How I Break The Ice With A New Group Of College Students

in #steemiteducation7 years ago

At the beginning of a new class is it important to get students comfortable with having discussions. One of my favorite courses to teach is Introduction to Sociology where students learn the basics of what my field of study is and how to apply basic Sociology to their own lives. I really enjoy starting off the semester by teaching the topic of "socialization" and using course material to do an exercise to break the ice and help my students get comfortable talking with one another.

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What is "socialization?"

Socialization is "the process of learning to behave in a way that is acceptable to society." -dictionary definition.

In Sociology, we basically teach that socialization is learning how to think and behave based on what we learn from other people in society. We learn things from our parents, peers, schools, television, jobs, and more. Humans are constantly being socialized when they are out in the world with other people. We learn how to behave and how not to behave by interacting with others. The socialization process begins when we are born and continues throughout our lives.

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Ice Breaking Exercise

After explaining what "socialization" is according to Sociologists I like to do an exercise to help my students relax and get to know one another.

  • First, I split my students up into small groups (usually around 3 to 4 people). I then give them a handout explaining the definition of "socialization" with a few simple examples.
  • The handout asks students to discuss with their groups examples of how they were socialized and how that has effected their thoughts and behavior.
  • I give the students a few minutes to write down ideas on their handout. Since they are talking about themselves I give them time to think about what they want to share.
  • After a few minutes of brainstorming I let them talk with their group.
  • After 15 minutes of group discussion I then ask the groups to determine a few things they all have in common and share them with the class.
  • Once all groups have shared what they had in common with their group members, I then try to point out similarities I noticed all groups sharing.

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Most students talk about how their parents raised them or how things like school, religion, military training, marriage, and more impact them in their life. Because they are sharing a bit of personal information it helps them to get to know one another while applying course material.

I think applying course material is important and every assignment I give helps students apply what they are learning in class to the real world.


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As a recent college graduate, I've been on the receiving end of countless ice breakers for class. I think asking students right away about ways they have been socialized might be a tough first assignment, especially if they've never taken a sociology course before.

I know I've been in situations like this where it takes a while for people to open up and share about these topics. Perhaps that's because I was an engineering student, but I'm curious whether these students are from interdisciplinary majors, or are they all in some sort of humanities field?

Thanks for sharing. It's always interesting to look at things from the teaching perspective rather than the student perspective.

I understand what you mean. I only let them talk for like 15 minutes about how they were socialized so they don't get too in depth. It's mainly simple stuff they talk about like "hi I'm so and so from (insert city, state). My parents were strict growing up. I lived in the city. Went to public school. etc, etc." kind of topics. Intro to Sociology has students from all majors because it is offered as a core class option. Interestingly most Intro students I get are nursing and engineering majors so simple and short exercises like this one seem to help people from different ways of thinking and interest groups to relax and realize they are similar so they can be more comfortable talking. Later on we have chapters on racism, religion, capitalism which can get into controversial topics so starting off with an ice breaker helps later on with more serious topics. Thanks for commenting and giving me feedback!

Wonderful ideas. Well done.

That is awesome! I did something like that in college and I loved it it was a great exercise you are a kick ass teacher! ♥🌷

Congrats on your win!!! Well deserved friend .. SUNSHINE247

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