1. It's a gentle way to start the school year instead of plunging straight into the curriculum after a long break. No one is quiet ready for the heavy stuff as soon as we get back!
2. It helps you and your class bond and develop a positive classroom community. This will hopefully mean less conflicts and more support between peers.
3. It will make a positive impact on your behaviour management as the year progresses. Students respond better to teachers they know, like and trust!
However since my school adopted Google last year, I wanted try going digital instead to see what it was like, and boy was it great! All I did was set up a Google Classroom for my class and linked to a range of Google Forms I had created for them. It was so simple to do as they could knock them out in 20 minutes on their devices, or even do them at home if they didn't finish at school. I found that as my group already knew each other well, the Get To Know You Forms sparked more discussion for them as they were reminiscing over their most embarrassing memories and such, which was sweet to see them bonding over the questions and of course hilarious for me to read afterwards!
The biggest benefit of doing Digital Get To Know You Questionnaires, is of course that it's paperless! That means no worrying about collecting in loads of sheets of paper that you have to store somewhere or accidently lose...! Plus, as the information is really important and personal, it's something you definitely want to keep and refer back to in the future and having all the responses in a Google Form at the touch of a button is very convenient!
It is so much fun reading through the responses and learning about your students and what makes them tick and it's really special to be able to know inside jokes and fun facts about your students! Here are the forms I used that you can download:
If you're new to Google Forms and are feeling a bit nervous in how to use them and share them with your students, don't worry! When you download this pack you'll also get access to an exclusive video to guide you through how to use these forms in your own classroom!