Submitted by Kathleen Bragle, New York

Idea posted May 17, 2013

At the beginning of the school year, I would send this form home with every Kindergarten student and any and all students whom I taught who were new to the school that year. As new kids joined us during the school year, this form went home with them.

I would buy "school type" decorated paper (you know, chalk, rulers, crayons on it or perhaps a fall theme) and print it out on that. Parents LOVE to talk about their child, so this was a great opportunity to do that and then some!

So many of us have enormous numbers of students per week, and this, at least for me, helped to get a better glimpse into who this little person really is! After I received them back from parents, I saved them, and I would refer back to them many times during the three or four years I taught their child.

Across the top of the sheet and centered:

*PLEASE TELL ME ABOUT YOUR CHILD!*

I would love to know a little bit about your child! I teach hundreds of children throughout the week in Music class, and I would like to get to know them better. When you share with me information about your child, then their needs, desires, and strengths are so much clearer to me. Anything that you think will help me do a better job of teaching your child would be such a help. Please fill out the form below, put it in an envelope, and give it to your child to give to their teacher. They will be sure and get it to me. Thank you so much for your cooperation in this! I look forward to hearing from you!

Mrs. Bragle (my school phone # and extension)

(I had lines across the page right under this which extended all the way to the bottom, and then I wrote below the bottom line: "Feel free to continue on the back!")

Most parents would continue on, and they loved this. Through the years, I received a lot of positive feedback about this form.

I would give the classroom teachers the heads up and tell them that they didn't have to DO anything, just stick the completed forms in my mailbox or hand them to me when they saw me or whatever was easiest for them. This was never a problem.