GETTING ACQUAINTED ACTIVITIES

1. First days questionnaire.

On the first day of class, students might be asked to respond to a questionnaire. Responses
would simply be written on a piece of paper and turned in to the teacher. Some questions
would simply provide basic information about the student, such as their name, how they
prefer to be called, and any supplemental contact information that might be necessary.
Others would attempt to ascertain some of the students interests, and might be used to help
identify research topics for the student later in the class. These questions might include:

What did you do over the summer?

What has been your favorite class?
What extracurricular activities are you involved in?
What are two of your main interests?

2. Introduce yourself to your neighbor.

Another activity might involve simply asking each student to turn to their neighbor and
introduce themselves. A specified amount of time, five minutes or so, would be allowed
for discussion, and specific actions to take for the introduction would be identified, such
as:

shaking hands,
introducing selves to one another, and
identifying and discussing an interest for a potential research topic for the class.

3. Stand up and introduce yourself.

An alternative activity might involve asking each student in the room to introduce himself
to the class. Each student would be asked to:

tell the class his name,

tell what his favorite class is,
tell what country or region interests him most, and
recommend a book to read.

For any of these activities, the teacher would lead off by example, providing answers for
himself to each of the questions.