Getting To Know Your Students
by Elizabeth Coker

To many students, particularly introverted ones, the five most dreaded words in the human language are, "Tell me something about yourself." These simple words can reduce even the most refined and articulate of souls to a quivering mass of colloidal jelly that can barely eek out, "I . . . like . . cake?" before collapsing into a clammy heap. Or, one risks such a phrase having the opposite effect, and the entire class must listen to a well-meaning but overly vociferous student recite, "George's Autobiography, Parts I, II, and III" for half an hour, or the end of class, whichever comes first.

Both scenarios should be avoided at all costs.

One way to generate more interesting answers from your students, and cultivate a fun, friendly class atmosphere at the first time, is to give them a specific prompt instead of a vague "something." For the first two or three class meetings I like to take roll by going around the room and having the students introduce themselves according to a topic I give them. This helps me put faces with names right away, and helps them get to know one another.

The topics I've used so far are music, movies, and childhood heroes. With the childhood heroes category, I ask them to name someone (fictional or real) whom they idolized as a child, and why. The answers will range from cartoon characters to famous athletes, to members of their own families. For the music and movies categories, I ask them to name two things they like, and one they don't. I keep the categories broad, so that with movies they can name two genres/ performers/ movies/ directors/ etc, instead of having to choose a favorite movie. With music, I also keep the category broad so that they can name genres/ singers/ bands/ albums, etc. This is also a good way to tune them into how much media and popular culture shape their lives, which you may want to discuss in your class during the semester.

Another idea comes from Tracey Thornton (see "Icebreakers" teaching tip), who plays a game of "Truth and Lies" with her students at the beginning of the semester. In this game, each person states two truths and one lie about him/herself. Then the other students in the class have to guess which statement is the lie. This is a great way to open up a discussion about stereotypes and assumptions we make about one another based on race, gender, class, etc.

Something to keep in mind is that whatever you ask your students to share about themselves, you should be willing to share. Students love hearing about your musical taste and childhood heroes, because it makes them realize how young and cool they are and just how old and out of touch you are. People, in general, are more willing to open up if you accede them the higher ground, and for a nineteen year old, "coolness" is always the higher ground.
For information on identifying introverts and extroverts in their native habitats, see the "Teaching and Personality Types" teaching tip.

Provided by:
Elizabeth Coker who teaches Rhetoric 1302 at The University of Texas at Dallas. She studies the intersections between British literature, popular culture, and creative writing. She and her students explore some of these intersections in her ongoing, interactive MOO project, "Gyre and Gimble in the Wabe." She lives in Dallas with her husband and dog. Her class website is available on the MOO and the web at http://lingua.utdallas.edu:7000/22135. Her battle cry is "Free the Bound Periodicals."