getting to know you activity

[Jane]

I know many of you are teachers and some are in business so you might have some good ideas. Does anyone know a fun/interesting activity that could be used for high school students. I detest the first day of school speeches: bring a pencil, grading, blah blah blah.

I also dislike the games where you have to around greeting other people. Last year I went to a conference where they passed out pictures of animals on arrival. We had to greet people in the "voice" of our animal (bark, meow, moo etc) OMG!

Maybe I'll just tell jokes....Craig's got a few good ones<img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-blush.gif" border="0">

 

[dyza]

maybe I have but they are probably so inapropriate...lol
You could get them to draw each other, then get themm to explain their drawings

 

[dyza]

did you here of the two radio enthusiasts who got married...... the wedding wasn't that great, but the reception was brilliant.

 

[Allie]

hhaha. One year, I made my kids play literary charades, where I wrote down classic novels and they had act them out. Got everyone loosened up. Playing musical chairs with high schoolers, or duck duck goose has the same effect, minus the problem that the French teacher next to you thinks you've lost your mind. Tag in the school hallways will earn you a trip to the principal's office. <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-blush.gif" border="0">

Another fun one is to have everyone write down a wierd fact about themselves, and then have the students guess who it is. I usually put myself in there as well to mess with them. Along the same lines is playing '2 truths and a lie' where the student says three things about him or herself, and they have to guess which one is a lie.

Another one in which fellow teachers will question your sanity is to send the students out into the school halls to find something that is the OPPOSITE of themselves. It's fun to see what people come up with.

You can also have them bring a box that represents themselves the second day. I did this once, it was a lot of fun, kids fill it with stuff that they think represents them, then they explain it to the class. The teacher has to do this one too <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0"> that's the one I'm doing this year in English, bring yours in the first day as an example.

Improv games are always fun....another fun one is to sit in a circle with a ball, and try to write a story, throwing the ball at the person to continue it next. This is my opener for creative writing.

Hope I helped!

 

[JazzysMom]

Have them right down 3 things about themselves. 2 of them are true & 1 is false. Read them outloud (not giving the name of the person) & see if anyone can guess who it is & then see if then can guess which thing is false. They can be as funny or private as the kids want to get except of course inappropriate!

 

[Jane]

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote><i>Originally posted by: <b>Allie</b></i>


You can also have them bring a box that represents themselves the second day. I did this once, it was a lot of fun, kids fill it with stuff that they think represents them, then they explain it to the class. The teacher has to do this one too <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0"> that's the one I'm doing this year in English, bring yours in the first day as an example.
!</end quote></div>


Thanks for the ideas!

Allie, I forgot you're a teacher too! I did the box thing a few years ago and the kids had to draw it (self-portrait). One girl brought in pages from her diary/sketchbook and a feather pen. Her drawing was awesome!