GETTING TO KNOW MY

STUDENTS

DESIGN YOUR OWN POST CARD

USE IMAGES AND WORDS TO TELL US ABOUT YOU!

Miss Carpenter!
Do what you can, with what you have, where you are

DESIGN YOUR OWN POST CARD

USE IMAGES AND WORDS TO TELL US ABOUT YOU!

On the reverse
side of your
postcard, describe
the significance of
each of your
depictions.
Explain why you
chose each
image/word

Your Name:
Parent/Guardian 1:
Name:
Phone:
Email:
Parent Guardian 2:
Name:
Phone:
Email:

CLASS UNIFORMS
EACH STUDENT WILL BE IN CHARGE OF DESIGNING THEIR OWN JERSEY WITH WORDS OR ART SHOWING
WHO THEY ARE, THEIR STRENGTHS, WEAKNESSES, LIKES, AND DISLIKES ETC. THESE WILL BE HUNG
AROUND THE ROOM SO MAKE THEM NEAT!

ME GRAPH
List items on X-axis
Class items (all)
Low stress items (all)
Personal choice items
(individual)
Y-axis represents students skill/comfort level
Post graphs and make comments and
generalizations
Adapt as year progresses
Doubet & Hockett, 2015

SAMPLE ME GRAPH
Miss Carpenter
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0

2nd Semester

LEAVE SOMETHING TO READ!

When you come into this
room our poor tree will
have no leaves!
It is your job to leave a
good book for your
classmates and Miss
Carpenter to read!

LEAVE SOMETHING TO READ

Fill out as many of the
leaves and put them on
the tree!
Your name:
Book Title:
Book Author:
Why this book??

This will make our tree

and class library grow!

RATIONALE
One technique that I truly enjoy for the first few days of school is the post card
activity. I have done this on my own and just handed out my post card but getting the
students to create their own is a wonderful idea! Make sure the students all put
information they are comfortable sharing so you can display them around the room!
These post cards can consist of pictures, quotes, drawings, or anything that explains
them. This will allow for other students to get to know them as well as their teacher
(Carbaugh & Doubet, 2016).
As I continue to grow as an educator and become more involved in the school I
work in I also want to be a coach. When I become a coach I feel as if I would move from
the post card idea to the students own uniform this uniform will show how they want
to display themselves to the class. This class is a team and the students will be aware of
that. Just like going on the field for a game you dont want your uniform to look sloppy
so it should be well done and show who you are. I would love to make this a grade wide
activity and display them all in the hallways so everyone would have the opportunity to
get to know each other.
Other get to know you activities I will complete as supplementary entry or exit
questions. These will consist of students favorite books so I know what I should have on
my classroom book shelf and students favorite song so I can make a class playlist for
days that group work is being completed. These are just small activities that I will be
able to implement to get to know the students a little better and be able to share
information about myself as well. As the year goes on I would implement other activities
that relate to getting to know each other. If learning about bar graphs or pie charts the
students can make their own in regards to their lives and we will display them until that
unit is complete. These activities will help relate the curriculum to the students lives,
making the information interest them.

RATIONALE
In order to understand my students: what theyre interests are, how
they learn best, and how I can best help them, I need to get to know
them. The best time to do this is the beginning of the school year. The
strategies I have listed will be implemented at the start of the school year
and continually used as the year progresses. These strategies allow me
to know how to provide each student and the class as a whole with a safe
interactive learning environment and a classroom environment that
connects to their lives.
Weinstein states that the easiest way to learn more about your
students is to welcome them and show that you care and respect them
(pg. 52). By getting to know them you will then know what unique
qualities and needs they each may have. This will help to create an
atmosphere where they have the ability to be themselves along with
share traits with others (Doubet & Hockett, 2015, p.10).
Many of these activities dont just help me get to know the students
it helps all the students get to know each other. Students may learn what
a student favorite color or sports team is through the post cards while
others may have the same favorite book by reading the Leave
Something to Read chart. These opportunities allow for a classroom
environment where everyone feels safe and welcome to have similarities
and differences.