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The hard part is getting buy-in from the students, so I try to ease into them with soft asks and then build from there. 1) Movie, show, or other media recommendations that might include a "What is it about it that is good?" followup. 2) Tell us something about you that connects you to everyone in this room. Tell us something that makes you different from everyone here. 3) It can be a risk, but asking students to think about and share what has worked well for them in learning as well as what has made their learning more difficult.

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For IceBreakers, I use this Google extension called PairDeck. It allows interaction among the participants once they join so we can track responses. For in person, I used the Bingo facts. Students have to be prompted to put their information in a slide deck and read others. We then follow up in class with the Bingo facts where they have to walk around the room and find others and whoever Bingo board is filled get a prize. The prize is knowing classmates. 

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For IceBreakers, I use this Google extension called PairDeck. It allows interaction among the participants once they join so we can track responses. For in person, I used the Bingo facts. Students have to be prompted to put their information in a slide deck and read others. We then follow up in class with the Bingo facts where they have to walk around the room and find others and whoever Bingo board is filled get a prize. The prize is knowing classmates. 

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1. I will often ask students to share a feeling related to a color, or their mood related to an animal.
2. Sometimes, I use polls so students can share their responses and see the differences in opinions.
3. Other icebreaker questions I may ask, then direct students to wait (in a Zoom setting) until a count of three, then we all share responses at once. (Waterfall effect).

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1. What candy do you identify with?
2. What TV show do you identify with?
3. Two truths and one lie

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1) What is your favorite meal and favorite show.
2) If you had an extra hour in the day what would you do with the time?
3) Have students create a Google slide with their information (why they chose their major, career goals and any information they would like to share with the class).

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I have students go to Gather Town (online networking site) and interact with each other to discuss class rules or two truths and one lie.

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Some ice breakers I use are:
1. Virtual "4 corners" activity using the annotate in zoom or using a google slides and having students pic photo-avatars. I ask engaging questions that are content-related/content-adjacent and the four corners become "Strongly Agree," "Agree," "Disagree," "Strongly Disagree."
2. Have students pick a gif or meme that describes how they are feeling right now and create a padlet using those.
3. Have students complete an "About me" google slide and/or an online survey and then go through a few of these each week in a mini-interview format to start class. "Better know a classmate" -- you can incentivize paying attention by having a brief quiz or chat waterfall where you ask students trivia questions about their fellow classmates.

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I have created a google slide with each person's name and then they create a slide of themselves, anything they want. I do my slide ahead of time with pictures of me and my family. Some students get super creative!

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Three icebreakers:
1. Students introduce themselves by telling where they work and the grade they teach.
2. Students discuss their reasons for wanting to become educational leaders and get a Masters or Specialist degree in the field.
3. Students share something great that happened to them in the past week.

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1. Sharing a picture of themselves and family.
2. Sharing the story of their name.
3. Playing 2 truths and a lie through the discussion board.

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Three icebreakers:
1. I have a Spotify playlist of 80s music which seems to be universally enjoyed across generations.  I start the music about five minutes before class begins, so when students login to Zoom the music is on and I am there moving to the beat in my chair. It sets a high energy tone which is helpful as most of my classes begin at 9 a.m. on Saturdays and 6 p.m. on Fridays.

2. I use Zoom polls in almost every class to establish a mindset and to help me understand where my students are mentally/emotionally. I usually add some humor. Here is an example:
Please select the statement below that best describes your first month of being a doctoral candidate:
___ I am still excited!
___ This is pretty intense.
___ Pinch me! I must be dreaming.
___ I cannot believe how much I have learned already!
___ What Have I gotten myself into?
___ Bring it!!

3. I use the chat like a whiteboard, and ask everyone to post a quick response to any prompt such as Name two things we learned last time we were together.

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The favorite icebreaker that I have used in both an online discussion as well a synchronous zoom session is to share the stories of our names. I read aloud (or post a read aloud in Spanish and English) of the book "Alma and How She Got her Name" by Juana Martinez Neal. The story is of a little girl asking how she was named and her father sharing the story of all the family members she was named after. We then each share the stories of our own names. This has been a wonderful way to get to know one another and to talk about our cultures and backgrounds.

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I have used the "wheel of names" with an opening prompt for students. I send the prompt in my announcement for preparing for class, so students are ready.

