With a fresh batch of students every year–or even every hour–many Woodland teachers spend the first few weeks of school getting acquainted.

For the very youngest students, it may be as simple as learning their names on day one. Shelby Long, preschool director, makes it a point to memorize each child’s name on the very first day so she can recognize them when they return the next day.

“A relationship starts with a name. When my prek babies walk in the next day and I can greet them by name, they light up. Simple, but it seems to mean a lot in starting that relationship!” Long shares.

In the elementary library, Kathy Divine works with the entire student body from pre kindergarten through sixth graders. She starts the year with “getting to know you” games and has students complete an interest survey. “During the games I walk around and ask deeper questions to make connections with the students. I learned a lot from students, like who has never traveled further than Cape Girardeau while others have visited other countries. I learned we have several artists that love to draw while others enjoy doing anything outside.” When she sits down to look at the interest surveys, Divine will use common student interests to help her purchase books that might appeal to them. “My goal in the library this year is to help students develop a love of reading,” Divine shares.

In fifth grade, Libby Pridemore also starts the year out with icebreakers. She asks the kids a series of questions and has them find peers in the class with similar answers. “This helps them to get to know their classmates and helps break the ice,” Pridemore explains. She also assigns a “Get to Know Me” paper for her own personal reference. She does the homework herself, only prior to the school year. Each student who came to Open House receives Mrs. Pridemore’s “Get to Know Me” paper so they can learn a little bit about her beyond being a teacher. Throughout the year, Pridemore plans to do Monday morning meetings to get some insight into how her students’ weekends went.

In high school drama class, Sharon Balzer has a fun activity to help students get out of their comfort zones in front of each other. Students bring or choose a stuffed animal. Standing on a chair, they speak in a voice they think their animal would have. Their character gives a speech about his or her likes and dislikes, all thought out from the animal’s point of view. It’s hard to take yourself too seriously when your classmates are a frog, Pete the Cat, and Grogu. Balzer also uses brain break games in all of her classes to ease any nerves and help the students get comfortable around each other.

Reading specialist, Stacey Van de Ven, explains the importance of activities like the ones mentioned. “Developing relationships are crucial for student learning to take place, especially in the world we live in today. The smallest gestures can have a major impact on students such as a simple hug, eye contact, and truly listening when they are speaking.”

For Van de Ven, sometimes the simple act of bending down when speaking to a student makes a huge difference. “Peering over students while you are talking can seem intimidating at times until they learn to feel comfortable with the teacher.” Getting on eye level with them eases some of that discomfort. Other times, Van de Ven may walk the halls with a student who is having a rough morning and just listen to what they have to say. “We all feel better when someone listens to us! They need to feel heard! Making students feel safe and that you value them is so important for them to want to come to school and feel loved so that they can learn stress free.”