I love icebreakers

I contend that there is no better way to start a meeting or class that allowing those in attendance to share a little something about themselves that the rest of the group might not already know.

This is the strategy that was employed in the two student groups I became most involved in at the University of Michigan (Daily Sports and Shmooze), and I think that the environment created by the routine ice breakers was part of my attraction to these groups.

At the beginning of every meeting, we would go around the room at discuss our most painful sports memory or if there were to be a sandwich named after you, what would be on it.

So, since I started teaching environmental education four days a week in the local high school, I have obviously employed the strategy of beginning each class with an ice breaker. For me this is as important as anything that we will eventually cover in the class because it gives the students a chance to think freely, to think about something personal, to think about how themselves as an individual, and maybe develop a bit of self-worth or self-esteem.

And then after the student introduces himself or herself, I allow for a few moments of discussion about the previous response. From my talking to the students, they seem to enjoy these questions but from their responses, I realize how necessary doing these small activities really are.

In the first few classes, we went with some more generic questions of

• What are you most proud of?

I think that every student in the class was proud of their parents and siblings. When asked why, they didn’t really have a response.

I said that I was proud of the opportunity to represent the United States as a Peace Corps volunteer.

• If you could go to one place in the world, where would you go?

Because of the influence of soap operas in primetime television here, most students was to go to Rio de Janeiro or Buenos Aires or Colombia — because that is where the soap operas take place. I’m just waiting for the “Home Improvement” fan to say that he or she wants to go to suburban Detroit.

Those that didn’t say soap opera sets said Las Vegas, Madrid, or New York. I said that I wanted to go to Patagonia or Isle Royale.

• What is the happiest moment of your life?

For some reason, the kids mistook this question to mean “where is your favorite beach?” I think the root of the confusion came from when the first student in the class said their happiest moment is when they are at the beach. I asked “which beach?” and things spiraled down hill from there. Well, to answer the modified question, most like the beaches of Salinas (west of Guayaquil) or the beaches of Manabi province. Some like Jambeli, which is the closest beach to here.

Shabbat dinner tables don’t exist here. Otherwise, I imagine everybody else would have the same response as I did.

• Most difficult thing they have done…

For some reason, they were stumped on this one. So I guess, the answer would be trying to answer this icebreaker.

I told them that trying to teach environmental education to Ecuadorian high schools was near the top of my list.

• What is your favorite place?

For some reason, this was also understood as “what is your favorite beach?” So we had a lot of repeats.

That is because none of them have ever been Up North.

• What is your favorite activity?

In terms of favorite activity, you would think that these kids do nothing but play soccer – and occasionally volleyball and basketball.

I told them that I liked doing stuff outdoors and being active.

• Most ridiculous thing you have ever done…

I guess they don’t quite understand my far-reaching definition of the word ridiculous because most of them said that it was the time when they almost fell from a motorcycle or how they tripped in front of a large group of people or how they fell off a tree. One kid claimed to have killed a snake.

I told them that doing Gadna (basic, basic, basic training for the Israeli army) with my high school classmates was outstanding, especially because we all took it seriously.

• Person in history you most admire….

The most common response here was Albert Einstein. Christopher Columbus also received votes, along with Simon Bolivar. A few soap opera actreeses were mentioned.

I told them that Raoul Wallenberg. They have no idea who that it, so I explained a bit. I will have to do more explaining.

• If you could eat dinner with one person (currently alive and not in your family) with whom would you eat…

The most popular response to this one were Reggaton DJs, bachata bands, the Jonas Brothers, Avril Lavigne, Rafael Correa, and soap opera actresses who I don’t know.

I gave this question in two classes. I think that dinner with Khomeini or Ahmedinijad would be exciting. In the other, I went with Obama.

• If you could travel to one place in time, to when would you travel….

Almost everybody wanted to travel to the time of the dinosaurs, which proves there would be a market for Jurassic Park down here if they don’t employ Wayne Knight.

I thought the summer of 1969 would be a pretty awesome time, especially if I could extend my stay to the fall of ’69 and watch Bo-Woody I.

• If you would meet one person in the history of the world, who would it be…

For this question, the most popular responses were Einstein, Columbus, Madonna (which gave me a great chance to drop the “she’s from my state and attended my university” line), Jesus, and Michael Jordan.

I thought about this one for a long time and developed a fun list, in no particular order. William Shakespeare, Socrates, Shaq, Yoni Netanyahu, Raoul Wallenberg, Muhammad, Job, Newton, Abraham Lincoln, David Ben Gurion

• Favorite fruit…

The most popular ones were the pear, apple, grape, mango, and granadilla (a mild version of the passion fruit).

Well, it is at this point that I typically break into a monologue about how much I love fruit and how blessed the people here are to have such diversity of fruit, even though they don’t have pomegranate, blueberries, or honey crisp apples.

So these are some examples of icebreakers that I have been using with my kids to get to know them a bit, but just as importantly so that their classmates get to know them a little better, as well.

I’d love to get to know my blog readers a little better as well. So If you want to answer some of these icebreakers or present ideas for other icebreaker questions, giddy up.