1. Academic Autobiography Activity 1.1
At some point in your schooling, you’ve probably written an autobiography about your life. In this assignment, you’ll be writing about your academic life.
Consider the following questions and compose your answers:
How well have you been prepared through grade school, middle school, and high school for the scholarly requirements of college?
What are your strong points as a student?
What do you predict will be your biggest academic challenge in college?
This assignment asks you to focus on yourself as a student, both by looking back and looking ahead.
Goal: To get your first-year students to think about how prepared they are for college.
Time Required: Completed by students outside of class as a paper or journal assignment.
Variation: Allow students to read each other’s academic autobiographies by posting them on the class website or bring them to class to compare their experiences.
Activity taken from Staley, Constance. 50 Ways to Leave Your Lectern. Belmont: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 2003.

2. Identify Your Goals
Goal: To get your first-year students to think about how prepared they are for college.
Time Required: Completed by students outside of class as a paper or journal assignment.
Variation: Allow students to read each other’s academic autobiographies by posting them on the class website or bring them to class to compare their experiences.
Activity taken from Staley, Constance. 50 Ways to Leave Your Lectern. Belmont: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 2003.