麻豆传媒入口

Most agree: Strong, trusting relationships between students and teachers are the key to high-functioning, academically challenging classrooms. But according to high school Spanish teacher Natalie Lalagos, that鈥檚 only a fraction of the story.

To lay the groundwork for productive classroom discussions and truly fruitful group work, for example, teachers should think about relationships along four dimensions: teacher to individual student, teacher to whole class, student to student, and student to whole class. 

It might start with simple adjustments that improve classroom cohesion more generally. A teacher鈥檚 identity, Lalagos suggests, should be known to the class, just as a student should feel 鈥渟een and known鈥� by their teacher. Students, meanwhile, should develop bonds with each other, as well as a 鈥渟ense of belonging鈥� in the classroom community as a whole.

We鈥檝e scoured our archives to highlight fun, quick, and easy-to-implement strategies that can (and should) be deployed daily, weekly, and even year-round to build and sustain strong classroom communities.聽聽

1. Morning meetings: The ubiquitous morning meeting, suitable for all ages, is simple to conduct and gives students and teachers a chance to reflect on the day ahead and recalibrate as they prepare to learn. The meetings can take many forms but tend to focus on prosocial greetings, reflection, and sharing: Tools like mood meters and strategies like roses and thorns allow students to convey how they鈥檙e feeling that day without oversharing. Integrating group activities into the first minutes of your lessons鈥�relationship-building games, mindfulness activities like deep breathing, or even movement鈥攃an loosen kids up for learning while having fun in the process.聽

By establishing strong social connections, morning meetings can reduce classroom disruptions by up to 75 percent, according to .

2. Name tents/name toss: An easy and interesting way to tackle name pronunciation at the start of the year is to ask students to fold paper in half and create name tents, complete with the phonetic spelling of their name. Students can decorate the other side of these tents鈥攚ith drawings or images that represent them, for example鈥攕o that teachers can glean valuable insights about their passions or identities, writes high school teacher Kati Begen.

To socialize pronunciations more broadly, Kristy Zamagni-Twomey fun games. Arrange students in a circle, introduce a ball, and have each student pronounce their name before tossing the ball to another child (alternatively, you can have all students say 鈥淗i, ____鈥� before the ball is tossed). Or, you can give students blindfolds, have one student speak a simple greeting, and ask the blindfolded student to guess the name of the speaker. During the games, be sure to gently correct mispronunciations.聽

3. Get-to-know-you surveys: Use free tools like or to ask students questions that range from icebreakers like 鈥淲hat is the best gift you鈥檝e ever received and why?鈥� or 鈥淲ho are you closest to in your family and why?鈥� to more academically oriented questions, such as 鈥淲hat scares you most about this class?鈥�

Because you can make responses anonymous to peers, 鈥渟tudents will often reveal things that they wouldn鈥檛 otherwise,鈥� says high school administrator Sean Cassel. The activity really bears fruit when you follow up with students, writes middle school teacher Lindsay Kervan: Pull a student aside and ask about the sibling they mentioned on the survey, for example, or integrate student interests in curricular materials.

4. All about me: Ask students to create a fun presentation including 10 facts about themselves: Encourage them to use media like video, photos, and music, Cassel writes. To model the activity, ease the pressure, and help students connect with you, make a presentation for yourself and go first.

Another spin on the activity? High school English teacher Larry Ferlazzo recommends 鈥淚 Am鈥� lists, which provide students with sentence starters they can complete, like 鈥淚 am happy when ____,鈥� 鈥淚 hope to ____,鈥� or 鈥淚 am most scared when ____.鈥�

5. Friendly Fridays: At the start of each week, a group of Elizabeth Peterson鈥檚 fourth graders pick a classmate鈥檚 name from a jar, keep the name a secret, and create a friendly art project鈥攁nything from a note to a card or a uniquely designed traced hand with a message on it鈥攖o present to the classmate on Friday. The final product is less important than the experience of doing something nice for a fellow classmate and promoting 鈥渒indness, friendship, reflection, and social awareness,鈥� Peterson writes.聽

6. Gratitude walls: Dedicate a section of a wall for students to leave photos, sketches, or notes sharing whom they鈥檙e grateful for and why. Once a week, dedicate time for students to share out some of what has been put up on the wall. The activity, educator and author Lainie Rowell writes, helps students appreciate and value 鈥渢he good in others.鈥澛�

7. Identity portraits: This activity is really beginning to take off in the 麻豆传媒入口 community. To get to know her students better, and make their whole selves feel included and visible in her classroom, middle school teacher Shana V. White gives students crayons and colored pencils and asks them to draw an outline of their head and shoulders.

