Opening Activities
I always like to start my classes with an opening activity that gets the students involved. Often I will use a short writing assignment (a paragraph or less), and have the students stand and share in the class.
I find this opens discussions and helps to gage student attitude for the session. This also helps students who are shy to overcome their fears of presentation.
What are some of the things you do as opening activities in your classes that you have found to work well, or maybe something you would never try again?
For my classes, I look for things to get students talking with their classmates and myself. Sometimes I do the "round robin", but add the requirement, "Tell me something cool about yourself". Interestingly, the students will start calling their peers because they want to hear it too.
-R
Rick,
These types of student interactions are a great way to get students settled in and feeling comfortable with each other and the class.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
I make each student think of an adjective that starts with the first letter of their first name *Bubbly bridgette Caring Cassandra, Funny Fred, etc; they have to say why they chose that adjective. Before they introduce themselves, they have to start at the beginning and name each of their classmates & their adjectives. This activity gives me a great opportunity to learn their names quickly! allow each other to learn each others names; get a glimpse into what students like most about themselves since they often try to find an adjective that makes them proud. Hope this helps!
Bridgette,
Great class opening and ice breaker. I know your students really enjoy this way of getting to know each other.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
Opening activities definitely get the students involved and interested in what you are going to say or do next. I have a binder of ice-breakers, communications and psychology games that I do with my students. After an activity they are so excited to move on to the next thing. It can be anything as simple as a personality test to a game where they have to get up and move around. One of my favorites to demonstrate how important 2-way communication is: I make a list of famous people and assign a famous person to each student. I tape it on their back, so they don't know who they are. Then they go around the room and basically play 20 questions. They can only ask questions that have a yes or no answer. Example: Is my hair black? They have to figure out who they are before they run out of classmates! They have a blast playing it and it definitely demonstrates how vital it is to be able to effectively communicate back and forth.
Jessica,
Thanks for sharing this ice breaker with us. I know it will be valuable to other instructors that are looking for ice breakers to use during the first class meeting.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
On the first day I ask the students have you ever
the student then writes down something fun they have down. I collect the cards and randomly ask the question the student wrote down. Anyone that has experienced the same adventure stands up and "High 5's" all the students standing. The student then realizes they have more in common than not.
Linda,
This is a great way to start a class. This ice breaker opens the eyes of the students in terms of experiences each other have had and what they have in common. Thanks for sharing it with us.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
I love this idea!! I have heard about it and had forgotten so thanks for sharing!!!
I always like applying ice breakers.
Students feel comfortable when they see their Instructor relaxed and engaging; which in terms, provides an opportunity for them to respond, in kind.
Vera Davis
Vera,
I agree and I use ice breakers in every class for the reasons you mentioned.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
I do an activity that is similar to this in that I have students pair with each other and write down their perceptions of the other person. I also have them write their perceptions of me. I allow students time to discuss perceptions of each other as a group and then we discuss perceptions of me as a class. It is fun to see what students think of people they don't know and what they learn. It is a great preface to both Psychology and Sociology, which as the classes I teach!
Carmen,
Sounds like a fun learning activity that engages the students and results in some great discussions.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
I like using ice breakers too. I start by introducing myself and letting them know some things about me. I then ask them to go around the room and introduce themselves and tell us their name, why they are in this class and what they hope to get out of it and anything personal about their life, like whether or not they are married, have any children, pets, etc. and then one funny thing that happened to them. I find that this breaks the ice really quickly and lets everyone else in class know that they are human and gives everyone a good laugh.
I like how this requires student participation on the first day. I have a lot of students who feel like they are allowed to just observe and not participate. I think their teachers in high school gave up and allowed this passive agressive behavior. On the first day, I let my students know that participation is not an option.
Diane,
I am a big fan of your approach. Since the students have volunteered to be college students by enrolling and paying money they have also moved from being passive to engaged learners. I'm like you in that sitting out activities and participation in my classes is not allowed. I give professional points as a part of my grading rubric based upon their participation to reinforce my position on engagement.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
no opt out is a strategy that requires all students to participate. They know from day 1 that no one can pass. I will help them come up with answer, come back to them after I have another students model similar task, but they cannot pass.
Glenda,
Good plan because if you let them opt out once they will use this as their escape for each discussion. This keeps the focus on them so they need to come to class prepared.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
