed to get one I would get a picture of the Sun because I am afraid of the dark."

"I would get a tattoo of an explosion because outside of school I'm a bit crazy"

"I would get one of a Ferris wheel because one of my favourite Youtube videos was filmed on one"

"I would get the saying - where there is hope there is faith, and where there is faith there is miracles"

"A picture of a rosary and the WWE sign"

"I would get a dogy print with the name Shadow under it. Shadow was my dog and he died from canser"

I loved reading their responses and just from one question I learned much about my new students; 10 students actually wrote that they didn't want a tattoo and so they did not even imagine one. Many students did not explain why they chose the tattoo they did (note to self to emphasis the importance of answering all parts of a question). At least 6 students referenced their faith in their tattoo, with one actually mentioning two specific bible passages.

Overall, the activity was very useful and I find myself already excited to learn more about these young people and to be a part of their learning journey with them.

On a side note; as I am writing this blog post I have CNN playing on the TV in the background. Today is the 15th anniversary of the horrible events of 9/11. I remember exactly where I was that morning; on maternity leave with my twin 5 month old daughters watching the Today show with Matt Lauer and Katie Couric. I was terrified at what was happening to our world and worried about my daughters' future would be like. Fifteen years later much has changed, but as I read through the responses of my students (for whom 9/11 is a historical event) I realized how much has not changed, These 11 year olds love food, video games, their pets, their families and God. I pray that our world will find a way to create peace and that these young people never have to experience such a horrific day in their own lives.