C1

Every student brings their unique history, personality, and interests into the classroom. Knowing your students as individuals allows you to better connect with them both instructionally and personally. Instructors should tailor classroom activities to meet the needs and interests of students, which will never be identical between two groups of students. Here are some sample icebreaker/community-building activities that an instructor can use to get to know students as individuals.

• Check in: a ritual we have used in collaboration and class meetings is to start each meeting with a check in. This has a specific form and reason. We all have busy lives going from one thing to another. We sit down in a space with all that we have done and all that we have to do in our heads, yet we are still in this space together. As a way of turning our attention to the moment we practice listening. Each person shares what is distracting them from being together. There are two rules for check in: 1) you don’t have to check in and 2) we don’t comment on another’s check in. The reason we don’t comment is that this then will turn into a conversation and this is not the purpose of check in. We have found this practice to be life-giving and an excellent method of building trust and community.
• Partner questionnaire activity: Details and instructions are included after the linked questionnaire. [ADD INTERNAL FILE]
• Meet-and-greet activity:
  • Part 1: Introduction slides. Instructions for use and an example are provided. [ADD INTERNAL FILE]
  • Part 2: Jamboard. Instructions can be found on the last slide here. [ADD INTERNAL FILE]

Observable Behaviors:

C1.1: Used students’ names

C1.2: Talked with students informally before or after class 

C1.3: Showed knowledge of students’ interests beyond the class