How to Use Get-to-Know-You Activities Later in the Year

Don't throw away those get-to-know-you surveys you did on the first day of school!  This post gives you ideas for using that valuable information all through the school year. 

In a previous post, I talked about making Get-to-Know-You Nametags. The pictures below are the examples I use to show students how to make their own on the first day of school. 

Here are the ways I continue to use them:

1.  Have students keep them out on their desks for the first couple of weeks of school. It really helps me to memorize faces and names.  I just have the students keep the tags in their binders and put them back out on their desk each day. 

2.  Collect and alphabetize the tags after a couple of weeks. I hope-punch put them and put them in a binder. 

3. Refer to the nametags when you need to make a connection with a child.  If I have a difficult conversation with a student, such as poor grades or behavior, I make sure to look at their information afterwards. I make sure to find something we have in common and strike up a conversation with that information. 

For example, I used the fact that I also like watching The Office to make a connection with one of my students who I've been struggling with lately. 

What are some ways you use get-to-know-you activities later in the year?  I'd love some fresh Ideas!