How do your students meet you for the first time? Do you introduce yourself during registration and orientation? Or perhaps a video or phone call? Maybe by text or email? Prior to the pandemic, I used to introduce myself during registration and orientation when I processed the students for my class. Since the pandemic I have experimented with nearly every form of “distanced” introduction from email to text to to phone calls. I think that introducing myself to my students prior to their first day of class is really important, and I hope it sets my students at ease before any “first day jitters” can creep in.

My program conducts rolling registrations and so I get new students regularly. However, because I can get new students at anytime I have found that I don’t usually have the time to schedule a video or phone call with new students before they come to class for the first time. Emails can be great, but they feel a little impersonal for me, especially with my ESL students many of whom rarely use their emails, if at all.

My favorite means of introduction has been through text messaging. My students typically, regardless of their English levels, own and can operate a cell phone and text messages. I can also use apps like Talking Points to communicate with my students in their native language with ease so they have clear instructions for logging in to their first class. For a personal touch, I created a Meet the Teacher slide with my picture, class information, and a few things about myself. I save it as a picture to send in text messages, but of course it also works wonderfully in an email.

What is your favorite way to introduce yourself to your students? Have you had to change it since the pandemic began? Let us know in the comments below.

I’ve attached an editable copy of my Meet the Teacher template here. Feel free to use it to introduce yourself to your new students!