The return to school in September 2020 will be unique to say the least.  For most of us in the United States, the way school will look in the fall is unpredictable.  Will we be returning full-time?  Will we be doing a hybrid version of school where some students are online and others are in the classroom?  Will we be returning to our classrooms at all?

Given that the future is so uncertain, many of us are preparing over the summer months for the many scenarios that COVID-19 may create for our learning environments.  Something that I’ve been considering is how I’m going to get to know the new students that “enter” my class in September.  Drawing upon how I used Google Slides during distance learning, I thought that one good way for students to introduce themselves to me and one another would be a “Getting to Know You” slideshow.  Google Slides allows students to create work and then share it with one another in a way that can be synchronous (if they present their work over Google Meet, for example) or asynchronous (where students can browse one another’s work on their own time and at their own pace.)

With the attached template, have students in your class copy the original slide and then fill in their own.  For younger students, you can copy the slide yourself and fill their names in at the top for them.  You should do it, too!  You are also a part of your class community!  The unicorn is an image place holder that they can replace with their own picture.  Once students have filled out their slides, you and your class can go through the class slide show to get to “know” one another remotely, and since we are so uncertain about internet connectivity, equipment access, and whether or not we’ll see one another in real-time, using Google Slides is a good solution to accommodate many different scenarios.

Link to the template is here, and it is free!