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While get-to-know-you activities are typically earmarked for the first weeks of school, they shouldn鈥檛 end there, say educators and researchers.

Whether it鈥檚 that they love to play baseball, have three brothers, or enjoy writing or photography, celebrating your students鈥� unique experiences and identities that keep them in school. Students who have a deeper sense of self鈥斺�攁re also better able to define their goals and stay focused on pursuing them, concluded a 2014 study from David Yeager, Angela Duckworth, and colleagues.

We collected an array of class exercises from interviews with teachers, online resources, and our archives that will help students develop greater self-awareness and purpose. These insights can also give you a better sense of who they are, so you can be responsive to their interests鈥攅ven if you鈥檙e separated by screens or masks.

Reflecting on Experiences: 鈥楲aws of Life鈥� Essays

In the early 2000s, educators in an urban, high-poverty district in New Jersey gave their middle and high school students an interesting essay assignment: Write about the values and principles that guide your life.

The seemingly small activity, called 鈥淟aws of Life,鈥� is based on the work of philanthropist John Templeton, and it turned into a that helped students develop a stronger sense of self, purpose, and possibility for the future, according to Maurice Elias, a psychology professor at Rutgers University. The project has since been replicated all over the world.

To run the assignment in your class, Elias recommends asking students to reflect on their past鈥攊n and out of school鈥攁nd the experiences and people that made them who they are. From there, have students discern key characteristics that have influenced their lives and then craft an essay鈥攐r create a video or other multimedia content鈥攆ocused on the 鈥渓aws鈥� or principles that drive them.

Question prompts like 鈥淲ho do you admire? List three of their admirable traits鈥� and 鈥淒escribe an incident or event from which you learned a lesson 鈥榯he hard way鈥欌�� can help guide students. Periodically throughout the year, have students refer back to their essays to reflect on what they wrote and ask themselves, 鈥淲hat鈥檚 changed?鈥� and 鈥淲hat鈥檚 stayed the same?鈥�

Exploring Identity鈥攁nd Perceptions About It: Identity Charts

To get to know her students and ensure that they felt seen in her classroom, middle school teacher Shana White created a lesson to help them explore their identities. First, White set a foundation for discussion by defining identity and explaining how identities can sometimes be visible, like age, or invisible, like a person鈥檚 life experiences.

Then, with the permission of six of her friends, White shared photos of their faces and had students guess their 鈥渋dentity characteristics.鈥� Afterward, she revealed the true details and led a class discussion about making assumptions about others based on how they look or act. To finish the project, students drew their own 鈥渋dentity portraits鈥� or a picture of their face with half the face showing visible characteristics and the other half showing invisible characteristics.

The education organization Facing History and Ourselves recommends a similar exercise called the  for middle school students. To start, select some key historical figures or fictional characters鈥攖hink inclusively and avoid stereotypes, selecting a wide range of people from different backgrounds鈥攁nd ask students to discuss 鈥渇actors such as religion, gender, and geography鈥� that influenced their identities.

Next, have students read the chapter 鈥淢y Name鈥� from the book The House on Mango Street, where the main character, Esperanza, talks about her name, revealing details about her culture. Ask students to create an identity chart for Esperanza, answering questions such as 鈥淲hat is her family like?鈥� and 鈥淲hat does her name reveal about her personality?鈥� Guided by the reading, students can then create identity charts for themselves and share them with the class.

Learning Important Details: Student Inventories

Student inventories can help teachers quickly discern details and facts about students that shape who they are, and can be used to plan further class activities and lessons. Ask students to list their favorite musicians, songs, sports, activities, games, or food, for example, or probe deeper with questions about their culture, memories, and family.

Another option is having students write 20 sentences that complete the prompt, 鈥淚 am someone who鈥︹�� or asking a short list of thought-provoking questions in one-to-one conferences. Target questions that tap into who students are now and who they hope to be, such as 鈥淲hat are some things that bug you about the world?鈥� 鈥淲hat inspires you?鈥� and 鈥淲hat dreams do you have after high school?鈥�

Look for patterns in student responses, and use what you learn to make classroom lessons and activities connected to students鈥� interests, advises Rebecca Alber, an education professor in California, who says, 鈥淪tudents need to see connections between learning and their lived experiences.鈥�

Understanding Interests: Passion Blogging

In Allison Berryhill鈥檚 high school English class, literary analysis exercises left her students 鈥渇rozen,鈥� and free-writing assignments produced hard-to-read rants. Influenced by the book , Berryhill started offering a new exercise called 鈥減assion blogging鈥� last year, in which students write about topics that interest them.

Students start by drawing 鈥渉eart maps,鈥� or large hearts filled with illustrations and words that represent their passions. Then, they select one or two topics to explore further and look for related articles, images, and videos. Berryhill also gives accompanying class lessons on attribution of sources, texts, quotes, and imagery, and shares mentor texts to guide students鈥� writing.

Students鈥� blogs have run the gamut in subject matter, from pheasant hunting to hunger strikes to hiking, and give them an opportunity to dive deeply into things they care about. As part of the process, students are also tasked with reading and evaluating several of their classmates鈥� blogs. Overall, the low-stakes activity has served as a springboard to build students鈥� literary analysis skills for harder assignments, says Berryhill, while helping her get to know them better.

Documenting Your Life: Movies, Photos, and Podcasts

Though many teachers and students are feeling virtual brain drain, digital tools can provide new, creative outlets for students to share and define their interests and personalities. Teachers are having students create autobiographical about their lives and produce podcasts or write articles for digital school newspapers on issues they care about.

Influenced by her community鈥檚 experiences during the pandemic, Wendy McElfish, a high school teacher in California, taught a lesson on Dorothea Lange鈥檚 famous black-and-white photography from the Great Depression. Then, she had her students take their own photos with phones to document their lives. She guided them with the themes 鈥渓ife outside your door,鈥� 鈥渢hrough a window,鈥� 鈥渄ifferent life inside,鈥� and 鈥減orch photos of your family.鈥�

"When kids are faced with terrible circumstances, sometimes it helps to take an artistic approach,鈥� she said. 鈥淎 lot of kids aren鈥檛 good writers, but they have an eye and they have a voice... [and] they can show the world what I see.鈥�

Similarly, Lori Wenzinger, a middle school social studies teacher in South Carolina, paired up with a local photographer to create a three-week multimedia project called 鈥淔inding Your Joy.鈥� After the photographer taught two classes on photo composition and mood, students were tasked with taking photos that 鈥渃apture joyful moments throughout their day,鈥� sharing and reviewing them as a class, and selecting their three favorites to keep in the class Google Drive.

Having Fun: Icebreakers, Games, and Accolades

In addition to more comprehensive assignments and lessons, teachers can build in short, entertaining activities that keep students engaged and reveal insights about who they are.

Trevor Boffone, a high school teacher in Texas, asked his students to submit their favorite song to a list at the start of the year. Now, at the beginning of each virtual class, he plays music to kick things off, incorporating students鈥� picks and his own.

Throughout remote learning, Cathleen Beachboard, a middle school teacher in Virginia, says she鈥檚 including fun activities like show-and-tells and theme days. This fall, she also adopted a practice that her superintendent uses for staff meetings called 鈥淭hree Cool Things I鈥檝e Seen.鈥� Once a week, Beachboard calls out three things she鈥檚 observed about students from classes that week that recognize them for their individuality.

鈥淚 know a lot of teachers are struggling right now getting students pulled in. I found the more encouragement and authentic praise we give to students, the more they dive in,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hese are scary times, but by giving students time to showcase their individuality, they will feel safe and ready to fully engage in learning.鈥