Introduction/Ice Breakers

[politicafe]

I'm TAing my first class in the fall (Intro to International Relations) and my school gives very scarce instructions to future TAs. What are people's favorite ways of making students introduce themselves in the first class? I think just going around and saying their names and home towns would be pretty boring...

[Sigaba]

PC--

You could also ask them about their majors, their extra curricular activities, and what they want to get from the class.

And then you could ask them about zombies.

[runonsentence]

I've tried and liked all of the following. Some take longer than others, depending on how much time you want to take with your icebreaker. (I like to keep the syllabus-reading to a minimum, since students won't really absorb much of it anyway on the first day.)

In general, I've found the greatest success with games that are a little bit silly.

1. If you have a smaller class (25 or less), the Name Game makes introductions a little more interactive and fun(ny?), and as a bonus you'll know everyone's name by the end of the first week. Have the students stand in a circle. Pick a student to go first; you will go last, to be a good sport. The first person just says her name, the second person says the first name plus her own, the third person says the first name and second name plus her own, and so on until you have to say every name in the room.
   
2. Pair up students into twos. Ask volunteers to list ten most often-used interview questions on the board (e.g., hometown, major). Then tell students they need to interview their partner without using these questions. (I have them come up with ten new questions between them, then interview e/o.)
   
3. Two truths, one lie. Students introduce themselves and tell us three things about themselves: one is true, and the other two are a lie. (E.g., "I just ran a half-marathon last month, I love chocolate, and I play the violin." The middle one is my lie, the other two are true.) The class guesses which detail is the lie. Give a bit of instruction with this, though ("Remember that this is a classroom and that I'm your teacher, when you're choosing your truths and lies...", or, "Your lies don't have to be outrageous, they can be silly" or something). The first time I tried it, without such prefaces, my students were trying to make the class guess whether or not they were 18-year-old mothers, had gotten out of drug rehab, and had beaten up a teacher before; with instruction, I've had less memorable responses and better success.
   
4. "Standard" introduction where you go around the room one-by-one and say (1) your name and (2) one interesting detail about yourself.
   

Edited August 8, 2011 by runonsentence

[runonsentence]

And then you could ask them about zombies.

That would actually be really amazing. Intros on the first day could involve name + skill they would bring to the class's fight against a zombie army; this could tie into a lesson that applies theories from your class to the zombie apocalypse.

(Again, fun or silly = win, in my book. One of my faculty mentors had a lot of success gearing a writing class [desktop and online publishing] toward creating professional documents for a fictional zombie apocalypse company: http://www.civildefensesolutions.com/)

Edited August 8, 2011 by runonsentence

[neuropsych76]

When I teach I'm really hoping to be silly. I'm already pretty big goof outside of class and I know students like/respect teachers who make them laugh every once in awhile. The trick is to be funny but not too funny

[far_to_go]

I'm TAing an anthro class called Culture and Film in the fall (ahhh! I'm so excited!) For the first day, I'm planning to have everyone tell their names and three movies they watched over the summer. I'm hoping that this will give me some insights into who they are and also provide a good transition into discussing the course content.

I've also used runonsentence's #1 suggestion, and it is very helpful. You and all of the students WILL learn each other's names.

[LilRara]

I hated the two truths and one lie. I hate lying (family related) and literally cannot. I wound up telling three truths and didn't realize till after everyone had guessed... so I said I liked to drink toxic waste as my lie. :/

[rising_star]

Personally, I dislike most icebreakers so I tend to just have students introduce themselves. Especially with freshmen, I find it's fun to ask them not only what they want to study but why they've chosen that and what they see themselves doing in 10 years. You might try asking students what they would like to know about one another (make a list of 3-5 things on the board) then have them go around answering those things.

[rainy_day]

I'm a fan of name tags, propped up on the desk. It helps you, and it also helps the students remember each other's names. I run a discussion section, so knowing names helps create a strong environment for discussion. A lot happens the first week of classes; sometimes we all need reminders beyond that first week.

Like rising_star, I have a personal aversion to icebreakers. I plan on asking (in addition to name, major) students what they are hoping to learn from the class. I'm teaching intro to Women's Studies in the fall, so there really is a variety of answers to that question.

[long_time_lurker]

I second the nametag thing. I find icebreakers and introductions a waste of time. The students aren't paying to socialize. I get right into the meat and potatoes from the 1st minute of day 1. It sets the right tone that you are there for business, and the students like it too.

[runonsentence]

I second the nametag thing. I find icebreakers and introductions a waste of time. The students aren't paying to socialize. I get right into the meat and potatoes from the 1st minute of day 1. It sets the right tone that you are there for business, and the students like it too.

It is all about tone, you're certainly right. That's actually exactly why I use icebreakers: my class is based on the premise that collaboration, discussion, and workshops will form the basis of our time together. In order to build a writer's community in my classroom, I want my students to have a vague idea of who their classmates are and get comfortable with each other so that the often-intimidating act of sharing their writing with each other will be much easier.

[twankyphd]

Hi everybody, first post!! PLEASE DON'T HATE ME FOR BEING NEW. I am so not the 'go-to-guy' when the zombie apocalypse breaks out cuz I am a journalist, we always die first in good zombie movies! Anyway, I'm studying for a PhD in Journalism in Ireland and I have just been given my first TA post starting in a few weeks, this autumn/fall (we'll make it to the moon if we have to crawl!)- I'm teaching a technical course in video editing and radio production pretty much by myself and I'm Ta-ing on a more traditional journalism course about war correspondence!

Some of these ice breakers sound like good fun. I wonder would it be good to ask people who they like and why- in the current field of whatever course they are on? Or is that going to be a disaster??

Sláinte,

Twanky

[long_time_lurker]

Hi everybody, first post!! PLEASE DON'T HATE ME FOR BEING NEW. I am so not the 'go-to-guy' when the zombie apocalypse breaks out cuz I am a journalist, we always die first in good zombie movies! Anyway, I'm studying for a PhD in Journalism in Ireland and I have just been given my first TA post starting in a few weeks, this autumn/fall (we'll make it to the moon if we have to crawl!)- I'm teaching a technical course in video editing and radio production pretty much by myself and I'm Ta-ing on a more traditional journalism course about war correspondence!

Some of these ice breakers sound like good fun. I wonder would it be good to ask people who they like and why- in the current field of whatever course they are on? Or is that going to be a disaster??

Sláinte,

Twanky

+1 for saying Belfast is in Ireland.

At least it would be more relevant than the one I had to sit through the other day, that asked us out favorite food. Talk about 5 minutes of my life I will never get back. Others might say though that the point of an icebreaker is that it's not particularly thought-provoking.

Tiochfadh ár lá.