Icebreaker... Three P's

 I don't know about you, but first days of school are long and often boring. Though I do try to avoid spending most of the time on procedures or rules, I also realize (as an introvert) that asking me to stand up and talk about my summer is ABSOLUTELY not something I want to do. I don't care to hear that you went to Europe or hiked to the top of Pike's Peak. I watched Netflix, so thanks. :)

So, with that in mind, I often try to do icebreaker activities in smaller groups and in a way that isn't going to upset my introverts too much. 

Here's one that I think might work well from Tophat.com that I created a document to go with--

Divide students into small groups, and have them share three facts about themselves: something personal, something professional and something peculiar, such as an interesting hobby or habit. 

A few little pieces of advice:

• Always ask students to say their own names on day 1 (so you don't butcher them AND so they have a better opportunity to let you know what they go by-- so you aren't calling someone Alexandria when she prefers Lex!) and have a seating chart so they know where to sit (this prevents shy kids from feeling like they have no friends and avoids cliques from sitting in groups). I usually just say, "Okay, let's see if you found the right seats..."
• If you do a sharing activity, divide them into small groups and let them share in a little group rather than a big class forum. Then, you can collect the papers and review them on your own (I think it's nice to collect them after giving a little "work and small share time" and then ask if they want to share something they learned from someone else and you can make notes on the papers while they do. 

Here's my "worksheet" for the activity. Feel free to make a copy of your own!

Icebreaker fun! The NUMBERS game!

 It's early summer but I am already on the hunt for ideas for back to school (it's a given when you have 6 preps in one semester and you refuse to repeat activities since some kids may take you multiple classes per day!). 

I ran across this fun idea today, the Numbers game! Here's the YouTube video and then my suggestions.

I love the idea of getting students UP and MOVING. I think week 1, this is important. This is also a great activity for getting them to have to work with others (without them even realizing it because it all moves so quickly). 

So, the guy in the video just has them doing arbitrary numbers, but as a business teacher, I thought... come on, how can we make this a little more "interesting" and so here is my take!

• I may not have 20 or 30 (or exactly that number, rather) kids in a class... so I think setting this up with maybe smaller group numbers would be easier. You might have to have a person in the group who does not have a number and helps put them in order OR you could have a number that repeats (like zero) and have multiple of that one.
• Price is Right style-->
• Go on Amazon or get out the local grocery store ad and use prices of items
• If someone is correct, they win... or you can give them so much time and then pick who is closest to award points OR you could say that this team is closest and the answer is higher or lower or whatever
• "When Did It Happen" style-->
• I found this webpage from Information Age with key events in the story of technology and this one from LiveScience with Internet History. You could use dates for all answers (4 digit years)... granted, many of these will have a 1, 9, or a 2 in them... but it would be a race to guess correctly AND you can relate it to tech!
• Examples:
• 1832: Charles Babbage invents the first Computer.
• 1904: John Ambrose Fleming invents the vacuum tube.
• 1936: Alan Turing proposes what has become known as the Turing Machine.
• 1976: Queen Elizabeth II hits the “send button” on her first email.
• 1981: IBM invents the PC.
• 1983: The Domain Name System (DNS) establishes the familiar .edu, .gov, .com, .mil, .org, .net, and .int system for naming websites.
• 1991: CERN introduces the World Wide Web to the public.
• 1995: The first online dating site, Match.com, launches.
• 1997: Netflix is founded by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph as a company that sends users DVDs by mail.
• 1998: The Google search engine is born, changing the way users engage with the Internet.
• 2003: The blog publishing platform WordPress is launched.
• 2005: YouTube.com launches. The social news site Reddit is also founded. 
• 2007: Apple releases the iPhone.
• Get to Know Mr/Mrs style-->
• Honestly, I'd embed this in the other games, but you could have a few just fun facts about you to help them get to know you... like the year you got married, graduated high school, turned 40, got your first car... 

What do you think? I am excited to try this one out in the fall. Heck, this might even be fun in an adult leadership retreat or conference!

Google School? Advisory? Read on....

We have Advisory where we get kiddos when they start high school and have them daily until they graduate. When I had a new group coming in last year, I sent them all an email before school started to give them a heads-up (also emailed parents) about my room, where it was, and my profile. Then, they started on their profile. Some did it in advance, others did not, but I gave them time during the first week to add to it as they wanted. Then, I had them update it at Christmas and again at the end of the school year.

I really like having all of this info!

Anyway, watch my video and learn about it...

And here's a copy for you! Feel free to modify as you see fit (click File> Make a Copy).

Going Fishing at School... icebreaker!

I'm knee deep in curriculum development today and ran across a "fun" little "go fish" activity from We Are Teachers. Go check it out there! You can even download a template and create your own. Here's mine:  (PDF)

I'm gonna go pick up some tree limbs (maybe.. or maybe I'll buy some sticks...lol), grab some string, get some magnets and let the kids get in groups and fish for questions. Students struggle making conversations, so my rule will be that you:

1. Get in groups of 5 (I think that's a good size).
2. Dump the fish in the sea (I had to decide whether I want to put them in something so it's more random or let them see the colors so they can somewhat pick the fish... decided on the latter so my shy people would feel some element of control over the questions). 
3. Take turns fishing. After you fish, you read the question out loud and answer it. Then, at least two people in the group (you could make rules about who... like the person to the left and the right of you, for example) have to ask a follow-up question and you have to respond. 

Looking forward to seeing how this goes over and hoping no one gets "seasick."  :) he he