I have asked students to use memes or pictures in introductions icebreakers. Students choose images that represent them, a favorite place they want to be (instead of on Zoom - smile), or what is most important to them.

I have students respond with emojis and the chat feature about how they are feeling about class. We go into breakout rooms (strategically heterogeneously designed) for students to meet and talk. Often they can support one another. I move through to lend support as needed.

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I like to ask students about pets past and present, I like to solicit photos of the pets as well.

I also like to ask students who is their favorite pet of all time and why

I also like to ask students where they came from, why they are here (in the program of the class) and where are they headed after graduation. This helps everyone see how similar the paths are.

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I always love to ask how students got their names, it starts a discussion usually about their names.
Since I teach ECE I have been reading a book to the class in a video that relates to the beginning of class.

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Most courses I teach are with students who have been in all their classes together, but I also see value in checking in as an icebreaker.
What's the first thing you will do once it's safer to be face-to-face in social settings again?
How has this pandemic made/prepared you to be a better clinician?
How dialed in/present are you for today? I would say, "I'm ___% because ____. I typically answer them all first as a means of encouraging honest answers from students.

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I have enjoyed asking students to introduce one another in face to face classrooms. In the online space, it could be done with breakout rooms. 

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I have enjoyed asking students to introduce one another in face to face classrooms. In the online space, it could be done with breakout rooms. 

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I often ask students to respond to specific questions online we need to be creative so this writing is not exactly what they wrote in a previous class. We have to get beyond, where are you in the program, why do you want to be a teacher.
Finally, I like to have students use images in the classrooms or artifacts. The idea transfers well to online since everyone uses cameras these days.
Seema

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one I used during my remote learning at the beginning of the class was "share something good that happened this week in your life" another one that I use, at the beginning of any course (face to face and remotely) is a gam/dance called "la tia Monica" and I point to them and ask for their name, then they have to do a movement and everybody repeat it (kind of simon says but stating their names)

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I like to give them a choice of several words and have them choose one to describe themselves.
Have the students tell me one thing they would like to learn in the course.

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I set up a table such as this one for each course, especially on the first class meeting. I alter it a bit each week and invite students to contribute to the table.  I have placed this type of image both via zoom and into the d2l discussions for comments and contributions.  I think expanding it more so that students share one item as suggested by Shelly

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Here's the Action Research model I use with my online students:

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One thing I do when reading each of my students' intros is find and remark on something I have in common with each of them - This could be an icebreaker activity for students, as well - commenting on a common hobby, country visited, pet, prior job, and so many more.  Other icebreaking options can include having students find and share answers to questions in the required reading in groups of two, or providing an example from their own teaching (or pre-teaching) that relates to the reading.

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I recently taught OBD432 and the introductory board asks students to describe "the most and least satisfying aspects of your job."  The students were highly engaged with this and you really got a sense of their passions.

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I taught an introductory BUS430 face-to-face class at Triton in 2018. Since it was a brand new cohort coming together, we started each class with an icebreaker.  The class favorite was "dream job as a kid and dream job now."  My dream job as a kid is listed below.

I've tried to replicate this weekly icebreaker for online BUS430 classes in the Cafe section in the Discussion Boards, but I didn't get meaningful participation.  Has anyone had more success?

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I have really enjoyed this early pandemic thought provoking Ted Talk which emphasizes that elements of the real world (an object, a similar setting etc.) can create a sense of connectivity virtually.  I would like to experiment with an Introductory Zoom session ice breaker that asks participants to come with a "real-world" object that describes them (a book, a favorite food item, a pet etc.)

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Priya Parker: How to create meaningful connections while apart | TED Talk

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Author Priya Parker shares tools for creating meaningful connections with friends, family and coworkers during the coronavirus pandemic -- and shows how we can take advantage of gatherings that are unique to this moment of social distancing. “We don’t necessarily need to gather more,” she says. “We…

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I also like to relate the ice-breaker to the course.  For example, for a biz communications course -- "provide one word or an image that would describe your communication style"? 

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I also like to relate the ice-breaker to the course.  For example, for a biz communications course -- "provide one word or an image that would describe your communication style"? 

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I love using memes or animated gifs as ice-breakers, especially when I'm teaching undergrad. 

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I love using memes or animated gifs as ice-breakers, especially when I'm teaching undergrad. 