Monday, August 1, 2011

Ice Ice Breakers: A freebie for teachers!

Sing it with me: "Vanilla ice, ice, breakers!" Ok, TOTALLY LAME!! haha

Goodness, this is my last official free week of summer until I have to be at school!
I've also realized that I've only eaten 1...ONE...sno-cone all season long! I've got to fix that!

Next week is new teacher orientation.
The following week is district-wide staff development.
The week after that is school!

EEK...do you see why I've been a little panicked with my prep time?! I'll lose daytime next week to prep. But deep breath, things are going to be ok.

My hubby gave me a pep-talk last night. He's so supportive emotionally and with my work. Not only did he make this poster (and plans to make some more lab safety posters)...

He's also made me this...
Han Solo Bucks! He rocks. This is my punch card for Pre-AP Bio. And it's a play on my last name "Hahn." I married a Star Wars fan who converted me into being one myself.

Notice how the coding "CCCT..." on the left matches the right coding "GGGA..." according to DNA base pairing? (C always matches with G and A matches with T). Yeah, totally cool! :)

How will they earn punches in their Han Solo buck? acts of kindness, giving answers that go above and beyond the book knowledge, being prepared for class, being on task, etc... sometimes they will be told it's a Han Solo Bucks day, sometimes they won't.

Prizes? Some sort of point system-  
5 punches minimum get the student school supplies, candy, etc.
10 punches gets them bonus points toward a homework assignment, 1 bonus point on a test, etc.
20 punches gets them a free homework pass (they still have to do the assignment, but they get a 100% on it).

Still working on the logistics of it all, but I think this will be a fun ongoing thing throughout the semester!

Anyways, on to some Vanilla Ice Ice Breakers!

I took my chicken scratch brainstorm list... 
Into this...
Ice Breakers

Please download the ice breakers if you find them helpful! These ideas aren't completely mine, but I went around the internet world and looked for what I thought would be appropriate for high schoolers (especially ones that weren't completely boring) and modified them a bit to fit my needs.

I plan to use the first one for Pre-AP Biology, the last one for my IB Biology seniors, and the Birthday line up for both (that way I can write down their birthdays on a calendar).

Do you have any good ice breakers you do with your kiddos? Please share :)

h  a  p  p  y    m  o  n  d  a  y !!

7 comments:

  1. LUUUV the Han Solo buck! See, you guys can have fun in high school too. *_*

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  2. I love the Han Solo buck! Yet another thing we have in common--husband and I are such Star Wars nerds! Okay, we're just plain nerds, but we can make some Star Wars references.

    And I did the side to side head nod with your first sentence.

    I love the ice breakers activities. I haven't thought about doing them for my students--mostly because they've -literally- been together as a group since Kindergarten.

    PS: YAY LISTS! :)

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  3. Cute idea with the Han Solo dollars! I like the concept! Enjoy your last couple of days. Students come next Monday...AHH

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  4. A punch card - love that! What a great idea, I may have to start thinking about a system like this! I'll be posting some ice-breakers soon too...keep breathing, with a supportive husband you will get through it - speaking from experience. my hubs went as far as running holiday centers my first year when I taught kindergarten - it was one of my favorite memories!

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  5. Thanks you guys!

    My husband rocks and I'm grateful for his support.


    I'm getting there with my work. Today was a very productive day...hopeful that tomorrow is the same!

    Whit-Star Wars fans unite! I bet if we lived in the same town our husbands would be buds.

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  6. At my workshop today we did this ice breaker where you lined up in two lines and spoke to the person across from you. After the chime was rung, one line would move while the other stayed stationary and you would get to talk to someone else. Some topics of discussion were:
    -best part of summer so far
    -favorite movie
    -favorite book or author
    -favorite music
    -favorite place to travel to
    -favorite comfort food or restaurant

    In order to get to know my students better I have them jot down a few things for me as an exit slip:
    -I ask my students what they want to accomplish this year
    -how is the best way I can help them
    -what is the best way that they learn
    -what's their favorite memory of math (or first memory of math)
    -when I think about math i .... (fill in the blank)

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  7. That's a great ice breaker! I like that you could make it be fast-paced.

    Those questions to ask your students are great! I have a "get to know you" worksheet as their 1st assignment when they arrive to class, so I think I may add some of these. I really like the "when I think about math i..." That would show some great opinions!

    Thanks for sharing those ideas!

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