First day..and beyond
I find that ice breaking activities are helpful the first day. Unfortunately, we (teachers) often fail to continue using activities to create group cohesion and togetherness. Imagine if you are in a class that meets once or twice a week. By the time your next class rolls around, you've already forgotten most of the people in class and you may be experiencing apprehension anew. I find that a quick 3-10 minute activity really helps accelerate class cohesion. Doing this for the first two or three class periods streghtens the group. Taking a few minutes out of class is a small thing when we consider the long-term benefit for students.
Hi Kathy,
Little breaks like this can do wonders in helping the students to reset their brains. These kinds activities let them relax a bit and have some fun then go back to the content. This really helps with keeping them focused.
Gary
Sometimes, midway through class, I will ask stduents to write down something that no one knows about them (which will be read aloud.)Suggestions, a fun fact, an event you went to, a previous job which doesn't seem like you, etc. I then ask students to try to guess which of their peers this fun fact aapplies to. It stirs some interesting conversations and reintroduces people in a new context.
Could anyone suggest a social integration activity for use beyond the first day?
Hi Joshua,
I agree with your statement about the need for drawing the students together in the classroom setting. My classes meet once a week for three hours so we need to continue to develop our connections with each other even though it has been a week since we last met. Those social integration activities can really help to make this happen and will increase the retention rate of students.
Gary
