The Million Dollar Question: What do you need?

I sat down yesterday to review the notecards I'd collected from students on the first day.  The question I'd posed: "What do you need from me to be successful in English 9?" In one or two sentences, my freshmen are already treating me to bursts of voice and personality, revealing their struggles and vulnerability, and driving home that the workshop framework is the best format to personalize instruction to meet their diverse needs.

Many freshmen used their cards to note their anxiety about public speaking, asking not to be called on in front of the class. Several requested seats in the back of the room. Two declared they'd like less reading. (Checking their reading surveys, I noted that both had indicated they'd read zero books over the summer and do not have a favorite author. So they don't like to read. Yet.) Every card provides me with a place to start when we get going on individual conferring in the next week.

A few messages:

I need you to help me learn new things and help me get better at reading. 

I need you to somewhat challenge me. English was never a challenge for me. But don't put me in the front please. ( I LOVE this VOICE! Challenge me *some*, not too much, and don't let me look like a teacher's pet.)

Occasional encouragement and help revising.

I would love to find more books and authors that can be my go-tos. I would also like to have quiet reading time in class. (Well, you've come to the right place!)

I really struggle with English, so if there's things I don't understand, I'd like individual help. (Hello, Conferring!)

Judge, help me correct everything I do here. (I wonder if this young man came straight from AP HuG and the shock of Mr. Scholze's syllabus. ;-) )

I need you to understand that I lost my mom at 11 on September 3rd. I will have bad days and I hate essays.

I've used notecards in the past on the first day, as well as introduction letters where I pointedly ask where they'd like more instruction--reading, essays, grammar, spelling, etc. Changing my wording, leaving it open--"What do you need?"--has swiftly elicited richer feedback that can help me forge stronger, trusting relationships with my kids this year. I know who may need more specific guidance to find a right first book for independent reading, and I know who may be quick to chuck a book if the action slows or gets complicated. These insights will enrich conferences and help me keep more kids on track and growing as readers and writers.

So exciting!