Want to keep up with the latest education news and opinion? Follow TES USA on Twitter and like TES USA on Facebook.

When third-grade teacher Kyle Schwartz decided she wanted to get to know her students better she set them one simple task. All the children in her class were asked to complete the sentence: “I wish my teacher knew …..”

While some of the answers were funny, many were deeply moving to Shwartz and shone a light on the difficulties her students were dealing with.

She shared her experiences online under the hashtag #IWishMyTeacherKnew last year and encouraged other teachers to try the same experiment. The idea went viral and many teachers told Schwartz of the huge impact it had on them.

Schwartz has now collated many of the responses in a new book, ‘I wish my teacher knew: How one question can change everything for kids’.

She also shares more indepth stories from the students and their families and offers ideas for teachers on using the answers in their lessons.

TES has recently launched the free TES Teach app to help teachers create interactive lessons using digital content. For more information please visit www.tes.com/lessons