After drawing a line down the middle of their hand-drawn outline, they add skin tone, clothing, and other visible features on one side, and on the other side of the portrait they list words that describe their identity鈥攖heir ethnic background, hobbies, or religion, for example. White says she hangs up the final portraits in her classroom so that students see them every day and 鈥渒now that all those identities are accepted in this place.鈥�

8. 5x5 assessment: Choose five students to think about for five minutes each day, suggests Todd Finley, a professor of English education at East Carolina University, in North Carolina. Dwell on questions like these: What have I noticed about them recently? What behavior patterns? What outside affinities, struggles, values, and goals have been revealed? After you鈥檝e done this, interact with the students that same day and ask them a question that came up during your thinking鈥攆or instance, 鈥淢ike, a couple of days ago you were talking about your dad鈥檚 new job. How will that change things for you and your family?鈥澛�

9. 2x10 strategy: A similar but more intensive approach to the 5x5 strategy, the 2x10, is especially useful for connecting with your most challenging students, according to Lori Desautels, an assistant professor at Butler University and former elementary school teacher.聽

For two minutes each day, 10 days in a row, have a personal conversation with a student about anything they鈥檙e interested in (as long as it鈥檚 G-rated). The strategy sounds simple, but its inventor, psychologist Raymond Wlodkowski, that it can lead to an 85 percent improvement in one student鈥檚 behavior and improve the behavior of other students in your classroom too.聽

10. Greeting at the door: To get a quick pulse on how students are feeling and provide them with a jolt of encouragement before they take their seats, greet them individually at the door. 

Kindergarten teacher Falon Turner starts her mornings by saying a student's name, making eye contact, and using a friendly greeting鈥攍ike a high-five鈥攖o motivate students and gather important information about them. 鈥淒o they look escalated, do they look triggered, do they look upset?鈥� High school teacher David Tow asks older students, 鈥淗ow are you doing?鈥� when he greets them at the door. If he senses reluctance or evasion in the response, he makes a note and follows up with 鈥淎re you sure?鈥澛�

11. Appreciation, apology, aha: During this closing activity, students stand in a big circle and one by one share an appreciation for another person in the room, an apology they鈥檇 like to offer, or an 鈥渁ha鈥� moment they experienced that day. 鈥淭he whole purpose is just to have some space to reflect on our day,鈥� according to high school teacher Aukeem Ballard, adding that 鈥渢hese types of appreciations and community recognitions can go a long way towards building bonds.鈥澛犅�

12. Attendance check-in: Transform the drudgery of attendance into an easy, daily way to get students to open up, writes high school English teacher Jori Krulder.

Instead of having students say 鈥淗ere鈥� when their name is called, Krulder suggests giving them prompts that invite them to 鈥渉ave a voice, share a piece of themselves with peers, and build a culture of connectedness.鈥� This can include using a mood meter to identify the color they鈥檙e feeling, sharing a word they鈥檝e been dwelling on, or mentioning the last thing they read (a book or text message) that moved them in some way.

13. Assign seats (but change them often): Cicely Woodard recommends switching up seating assignments periodically鈥攐nce a month or so. This gives students more opportunities to work together and 鈥渓earn about each other,鈥� Woodard writes. Apps like and can make this simple to do. After each change, Woodard recommends making time for short icebreakers so that students can get to know each other a bit.聽

14. Show and tell: It鈥檚 old school, but it still works like a charm, according to Woodard. Starting at the beginning of the year, ask students to bring in something that represents them, their culture, or their passions. Plan to set aside five or 10 minutes each day for a few students to share what they brought until everyone in the class has participated.

