It’s hard to believe that another school year is already underway! To kick things off, I conduct some beginning of the year check-ins with my students.

Lower School Check-Ins

For my lower school kiddos, I make a list of the students I worked with frequently during the previous school year, and I take about 10 minutes to talk to each of those students in my office during the first week of school. Here’s what those 10 minutes consist of:

• They tell me about their summer breaks {usually with lots of energy and excitement}.
• They update me on how things are going since we last talked.
• I remind them that I’m here if they want to talk about anything this school year.

Even though these check-ins are quick and simple, they are a great way for me to connect to students who are likely to use my services in the future {since these are the students who frequented my office in the past}. It also is a great way to remind them they have a safe space to go to at school when they are dealing with negative feelings.

Middle School Survey & Check-Ins

This year, I decided to try something new with my Middle School students in hopes of checking in with all 106 of them, not only the ones I worked with last year. Since all of our MS students have Chromebooks, I designed a “Middle School Check-In” Google Form for them to complete.

I went into each MS library class the first week of school to remind the students the different ways they can see me {stopping by, leaving a note, etc.}. This was also a great chance for me to meet the new MS students, and I had some of their classmates explain who I am and what I do at the school.

Once I finished my intro, students completed the Google Form, which has questions ranging from “How was your summer break?” to “What do you think students at our school need to improve on this year?”

The final question on the form asks if they want to set up a meeting with me. From there, I make a list of the students who checked ‘yes,’ and I make sure we talk before the end of the week.

This survey has given me SO much information that I don’t think I would’ve gotten otherwise. For example, a very quiet child who rarely speaks {and who has never been in my office} included in the survey that her grandmother died this summer, and she requested a meeting with me. From what I know about her, I don’t think she would’ve come up to me to talk, so the survey was an excellent tool in giving her the opportunity to ask for help.

How to you kick off the school year? Do you check-in with your “regulars” from last year? Comment below!