Blackboard icebreakers and Welcome Activities by Adele Chadwick https://padlet.com/adelechadwick/g3b73f4kqo8h0mgv Post ideas here to share with your colleagues ready to welcome students joining us for the new academic year en-us 2023-09-14 17:43:26 UTC 2023-09-20 08:49:35 UTC hello@padlet.com Talk about your name adelechadwick https://padlet.com/adelechadwick/g3b73f4kqo8h0mgv/wish/2704638826 Introduce your name and tell the group a few 'interesting' points about your name - where your name comes from, what it means, who you were named by/after, whether you like it or not and why etc. Ask students to work in pairs and spend one minute each telling the other person about their name. Students then introduce THEIR PARTNER by saying their name and providing an interesting point about their name. Great for small groups. Less daunting than introducing themselves and a good way to start to remember students' names.]]> 2023-09-14 17:54:45 UTC https://padlet.com/adelechadwick/g3b73f4kqo8h0mgv/wish/2704638826 Would I lie to you? https://padlet.com/adelechadwick/g3b73f4kqo8h0mgv/wish/2705532264 An oldie but a goodie. Ask learners to write down three pieces of information about themselves; two true and one a lie. Give the learners a few minutes to do this and then mix them into new groups to read out their pieces of information and the others guess which is the lie. At the end of the activity, ask each member of the class to relay on of the true pieces of information about themselves. ]]> 2023-09-15 07:35:15 UTC https://padlet.com/adelechadwick/g3b73f4kqo8h0mgv/wish/2705532264 The mini interview https://padlet.com/adelechadwick/g3b73f4kqo8h0mgv/wish/2708495920 Put up the following prompts. Give students a few minutes to finish the prompts and then get students into pairs to find out about each others' responses. At the end, ask students to introduce each other to another pair. Round off by going round the room asking each person to tell us one thing about the person sat next to them.
Possible Questions
I'm from...
I've chosen this course because...
The thing I'm most looking forward to at university is...
You wouldn't know it but I'm really good at...

]]> 2023-09-18 09:39:21 UTC https://padlet.com/adelechadwick/g3b73f4kqo8h0mgv/wish/2708495920 Desk based escape room https://padlet.com/adelechadwick/g3b73f4kqo8h0mgv/wish/2708691835 I made a desk based escape room activity. Students get 1 hour to complete and share the password. There are hints available, but they get 5 minutes off their time for everyone they use. Here is the link. I think I have made it public for anyone to view. Let me know if not and you want to use it aedwards-smith1@uclan.ac.uk (if you have students who have completed FDE health and social care they may well have done this activity)]]> 2023-09-18 12:12:18 UTC https://padlet.com/adelechadwick/g3b73f4kqo8h0mgv/wish/2708691835 Find someone who https://padlet.com/adelechadwick/g3b73f4kqo8h0mgv/wish/2708712459 Person bingo. Classic.]]> 2023-09-18 12:25:48 UTC https://padlet.com/adelechadwick/g3b73f4kqo8h0mgv/wish/2708712459 Poker hand https://padlet.com/adelechadwick/g3b73f4kqo8h0mgv/wish/2708714302 Shuffle a deck of cards and hand out a card to each student. Set a time limit and instruct students to find four classmates and form a hand of poker. The best hand ‘wins’ when their time is up. Not everyone knows how to play poker, so display the rules of the game on a whiteboard or a slide at the front of the classroom. ]]> 2023-09-18 12:27:02 UTC https://padlet.com/adelechadwick/g3b73f4kqo8h0mgv/wish/2708714302 3 of a kind https://padlet.com/adelechadwick/g3b73f4kqo8h0mgv/wish/2708715493 Set a time limit and instruct students to find three other students they share something in common with—though not anything obvious or visible, such as hair colour. ]]> 2023-09-18 12:27:49 UTC https://padlet.com/adelechadwick/g3b73f4kqo8h0mgv/wish/2708715493 Speed networking https://padlet.com/adelechadwick/g3b73f4kqo8h0mgv/wish/2708720744 Arrange students in two circles, an inner and an outer circle. They have a few minutes to introduce themselves to the person opposite them. After a set time, one of the circles rotates so everyone gets a chance to meet someone new.]]> 2023-09-18 12:30:58 UTC https://padlet.com/adelechadwick/g3b73f4kqo8h0mgv/wish/2708720744 The bucket list https://padlet.com/adelechadwick/g3b73f4kqo8h0mgv/wish/2708721756 Ask students to create a list of five things they want to achieve or experience during their time at university. Encourage them to share and discuss their lists with a partner or small group.]]> 2023-09-18 12:31:38 UTC https://padlet.com/adelechadwick/g3b73f4kqo8h0mgv/wish/2708721756 Personal coat of arms https://padlet.com/adelechadwick/g3b73f4kqo8h0mgv/wish/2708722736 Have students create a "coat of arms" representing themselves using symbols and drawings. Each element should have a personal meaning. Afterwards, they can explain their choices to a partner or the group.]]> 2023-09-18 12:32:16 UTC https://padlet.com/adelechadwick/g3b73f4kqo8h0mgv/wish/2708722736 Vocabulary Box https://padlet.com/adelechadwick/g3b73f4kqo8h0mgv/wish/2710526730 An ongoing activity. Keep a vocabulary box in the classroom (or virtually) and get learners to suggest terminology which you've covered to go in it. These can then be used for short games such as:
* define it. One student picks a word and then has to define it to others who have to guess the word. Can be done as whole group or in groups
* crossword activity (use an online crossword generator) with definitions and learners filling in the words. Or ask groups to write definitions and send them in to build the whole crossword which the whole group can take away and revise]]> 2023-09-19 09:48:38 UTC https://padlet.com/adelechadwick/g3b73f4kqo8h0mgv/wish/2710526730 Silly story to help people relax https://padlet.com/adelechadwick/g3b73f4kqo8h0mgv/wish/2712434490
As a group we are going to create a story.

The tutor will start the story and will end with “SUDDENLY” and then the next person then has to add to the story with their own sentence that ends in “SUDDENLY”, and so on until everyone has added to the story
]]> 2023-09-20 08:47:49 UTC https://padlet.com/adelechadwick/g3b73f4kqo8h0mgv/wish/2712434490 Stolen from the Taskmaster book... https://padlet.com/adelechadwick/g3b73f4kqo8h0mgv/wish/2712436873 If you send your students to find places around campus, add these tasks in to make it a little more competitive...

1 - Make the unlikeliest thing wear an item of your clothing – take a photo!


2 - Take photos of 3 things – all bigger than your head, but smaller than a car – if anyone else has the same photo it is disqualified – the person with the biggest total size of things wins
]]> 2023-09-20 08:49:35 UTC https://padlet.com/adelechadwick/g3b73f4kqo8h0mgv/wish/2712436873