The very first activity should be peer introductions. I feel it's vital to retention when everyone feels included. What I do is allow each student to turn to the student to their left and to their right and to personally introduce themselves. This is a great way to build rapport and familiarity among everyone. I do this regardless of their time in a program and notice a big difference in their attitude towards each other. This is one of the first things I do even before I hand out the syllabus. It works well and I get to see who is or is not going to a possible behavioral challenge right from the beginning. I watch closely as they introduce each other and I allow time to tell why they are in their chosen program and a bit of background about themselves.