3 Reasons I Gave Up “All About Me” Worksheets—and What I Do Instead

There are some very cool "all about me" worksheets out there, and they are a popular resource to help you get to get to know your students during the first week of school. However, I decided to try something new a few years ago, and I'm so glad I did. Why I Chose To Switch Things Up

Reason #1 - It became clear to me through both comments students made and their body language when I handed them their "all about me" worksheets that they had filled out many "all about me" worksheets over the years.

Reason #2 - I didn't like that the "all about me" worksheets unintentionally put limits on what students felt like they could share with me. So, for example, if I asked about a pet, they may have simply told me that they had a dog and left it at that because they were worried they couldn't fit the extra details about their dog that they wanted to share in the space provided.

Reason #3 - I've learned that middle school students fully expect to be talked to/at during the first few days of school and to be overwhelmed with lists of rules and procedures. They expect a one-way conversation. While it's important to make your rules and expectations clear at the beginning of the school year, it's also important to understand that students want to have a conversation with you to get to know you too. They also want to do something meaningful and actually learn something during the first few days of school, even if it's small. They don't only want to sit and listen, and who can blame them?

While reasons one and two are the reasons that made me want to switch things up, reason number three was my inspiration for actually making the switch.

My "All About Me" Worksheet Alternative

I start by teaching a quick, fifteen-minute refresher lesson about sending and receiving emails.

The Lesson: 

• First, I remind my students how to log in to their email accounts.
  

• Next, I remind them where e-mail addresses, subject lines, and the body of the email belong.
  

• Then, I review what the format of the body of their emails should look like. I include tips like, "Remember the tabs and enter buttons exist. You don't need to hit the space bar 137 times to indent or start a new line." Ha!
  

• Finally, I remind my students to write using their professional voices and give silly examples of what to do and not do on the board. I tell them that they should start with "Dear Ms. Lauren" instead of "Hey ..." They shouldn't write things like "When r u gonna grade my quiz?" That's a giant no! Instead, they should write something like, "Could you please let me know when we will receive our quiz grades?" I also always remind them to use punctuation and capitalize I because fighting texting language is a constant battle ... ugh.

The Activity: After I've finished the lesson, I tell my students to write and send a properly formatted email to me introducing themselves and sharing whatever they want to share about themselves with me. I leave what they want to share about themselves completely up to them! My only requirements are that the email is properly formatted and the body of the email is two full paragraphs.

*I reduce the required length of the paragraphs for students who have modifications in their IEP that specify that their work should be reduced. Check out my post Creating An Inclusive Classroom to learn more about making accommodations and modifications in general education classrooms! *You don't have to grade the email. You can simply leave it ungraded or give a participation grade. The Result: My students are happy because they have free rein to just start sharing what's most important to them, and I'm happy because I know I'm going to get great information that will help me get to know my students more quickly!

Here's a little sample of some of the things students shared with me at the beginning of last year:

"I have 18 cousins on one side!" "Halloween movies are my favorite movies."

"I don't really like to read. Like at all."

"I broke my leg and just got my cast off. I hated it."

"I just moved here. We move a lot."

"My team won an undefeated championship over the summer!" "I'm a lifer." (When students say this, it means that they have been at our school since pre-k.)

"I have ADHD. It's hard to concentrate."

"My name is Samantha, but I want to be called Sam for short." (Name changed for this post.)

"My dad drives diesel trucks. It's fun."

"I've never made a B and I hope I never do."

"Can I sit in the back or on the side of the room? I get nervous being surrounded in the middle."

"I'm the fourth generation of my family to go to school here."

"I'm new. I don't know how to get lunch when it's time or where to sit."

"I'm really nervous about meeting my new basketball coach."

At first glance, this list of snippets may seem random, but there is SO much great information here. Right off the bat, I knew a few students needed some reassurance.

I also knew that some of them felt pressure to succeed and perform a certain way at school.

I learned that one didn't like to read, so I needed to find out why and how I could help her enjoy reading in the future.

One student needed to sit somewhere specific, and another needed to know how to get lunch at the cafeteria. I was able to address both of those needs right away thanks to their emails!

No matter what methods and resources you use to get to know your new students, I hope you have a great time getting to know them and can create some wonderful first-week-of-school memories. Before you go, I want to share a quick teacher tip with you!

Teacher Tip: Whether or not you replace your "all about me" worksheet with this lesson and activity, there will always be students who would rather ask you how to do something than actually memorize the steps to complete the task independently in the future. There will also always be students with unique learning needs who benefit from visual instructions to help them access, send, receive, and manage email. I created these resources to save your sanity with the first group of students and provide a helpful visual aid for the second group! You can click the photos below to grab your copies from my TPT store. The Google Apps infographic is a freebie!

Until next time! Lauren