Ice Breakers 101 by Dougherty, Taylor

Your Turn!

taylorrosedougherty — 2024-01-08 11:56:45 UTC

Describe and support your ideas for one or a few of the following:

Qualities of effective ice breakers
Qualities of ineffective ice breakers
Examples of effective ice breakers
Examples of ineffective ice breakers

Katie B.

2024-01-08 22:35:38 UTC

An effective Ice Breaker: Zip, Zap, Zop

This is effective because it builds a community with students without involving information that could be too personal. Students have to work together to make sure that they say Zip Zap Zop in that order and they do so by point or throwing an object (please do something very soft) to the next person. The next person must say the correct word as fast as possible and then choose someone else. An area where this might be ineffective is it could get a little aggressive when utilizing objects. I like doing this activity in small groups and then moving to larger groups to make it increasingly harder.

amiya :)

2024-01-08 22:36:47 UTC

one ice breaker i really dont like are the ones where the entire class is in one big group and its super memory focused. like when you have to repeat something from everyone before you and add your own thing to the chain. i feel like those are more stressful than fun and its not really fair to anyone but the first like 3 people. especially ones that have that twist where if one person messes up you have to start at the first person, that can end up being super alienating to the one person who forgot that one thing.

Nessa

2024-01-08 22:37:53 UTC

A good effective ice breaker should be comfortable and engaging for all students. Ineffective ice breakers have long confusion instructions that cause students to disengage. Ineffective ice breakers are ones that are too cheesy for your age group. My ice breaker: If you could pick 3 people dead or alive to invite over for dinner who would they be and why? I think this is an effective ice breaker because it can be fun while being personal. Students are engaged with each other while being exploring their personalities.

Em

2024-01-08 22:37:57 UTC

Qualities of effective ice breakers:

Easy to explain and navigate (dont want it to be too complicated that students don't understand what you're asking them to do)
Fun and engaging (should be enjoyable, not a "chore" or "hassle" to students
Gives opportunities for students to learn about each other outside of academic ventures

Qualities of ineffective ice breakers:
Too personal
Focuses on academics only, not personal enough
Complicated to carry out, overly time consuming

Examples of Effective Ice Breakers:

Compliment Cog Wheel (allows students to say something nice about each other, and easy to carry out)

Ineffective Ice Breaker:

Asking students to talk about where they live or their "hometown" (could be ineffective for students who do not have a permanent home and make them feel uncomfortable)

Abigail Martincic

2024-01-08 22:37:58 UTC

Effective icebreakers are hands-on and involve the whole class. An effective icebreaker would be where the class creates a story, but each person only contributes 3 words. One student would start and it would go around in a circle.

One icebreaker I never enjoyed as a student was the name memory icebreaker. I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve been “apple abby”.

Kyndra

2024-01-08 22:37:59 UTC

Snowball is an effective ice breaker because it allows students to respond to a prompt anonymously. To begin this ice breaker, you give your students a blank white sheet of paper, where they will respond to the prompt you present. The prompt could be, “how was your break?” or something more specific to the interests and lives of the students. After students have answered the prompt, they crumble up their paper into a “snowball.” I find it best to then take students into the hallway, where they will throw their snowballs and pick up a random one from the ground. Then each student will read the paper they picked up. In this activity students remain fully anonymous, no one tries to guess whose paper they picked.

McKenzie L.

2024-01-08 22:38:09 UTC

Soup,salad, sandwich- Someone starts off by naming a food such as a hamburger and then students vote whether they categorize it as a soup, salad, or sandwich. You can call on a student from each category to defend their answer and then they can name another food and keep the game going.

This is effective because it is easy to execute, low stakes for students, and gets conversation flowing amongst the class.

I also like the exercise where students roll a dice and then have to answer a question that corresponds with the number they rolled. The questions can be as basic as naming facts about themselves or as goofy as a would you rather question.

MacKenna Williams - This or That

mackennawilliams21 — 2024-01-08 22:38:14 UTC

This Icebreaker is very simple, and many of you have probably done this before. However, every time I have done this with or have seen students do this they love it. Predetermined (or on the spot if you're spicy) you will have 'this or that' style questions for students (summer break or winter break? going out or staying in? - these examples kind of suck you should be more creative). Indicate what side of the room corresponds with which answer. From my observations, students love talking with people in the groups that they are in even if they have not talked to those people in class before. Also, students who pick the less popular option bond with each other and bolster their sense of pride in being different. Potential issues with this ice breaker could arise if you are not creative and inclusive with your questions. If students do not relate to either option, it could feel isolating. I would probably avoid saying like 'thanksgiving or christmas?' or things along that. Otherwise, I think this icebreaker is engaging and comfortable.

natalie

2024-01-08 22:38:24 UTC

Effective icebreakers get students talking about experiences and opinions that are more than surface level. Effective icebreakers are also hands-on and get every student involved.
Some examples of effective icebreakers are making a playlist of students' favorite songs, having students talk about their week, or participating in a scavenger hunt with their classmates.
Ineffective icebreakers could look like students answering basic questions like favorite color or animal

Katie B.

2024-01-08 22:38:26 UTC

An effective Ice Breaker: Alphabet game

There are a variety of ways to play this game, but students can either use the first initial of their name and find a word that best describes them using that letter. Another approach is having students be in a circle and go through the alphabet saying a word that correlates with the letter in the alphabet. No one can repeat the same word. Typically this game avoids being too personal and students have to work together and listen.

Angelina

2024-01-08 22:38:33 UTC

Qualities of Effective Icebreakers:

Sharing responses with a partner before sharing with the class.
Rationale: This strategy can help students gain confidence in sharing their responses or allow them to brainstorm their responses with a classmate if they cannot think of one=lessens the risk of participating in the activity.
Icebreakers that are based on the present, such as sharing their favorite memory from over a break.
Rationale: Icebreakers based on the present are fresh on the mind and super fun for students to learn more about their classmates' interests.

Debate - Taylor

2024-01-08 22:38:41 UTC

Not super intense, and can be really fun. It starts with an animal personality quiz. Students will pair up with their animal group. Then, i'll put up two simple questions, ideas, thoughts, etc on the board.

Example - Are aliens real? Why or why not?

Students will have 3 minutes to discuss with their groups. Then, we'll have 3 minutes to debate against the animal groups.

Ineffective method - John

2024-01-08 22:38:50 UTC

Having students interview one of their peers has not proven to be a particularly effective icebreaker in my experience. Although students don't have to talk about themselves in front of the class, their responses to their classmates' questions still retain an element of guarded hesitancy, as the students know that their responses will still become public knowledge. Asking students directly about themselves can actually yield more honest and discursive responses.

Classmate Trivia

2024-01-08 22:40:34 UTC

This requires a little bit of pre-work so it may not be great for day 1 of class, but essentially you ask the students to write down 1 (or more) trivia-esque facts about themselves and then compile them. On the day of the ice-breaker, host a trivia contest with the students' facts as the source of trivia questions. This can also be turned into a variety of quiz-like games.

--Kian