7 Steps to Conduct a New Student Virtual Orientation

Mide
Sep 11, 2020
5 min read

….successfully for School Counselors

For school counselors, we are essential in getting the school ready for a successful year. In the 'back to school' workload, one item on the to do list is a new student orientation. Now, I’m aware this will vary depending on the location, type of school, student enrollment numbers, and more, yet we need to be involved in the transition process of new students in our schools. Our availability and accessibility for new students (in addition to current students) is vital in the start of every school year, the 2020-2021 school year in particular.

The general layout of my school:

An international, private, school in the Middle East. My current caseload is more or less 300 students from grades 5-8. It's not the best ratio, but it's certainly manageable.

With my suitable counselor to student ratio, I was able to create and implement a new student orientation in a secured, virtual format that went smoothly. Below I will provide the 7 steps I did to conduct a new student virtual orientation successfully.

1. Brainstorm and List Key Information

List all the information new students and their families need to know about the school and the school year. You may already know some information if you have been in the school for 1 or more years (i.e. subject classes, name of principal, grade groupings, and school website). However, if you are a new school counselor and, or if some significant changes will be occurring just like the 2020-2021 school year, make sure you gather all the confirmed information (thus far) that a new student will need to know...even if it changes.

You will already be aware of school changes but talk with your school administration to know more details that are appropriate to share with new students. I had several conversations with the principal to discuss what can be shared and how to share it. This includes but not limited to the school daily time frame, number of classes for the quarter/semester/year, core and elective subjects, eLearning platform, school setting, school structure, and when the school year will begin.

2. Create Your Engagement Tool

With the data you have gathered, you then want to create your engagement tool to present the information. I created a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation. I kept it simple with the presentation style but I added cool font for more character. The TeachersPayTeachers link is down below.

Here are a few stills from my presentation:

3. Proofread and Reflect

Once I created the presentation, checked for errors, and updated information if needed, I then reflected on the intention of why the presentation was created. To be honest, doing something for the sake of doing it in our field as educators may not always lead to a desired outcome. When intention is the base along with integrity, clarity, and support then our desired outcome(s) have an increased opportunity to be displayed. So I made sure to look through each slide and question if I was clear and thorough in the lens of a ten year old fifth grader or thirteen year old eighth grader. I sent it to my principal for some extra eyes, too. It was approved and we were good to go.

4. Make Yourself Visible

Remember above, how I said school counselors are essential in a school system, well make your name, face, and voice be unforgettable. One of my intentions was to give my new students an amazing first impression of myself. I knew that compared to the usual in-person school setting, their physical interaction with me would be drastically less (if not none) compared to my current students.

If your school is doing a virtual setting and you choose to use a presentation, write your name on the first slide. Also include a professional picture of yourself or a cool Bitmoji image if you will send a recording of this presentation as well. What would be super cool is if you share your presentation with a cute view of yourself in the corner somewhere while going through each slide. All the current video platforms include this feature (i.e. Google Meet, Loom, Screencastify, and Zoom). If you are comfortable, share some appropriate information when you further introduce yourself like where you are from and hobbies you enjoy. You are one of their first contacts when it comes to attending a new school, particularly a school held online. So, feel free to add your personality; humanize yourself.

4. Practice

Practice your presentation even if you are a pro. My school is using the Google platform for online learning so live and recorded class times will be through Google Meet. I created a test Google Meet session where I tested out my presentation. I recorded the presentation and then went through it from start to finish as I planned to do live with students.

I did a brief warm welcome, presented the outline for what will occur during their orientation, transitioned to the presentation, then came back on the screen to wrap up and conclude the orientation. The total time of pacing myself through this orientation was about fifteen minutes. For a middle school student’s attention span, I thought that was a pretty good time. Especially with my self-described charismatic personality in front of my kiddos while using myself and a presentation to provide information, the fifteen minutes would be a dynamic experience.

From this recording I observed my facial expressions, volume, ease of switching tabs while presenting, what I said, how I said it, the length of time, and the overall flow of the mock orientation. I made adjustments accordingly.

5. Timely Emails

Of course throughout this entire time of completing additional tasks in my workload, I was aware of the timeline of my first email to new students about the virtual orientation to the day the orientation would take place.

In the Middle East, the work week is from Sunday through Thursday. In that manner, I sent an email out to all 17 new middle school students the Thursday prior to the orientation day which would be Tuesday of the following week. I know, I know 17 is nothing but remember I work in a small, private school. Furthermore, I was going to conduct two new student orientation video sessions - one for grades 5 to 6 students and another for grades 7 to 8 students. So the times would be different which I had to keep track of as well.

I sent another reminder email the following Monday then an email invitation link Tuesday, the day of the orientation. I sent the invitation the day of the orientation about 10 minutes in advance to prevent students misusing the link to have private video meets unattended.

6. Practice Again

On the day of the orientation, I did another round of practice. This was to recall certain things I wanted to say and to simply get myself ready to present and of course perform. I was in a great location free of background sound with beautiful natural light to make my first impression glow in the sunshine.

7. Action!

My first orientation was with new grade 5 and 6 students. Once I sent the invitation link, students started coming in. My allocated space for students to talk in the orientation was filled with crickets. They didn’t speak but no one left which is a plus in my book! There were a couple questions at the end which I answered. This good energy I felt from a successful new student orientation with grades 5-6 continued with my new grade 7 to 8 students. I had one grade 8 student offer to introduce herself to others, no one followed. But it's definitely understandable, technically we were all strangers talking to each other. I had one interruption when a teacher came in to ask me a question not knowing I was admist live video lol. So, I'll be sure to put a sign on the door next time. A few minor hiccups but still a success.