Special Person is a good way to get to know your students. Since it has been extensively described and blogged about (check out this process document and other free stuff by Bryce Hedstrom), I will focus this post on sharing my favorite resources for the classroom:

Which questions to ask?

• Mapping of possible questions based on your students proficiency level
• Special Person Interview Posters for Novice learners
• Special Person slide deck (for remote or virtual learning) — adapted from Amy Marshall

Do students take notes during the interview?

• They don’t have to but here is a good low accountability graphic organizer. This can be easily turned into a study guide if you want to formally assess your students, or a souvenir yearbook of our class if you want to give them something special.

What to do after Special Person?

• If a student has a pet, you can follow-up with a Pet Picture Talk
• You can play a game while formatively assessing their comprehension
• You could even turn the process into an input-based project (here is the rubric)

What if I teach virtually or a mix of in person and remote students?

• Here is a slideshow you can use with your remote students. Credit to Amy Marshall for providing topic choices to her students.

Happy interview!