15. Two-minute talks: Ask students to write down questions they鈥檇 like to discuss in small groups. High school English teacher Ashley Ingle says that these can be whimsical prompts like 鈥淲hich restaurant serves the best pizza in town?鈥� or 鈥淲ould you rather be a dog or a cat?鈥� Set aside two minutes at the beginning or end of class for students to discuss.聽

To mix things up, ask students to stand and find a random partner to discuss the questions with, using prompts like 鈥淔ind someone wearing the same color shoes as you.鈥澛犅�

16. Dialogue journals: Liz Galarza, a middle school writing teacher in New York, that exchanging short letters (three to five sentences) with individual students during the year can help you connect with them individually and improve their writing. She suggests using a simple notebook that teachers and students can pass back and forth. Initial entries can build off of surveys or other get-to-know-you activities. For example, 鈥淵ou wrote that you play basketball. Me too! Who is your favorite player?鈥澛�

Galarza asks her students to write one letter a week and said she spends an hour writing back responses for one classroom鈥攈owever, the timeline and frequency can be adjusted to fit your own needs.

17. Shout-out boxes: Set up a shoe box or something similar in the classroom, then provide paper and pens so that students can slip in for things like good work in a group or even for saying something funny. At the end of the week, you can open up the box and read some (or all) of them out loud.聽

18. Class playlists: The shared love of an artist or a song can create instant connection. Ask students to write their songs on the board for consideration in a classroom playlist. Alternatively, turn the question of 鈥淲hat is your favorite song?鈥� or 鈥淲ho is your favorite artist?鈥� into a group brainstorming activity first, which gives students the chance to bond over music on their own before they share their choices on an exit ticket.聽聽

19. Daily dedications: Build trust, community, and understanding with this short activity developed by high school humanities teacher Henry Seton. Each day, one student delivers a 30-to-60-second presentation dedicating their day鈥檚 learning to someone they admire or want to honor鈥攚hether it is a family member or a public or historical figure. Seton says the dedications are a 鈥減rized moment in the day, one that refocuses us, fosters community, and reignites our motivation.鈥澛�

20. Gab and go: Split students into two groups and have them grab their chairs and make two long lines facing each other. Throw out a question to the room鈥攊t can be academic or conversational: 鈥淲hat鈥檚 the last show you binged?鈥� or 鈥淭ell me what you really think of the novel we鈥檙e reading.鈥� Have the students talk with the person sitting across from them, speed-dating style, for 30 to 60 seconds. When time is up, everyone on one side scoots down a seat, a new prompt is provided, and the process is repeated.聽

21. Two truths and a lie: This game is a staple of get-to-know-you activities for a reason, writes high school English teacher Kimberly Hellerich. Have students write two truths and a lie about themselves that are all presented as facts. Have students sit in a circle or in groups, then take turns guessing which alleged fact is the lie before the student reveals the real answer. Follow-up questions should be encouraged. 鈥淯sing this activity at the beginning of the school year establishes foundational connections for the whole year,鈥� Hellerich writes.聽

22. Scavenger hunt: Instead of asking students to hunt for items, give them a sheet with a list of prompts like 鈥淗as been to the ocean鈥� or 鈥淗as broken a bone,鈥� and have them go around collecting names of classmates who鈥檝e experienced those things. Ferlazzo encourages this activity at the start of the year, when students need to break the ice between each other.聽

23: Four square: Fold a piece of paper into four boxes, then title and number each box鈥攆or example, sections might be 鈥渇amily,鈥� 鈥渇avorite hobbies,鈥� 鈥減laces I鈥檝e lived or visited,鈥� and 鈥渁n interesting thing about me you might not know.鈥� After students fill out each box, split them into different partners to share their 鈥渂ox ones鈥� with, and then again for 鈥渂ox two,鈥� and so on. For the end of the year, Ferlazzo suggests switching up the categories. They could include things like 鈥渢he most important thing I鈥檝e learned this year鈥� or 鈥渢he biggest challenge I overcame in this class.鈥�

We'd love this article to be an evolving document of best practices, so please use the comments to add any of your own favorite strategies to build relationships in the classroom. If we see something we love, we may well add it to the list!