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In this activity it does not make students take too many social risk and every student will usually participate. Just have the kids line up by birthday, alphabetically order or some other indicator to get them up and moving and socializing. I have even thought about doing this digitally with avatars if we are not in person on a google slide.

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This activity helps students learn things about each other and also lets the teacher see where students are at with their math facts. In 4th grade we encouraged students to use multiplication or multi step problems. In second grade I might have students draw a picture to represent their number or a simple addition or subtraction problems.

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Kids really love this because they get to throw things in class! I have the students write 3 things about themselves on a piece of paper and then wad it up in a ball. Everyone throws their papers and then are told to go pick up a ball. Then they read the 3 items and have to guess who's paper it is.

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This is something I have adapted for my room that has really helped me as a special educator. I plan to change it next year as I move to teach high school life skills. It's a great way to get background info for the students and for the parents to know that their student's teacher really cares about understanding their student.

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In 2nd grade we have students take home a brown paper bag and fill it with no more than 5 items (they have to fit in the bag). The items have to tell us something about the student. Then each student presents their bag to the class and explains each item and why it represents something about them.

I also have students bring a picture of their family at the beginning of the year. I make a color copy of the photo and return the original and then I put all of the photos on a bulletin board in the classroom with the title #wearefamily.

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I like to have students create a vision board to set goals for the year. These will probably look very different this year.

Another easy get-to-know you activity is Two Truths and a Lie. We all write three "facts" two are true and one is a lie.

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Goal Setting with Student-Created Vision Boards in Google Slides!

A great idea for a new year! Student-Created Vision Boards with Google Slides! A student-created vision board is a great way to help students set goals and visualize reaching them! We often use the start of a new year, new school year, or new semester to set goals, personal and professional. Visualization is one of the most powerful exercises for the mind and for reaching your goals. Let's take advantage of this fantastic strategy with students.
What is a Vision Board?
A vision board is a collection of images and words that represent the things you want in life-the things you want to do, the things you want to learn, the things you want to be. I create a vision board for myself each year, and I got to thinking about how valuable this experience could be for our students.

Often, vision boards are not digital, they are hands-on creations, cutting images from magazines, and gluing it together on posterboard. While this is fun and tangible, it may not be as classroom-friendly.

The Digital Vision Board
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You can create digital versions of vision boards using the tools of your choice. Google Slides or Google Drawings stand out as obvious choices when it comes to G Suite. I created an example using Google Slides and the Unsplash photos add-on to show how easy this activity can be. Of course, a digital version allows you to carry it with you wherever you go and regularly reflect on your progress.

Why Vision Boards?

Vision boards are nothing new, but they may be new to students and your classroom. Over the past few years, vision boards have been featured on TV shows such as Oprah and Ellen. Visualization can be a powerful mind-body connection in helping you stay focused on your goals. Let's leverage visualization for LEARNING!

"A goal without a plan is just a wish."― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Vision boards also support Dynamic Learning and the ISTE Standards for Students! This is just one small way we can empower learners in our classrooms this year.

Through the Dynamic Learning model and framework, I shared some ways to go BEYOND, including a mindset to take learning BEYOND the BELL. One strategy to go BEYOND the BELL is to have students set their own learning goals. Help students write their own learning goals, both goals aligned to what they are learning in class, but also BEYOND. What problems would they like to solve? What's something they've always wanted to learn?

Creating Digital Vision Boards with Students

I think this is an activity that just about any student could produce. However, I would recommend this for grades 3 and up.

STEP 1:

Have students brainstorm their goals, both personal and academic. Give them good, guiding questions to help them imagine the end of the semester or school year and the things they hope to accomplish by that time.

You will need to help them understand the difference between unrealistic dreams (becoming King of England) and a realistic goal (reading two chapter books). But don't stifle the dreams in the process, just help them visualize all kinds of things for themselves.

- What have you always wanted to learn?

- Picture yourself at the end of the school year. What does it look like? What did you accomplish?

- What books do you want to read?

- What problems do you want to solve?

