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Breaking the Ice - In the Classroom

Building a community within your classroom is an ideal way to promote student interaction and engagement, but it’s often easier said than done. A quick, easy way to create a spark that could lead to community building is to start off your course with an icebreaker on the first day.

Especially in first-year courses, group building can be a critical aspect of promoting classroom community. Often, these courses can be large class sessions, but starting any course off with an icebreaker activity can help you:

• Make students more comfortable in the classroom. For many students, the beginning of any new venture involves some degree of threat. They will have questions about how they fit into the “big picture” like: How will others react to me? What will I gain in this class? What can I contribute?


• Promote interaction by getting students involved early. The best way to reduce anxieties and increase comfort is to get students involved right away. They will be much more willing to listen to you if you’re willing to listen to them.


• Encourage connections in the classroom – among students and between you and your students. Interaction between you and your students is important, but it can be just as important to promote interaction between students to build a successful classroom community. (Adapted from Staley 2003, 31)

Click here to download an icebreaker from Constance Staley's 50 Ways to Leave Your Lectern. This activity will provide an interesting way to promote students getting to know one another, discover commonalities, and build community in your classroom.

Reference: Content adapted from Staley, Constance. 2003. Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lectern. Belmont: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.