The Ice Breaker = ENERGY

(Updated 10/24/12) I have to admit, I freaking love icebreaker games. They're kind of a guilty pleasure of mine. What's better than running around and doing stupid things in front of your peers without embarrassing yourself, since embarrassment is part of the game? When everyone is giddy with laughter and screaming all around you, that's like the coolest class ever! But then I get really confused because I would often hear my peers saying how much they hated icebreakers and how stupid and annoying they are. If they hated icebreakers so much, how come they were laughing and smiling so much during the game? Maybe they're just really good actors and were only pretending to have a good time. Or they're just liars. Or they have really bad memories. Or all three.

OR they experienced something like this...

So what is it that I love about falling over my classmates, smacking my shins on chairs, breathing hard, and screaming my head off? I love how it brings my energy level from here to HERE.

My supervisor explained to me that a good teacher is a master of maintaining energy level in a classroom. You can't have the class being crazy during the entire class because then nobody's going to learn anything, and you can't have people with puddles of drool on their desks either because then ain't nobody gonna learn nothin neither. That's why I think a perfect tool for controlling that energy is the icebreaker.

Why does the icebreaker always have to be in the beginning of class? Why can't it be in the middle, or even the end? The icebreaker is typically at the start of class so that everyone's pumped up and excited to learn, but then like 10 minutes after the game you've got everyone slouched over and feeling like they've been duped into thinking this was going to be an exciting class. That's messed up! Let's talk about the advantage of having the icebreaker in the middle of class. You know that lull in class when saliva starts to flow out and the teacher seems totally oblivious? Well at that point he should be like, "Since everybody's passing out, let's all get up and play some NINJA WARS!" Actually, a good teacher wouldn't even let the energy get down that low to begin with.

So what about having the icebreaker at the end? That seems dumb! Why would you get everyone excited and then just have them leave? Well something really interesting that I learned is that when people try to remember if an experience was good or not, their memory is mostly based on how they felt at the END. So that's why having the students leave class on a fun and positive note will mean that they're actually going to like the class, because they'll remember it as being fun and positive.

Here are a few really fun icebreakers that I like to play:

•  I love all my fellow students - Have everyone sitting in chairs in a circle with one person standing in the middle. The middle person says "I love all my fellow students who (something about himself/herself)". Then everyone who has that same characteristic has to get up and find a different seat and one person will always be stuck in the middle. This game always leads to bruises and sweat. That'll wake em up!
• Count Together - Have everyone sit in a circle. The point of the game is to try to count as high as possible with only person saying a number at a time. If people say a number at the same time, go back to zero. This usually leads to anger, frustration, and sadness, which equals bonding and teamwork.
• SPLAT - everyone stands in a circle with one guy in the middle (the splatter). The splatter claps his hands at someone, who ducks down. The people on each side of the target person have to splat each other. Whoever messed up needs to GET OUT. This game usually leads to hyper concentration and fear, which equals fun.
• Skittles - This one is a lot more chill, so it would be appropriate to bring down the energy level. Give two different colored skittles to each student and make sure they don't eat them yet. Each color represents a different question they need to answer: Red - What's good in your life? Green - Where are you going in life? Yellow - What's a fun/interesting fact about you? Purple - What's the craziest thing you've ever done? Orange - Freebie