- What's something you struggle with that you would like to overcome?

- What's something you would like to learn in this class?.

Help students brainstorm a list of ten or more ideas. Then have students reduce that list to their top five or six. This could quickly get to be a long list and an even longer activity. Help students stay focused and to generate a good list of personal and academic goals. Three of each would be an excellent place to start. I would also suggest showing lots of examples, even creating one for yourself so your students can see the possibilities.

STEP 2:
Add Images
Create your vision boards in Google Slides! As I mentioned earlier, you could also do this in Drawings, but I think the new add-ons for Slides gives it the edge.

- Add images from the Explore tool. Go to Tools>Explore and search. Click on Images, then just click-and-drag into the project. (Note: Click on the image to open and view usage rights. It will appear very small below the image.)

- Add images and icons using the Unsplash Add-On and the Icons by Noun Project Add-On. BOTH ARE FREE, but Icons requires attribution. (Note: Add-Ons do NOT work on mobile devices.)

- Add words, text, shapes, lines, arrows, emoji, even GIFs ...WHATEVER! (I would encourage you not to add video. GIFs could even get out of hand. Remember, you want this to be something they can glance at and visualize in less than a minute.)

Vision boards can take many forms; some are organized, some are chaotic, some are organized chaos. Check out this post from LifeHack for some fresh ideas.

Encourage originality and creativity! You don't want these to be cookie cutter; these should be very personalized!
Google Slides Tips and Tricks: Other Ideas to Spice Up the Boards:
Although the focus of this post is a digital vision board, you can easily go old school with this and get out the scissors, glue, poster board, and magazines. If you do this, take a picture of each vision board so students can save to their Google Drive.

- Use one collaborative slide deck for the entire class and have students comment on each other. (Note: You may want them to create independently first, so they aren't all choosing the same goals and images.)

- Sprinkle some Bitmoji fun in there! (where age appropriate)

- Even add emojis!

- Track goals in Google Keep

- Use Flipgrid for reflection and periodic goal reviews (every 6-9 weeks)

- Share with the world! I would love to see these! Tag me on Twitter or Instagram @ShakeUpLearning.

STEP 3:

Save the vision boards in a shared folder in Google Drive, or if students are okay with it, publish the slide deck on a webpage or Google Site. You can keep it in the slide deck, or students could download their board as an image file (File>download as> png or jpeg.) They could save this image as the background on their personal device!

The key is to have it somewhere handy, so you can review your goals periodically throughout the year.

STEP 4:
What do you think? Will you try vision boards this year? Leave me a comment and share your thoughts! Love to see links to vision boards!
Review and track goals! Review your vision boards periodically. The timing is up to you as the teacher and what works for your classroom. Secondary students could also write out their goals in Google Keep and track their progress. Reflection, discussion, and review will make this a precious experience for students of all ages.

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Student-Created Vision Boards with Google Slides

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A great idea for a new year! Student-Created Vision Boards with Google Slides! A student-created vision board is a great way to help students set goals and visualize reaching them! We often use the start of a new year, new school year, or new semester to set goals, personal and professional.

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Even in 5th grade, my favorite get to know you activities are the ones where students can bring 3 things to share about themselves. They can bring pictures or items, the only rule I put with this is no food items (pictures work well) or things that are alive (again, pictures work well). The kids always laugh, but I feel safer stating that so we don't have any pet hamsters, etc show up. I have a couple kids share each week so it isn't so overwhelming, they rest of the class practices appropriate listening skills, we listen to learn about the person, and how to ask polite/on topic questions about things that have not already been stated.

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I purchased this unit from TPT several years ago. Two of my favorite activities are "Find Someone Who..." and "Who's In Your Circle?".

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Back to School Activities (Grades 1-2) "Get to Know You" First Week of School

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Begin the year with some fun and fresh back to school activities to help your students get to know each other during the first weeks of school! These eight back-to-school activities, geared toward students in grades 1 and 2, are engaging and interactive! Includes all the descriptions, printables, an...