Tag Archives: thank-you cards

ISW Diary (personal reflection book)

Here is a variation of ISW reflection booklet I have tried: ISW Diary (reflection book)

The idea is to have a compact, portable and accessible booklet that serves a variety of functions throughout the ISW, and can be a memorable personal record of a participant’s growth over the 3 days. ISW Diary is handed to the participant at the beginning of Day 1 icebreaker and captures their journey through their workshop by recording:

  • Their very first interactions with other participants in Day 1 Large Group icebreaker,
  • Their daily personal goals and reflections for the Small Groups,
  • Their creative expression of what they see as an ‘ideal’ classroom (Day 3 Small Group icebreaker), and finally,
  • Their thank-you messages at the end of Day 3.

The pictures below demonstrate how the booklet is folded and used. This particular version is designed for a specific Day 1 Large Group icebreaker and Day 3 Small Group icebreaker (details explained below on the pictures). Please feel free to modify and improve it to include different cool ideas you might have!

Express Thank-you Cards

In an ISW where we had limited cards and ended up having limited time to do the thank-you cards, I tried the following:

  • Gave the participants regular index cards (5 * 3 in, or larger, if available) at the beginning of Day 3 SG session
  • As icebreaker, asked them to draw their ‘ideal teaching environment’ on the blank side of the card
  • Collected the cards for the time being and told them that we’re going to do something fun with them at the end of the day
  • At the end of the day, gave the cards back to the participants, asked them to pass their card to the next person, and asked them to write one or two words that expresses what they admire in that person

The process takes considerably less time than a conventional thank-you card, and the resulting cards can be very creative and inspiring!