Student Check In Questions

One of the things I tried to prioritize this spring was getting my students online at least once a day because they were "curious" about something. Maybe once they were there, they'd get some work done or reach out to a teacher or classmate if they were in need. Most of the time, the kids reported it worked. It was small, but it gave them a laugh and a chance to be silly. I wanted to collect the questions I asked so I could reuse some this fall and figured they might be useful to others as well! 

Here are some other great resources I've come across on this idea:

• This list from Lauren Johnson, @MrsJohnsonCA : Check In Questions
• This list from Jennifer Vibber, @MrsVibberMath: Check In Questions
• This list from Liz Mastalio, @MissMastalio : Friday Opener Questions

Here are mine. NOTE: These were in discussion boards, so kids could see each other's answers and do some debating. We did more serious check ins privately: 

• If forced to do so, would you rather fight 100 duck-sized horses or 1 horse-sized ducks? Explain, argue (respectfully), and keep it school appropriate! 
• If fruit or vegetables could talk, which specific type would be the rudest? Defend your answer. 
• Every day this week has felt like pajama day. Let's imagine we are student council and we're planning a remote learning "Spirit Week." We've thrown around some ideas so far: 
  • Brush Your Teeth Before 10 am Day
  • Cut Off Someone In Your House From Watching The News Too Much Day
  • Get Outside Day!
  • Put On Real Clothes Day! 
  Now it's your turn! Share your day ideas for the best "Remote Learning" Spirit Week EVER! The more creative (AND SCHOOL APPROPRIATE) the better! 
• I saw this online recently:
  
  I started thinking about how uncomfortable this makes me EVERY. YEAR. Please explain, in detail, what you should do to make the most of when people sing happy birthday to you. 
• You show up to college for your freshman year and you're sooooo excited. You meet your new roommate for the first time and ....it's a middle school version of you. What's the first thing you fight about?
• Alright people, we're writing a class story. I may publish these into actual books and give them out if they're good...so let's rock this! Reply to the person above you with the next line of the story! Keep it going, keep it fun, and KEEP IT SCHOOL APPROPRIATE! 
• Give us your "word of the day." Find a word that is weird, funny, uncommon, or just fun for you and give us the word and the definition! 
• If we were making a class playlist and you could only choose 1 song to contribute, what would it it be and why? (I actually made these playlists and sent them out to students) 
• What's the most underrated emoji and why? AS ALWAYS, KEEP IT SCHOOL APPROPRIATE! 
• What fun new or different or interesting things have you guys been doing to stay busy?
• I saw this on Twitter today and legitimately laughed for 3 minutes: "I challenged 1 to a fight. He brought 3, 5, 7, and 9 along with him. It was then that I knew the odds were against me." So....TELL US YOUR FAVORITE DAD JOKE! (School appropriate, of course :) )
• If you could create any potato chip flavor, what would it be and why?
• Post your favorite math meme! 
• You just discovered that a distant uncle you never met left you $923594332959 in his will to start a sports franchise. We need to know the:
  1) Sport
  2) City
  3) Mascot
  But everyone else is up to you! What would you do?!
• Would you rather be able to taste colors or see smells? Explain! 
• You have your own late night talk show, who do you invite as your first guest and why?
• What's one piece of good news?
• You have to be trapped in one of these quarantine houses. Which one would you pick and why? 
  
• I spent ~20 minutes this weekend watching Instagram videos of people power wash things and was cracking up, embarrassed to tell Mr. G. He yelled that he's done the same thing before and we cracked up about how weird it is that we are fascinated by it. What's the strangest IG/YouTube/Wikipedia/Reading/etc hole you've found yourself in during this quarantine? School appropriate, as usual :) 
• What is an unwritten rule in school that everyone knows anyway? 
• Describe your quarantine so far in 3 emojis. GO! 
• If life were a video game, what two cheat codes would you want?
• What’s the most generous act you’ve seen recently?
• What 5 things would you bring to a deserted island???
• What's the best advice someone ever gave you?
• I have to make a grocery list today- what new meals should I absolutely be making this week??? 
• What's the weirdest object sitting in the room where you are right now? 
• If you could invent a new holiday, what would it be?! 
• Would you rather eat 30 lbs of cheese in one sitting or a bucket of peanut butter with no water?
• Weirdest food combo you love?!?!
• What was the last song you couldn't get out of your head, no matter what you tried? Mine was this weird commercial that was literally always on the radio when we lived in NC: 

• What is your spirit animal and why?
• What's one thing you feel like adults have forgotten about being a teenager?  (Kids had the best, most thoughtful answers ever to this)
• You get a choose a skill you are the best at in the world. But instead of you getting better, everyone else gets worse. What skill do you choose? 
• How do you put on your toilet paper roll? (There is only 1 right answer)
  
• Think about how remote learning has worked in your classes- any of them. What is the #1 worst/most confusing thing or thing you've liked the least? I am genuinely  interested in your feedback on what is not working, but NO TEACHER BASHING!! You do not need to mention course or teacher name. 
• Shout out someone in our class for something (seriously)! Being a good friend, making you laugh, being the best person to sit next to, explaining things when class felt hard, whatever!! 
• I'm trying to challenge Mr. G to a "Chopped" challenge. What ingredients should I put in the basket?!?! 
• Oh no! A burglar broke into your house and they're going straight for......the top of your fridge? What are they stealing? (This was a personal fave- some laugh out loud answers)
• Given Unlimited Resources, What Scientific or Medical Problem Would You Investigate?
• If you could morph two animals to make one super animal, what two animals would you choose? Why?