new ideas for self-introductions?

Submitted by MelissaMok on Tue, 2008/04/08 - 09:25.

the new school year is about to begin, and as excited as i am to meet my new students, i'm dreading the self-introduction class. i've done the same thing at least a dozen times! bor-ing!

does anyone have any fresh ideas for a self-intro class??
there's the good ol' betting game and power point presentation...
any other activities out there that have worked well for you?

please, do share!

thanks,
Melissa

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bahia's picture

A Quiz

Submitted by bahia on Tue, 2008/04/08 - 13:38.

Give the kids a T/F quiz about yourself and make them answer before you give your self intro. Put the quiz on handouts and then ask question 1. Have them raise hands for who put T, and then who put F. Then explain about the real answer.

I've used this before and I liked it because it was more interactive. You could use pictures to illustrate the answers, if you want.

I've also played exerpts from songs and asked the students to guess which one I liked.

-Bahia
ALT Advisor
Gunma Prefecture
sm-bahia at pref.gunma.jp

tanabata's picture

info circle: my 2-yen worth

Submitted by tanabata on Wed, 2008/04/09 - 09:27.

I do a what I call an info circle. Students form groups (usually by row or lunch group) and stand up. I put a circle on the board with 12 or so (depending upon the number of groups that can be made) words about my life in it on the board. For example: 27, tanabata (my birthday), Doraemon (my favorite character), Josh (my brother's name), etc.
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In their groups, the students can think of and ask YES or NO questions using the key words on the board. For example: Is Josh your brother? or Are you 27? etc.
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You are only allowed to answer YES or NO. The goal is for each group to get to YES answers from you, aka think of the correct question/relationship for 2 words in the circle. When a group gets 2 YESes, they can sit down. Play until all of the groups are seated.
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This game can take quite a bit of time and sometimes the weaker groups need hints about words or how to make the questions. I have played with elementary 5th (in Japanese), 6th (in English) and JHS 1-3 (in English).
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Afterwards, I do a quite recap of the info in the circle and then show some pictures/slideshow.
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My 2-yen worth.