On the first day of teaching my own summer class (Diplomacy and Int’l Relations), I came up with an icebreaker designed to get students to know each other’s names. (I didn’t want them to rely on the names on the Zoom screen.) It worked really well, so I’m sharing here. #ZoomClass
This will work with a small group (< 25). Ask all students to change their names in Zoom to only their last name. Go into gallery view and tell all students to unmute. One by one, spotlight each student. Tell students that when spotlighted, they should say their first name.
You can do rounds with people saying their names 2 or 3 times. Then tell everyone to mute (and if they are feeling worried about getting a name wrong, to cover their mouths with a hand). Do another round and tell everyone to try to say names of students out loud.
The finale is to ask 2-3 brave volunteers to unmute, individually, and say everyone’s names out loud as you spotlight. Spotlighted student should nod if correct. Whoever can say all the names of their classmates is the “winner.” After, ask everyone to change their Zoom name back!
