If you are starting a class online or teach an online course chances are you will need a way to make connections in your classroom. Starting out the year not knowing the students and the students not knowing each other can become problematic in the future when we are asking students to be brave and take chances using the target language.
Taking some time at the start of the school year can help students and the teacher feel more comfortable with each other. Icebreakers are a great way to get people acquainted and familiar with others.
I have four digital icebreakers I want to share with you. I know you are busy, so here we go.
Some Helpful Tips
I have done some online teaching and some tips I have for teachers new to this are these:
- It takes longer than you think. Leave yourself some time.
- Students are savvy with social media but not always with technology. Over explain everything.
- If you are short on time, send the template home as homework to give the students time to process and find the materials you want them to. This will be less stressful for them.
- Allow time for students to interact with the information in small breakout rooms. If we don’t let them read about each other and chat, they will never really get to know each other.
- Always have students use pictures and their names on their icebreakers so everyone can begin to learn the names of others and put a face to it. Heck, we need that as distance teachers as well.
Download the FREE icebreaker templates here and then read about them below.
Get your free virtual name tag templates and instructions here.
Virtual Name Tags
Virtual name tags are a simple way to find out some quick information about people. You can ask about hobbies, favorite foods, or animals. Try to stay with safe topics that do not stress people out. Neutral topics are the best. Students can write, draw, or copy and paste using their own virtual name tag.
elink
Elink is an online tool that is meant to curate a body of work to showcase a business. In the classroom, we are using it to introduce information about students in a digital format. I have used this many times at the start of the school year in class. But it also works wonderfully for distance learning.
Students will select their favorite sites and add them to the elink. They can briefly explain why they selected the sites they chose. In the end, students get to put only information they feel comfortable sharing and others get to learn more about individual students.
Bitmoji
We can’t get enough of Bitmoji and seeing those cute little avatars. This icebreaker allows us to see how students view themselves (seeing their avatar) while learning more about them.
Again, I like this icebreaker because it allows students to put in information they want to share. It is not dictated by the teacher.
How Do You See Me
This is a great icebreaker because it forces students to talk to each other through interviews. The process can involve 2 students or students can work in small groups of 3 – 4 to conduct the interviews. Students will learn about each other through small talk then create a slide about the person they interviewed.
Take this a step further by having them present their new friend to the class by sharing the slide and information they learned.
I hope you downloaded your free icebreaker templates and have found one or two you feel comfortable using. Have a great school year.
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