First Day of Class and Ice Breakers

First Day of Class

• Vanderbilt University’s Suggestions for the First Day of Class
• Suggestions for the First Day of Class From the DePaul Teaching Commons
• First Day of Class Activities That Create a Climate for Learning by Weimer, M. (July 19, 2017).

Ice Breakers

Ice breakers are low-stakes activities that encourage student engagement with each other and the course material. Most can be tweaked and adapted to relate directly to the course content.

• Building Community in the Classroom Through Ice Breakers and Parting Ways—21 pages of detailed descriptions of ice breakers and action-based closing activities for your classroom (some are psychology focused but can be transposed).
• Using Icebreakers for More Than Introductions—from Indiana University–Bloomington
• Ice Breaker Grab Bag—from University of Michigan resources on Inclusive Teaching

What resources have you found that you would recommend? Email us and we’ll post additional resources here.