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Ideas for "ice-breaker" type introductions at a co-op?


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Any ideas on how to start off a class at a co-op? I'm looking for easy & fun ways to introduce myself & the students. I will only have about 5-10 minutes to get the kids introduced and start the class. The students in one class are 10-12 yrs old and in another they are all in 9th grade.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Susan

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Any ideas on how to start off a class at a co-op? I'm looking for easy & fun ways to introduce myself & the students. I will only have about 5-10 minutes to get the kids introduced and start the class. The students in one class are 10-12 yrs old and in another they are all in 9th grade.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Susan

 

Our Bible study group used to start every weekly meeting with a question. It was a fun way to get to know each other better, even people we thought we knew well. It finally became one of the things we really looked forward to.

 

Some questions I remember:

 

What is your favorite ice cream?

If you had a boat, what would its name be?

If you were a superhero, what would your superpower be?

What is the best song ever written?

What is your middle name and what does it mean (or why do you have it)?

What will you be doing in 10 years?

 

The questions can be far out or pretty normal. The important thing was hearing the responses and the reactions to the responses. I might suggest that you plan on doing this at the beginning of every class meeting as it is a nice opening activity and it does help a group gel.

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I always dreaded these exercises!

 

I think the easiest for me was getting to partner up with someone, spending 2-3 minutes learning about THEM, and then introducing our partner to the class (and being introduced to the class by our partner). I liked the one-on-one breakdown, and it helped me transition from "I don't know anybody very well" to feeling like I better knew at least one person in those early days of class. Plus it's always less embarassing to talk about someone else LOL.

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My favorite one is "two truths and a lie". Have each person tell two truths and a lie and then everyone has to pick out which is the lie. You can always give suggestions (ie playing musical instruments, famous relatives, weird experiences, places you've traveled to). Every time I've ever done this, there is one person that has something that everyone thinks is the lie, and is the truth; or is just outrageous. For example, my roommate in college told us about a relative that had been tarred and feathered for polygamy.

 

Whatever you come up with will probably be fine, though.

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I am teaching middle schoolers and I was going to have them state their name, tell why they are taking the class, (my mom forced me vs. I want to learn more about the subject) and what would be their dream vacation spot and why.

 

Last year I subbed in a 6th-12th grade class and she had them tell something unique about themselves. I think that question put some of the kids on the spot and one girl even got stressed out over it. I think if you can ask something kind of fun, but not too thought provoking for the first day it would be better.

 

Another teacher had a great mid-year ice breaker. She had the students stand in the middle of the room. They had to move to one side or the other based on their answer to some personal preference questions. Some of the questions were: Which do you prefer Pepsi or Coke? Taco Bell or McDonalds? Cats or Dogs? Pens or pencils? The kids loved it and it was so much fun.

 

What classes are you teaching this year??

 

Hope you have a great year at co-op.

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