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| Students Proactive Relationships with Individual Teachers Experience |
Structure of Initial Session
To start the session each person should fill out a name tag and decorate her name tag. Please introduce yourself, detailing your role in Central, teaching, etc. You may choose to include some personal information, such as where you live and your outside interests. (Aim for an informal, warm and easy-going introduction.)
Freshmen: Each student should then introduce herself and share something about herself. There are two ways of accomplishing these introductions.
A. One way is to pair up the girls into groups of two. Have each girl “interview” her partner. After 3-5 minutes ask each student to get up and introduce her partner to the group based on the information she gathered during the “interview”. Some things the students might be encouraged to share include:
v Where she lives
v Favorite subjects
v Number of siblings
v What middle school she attended
v What they did for the summer
v Place she would like to visit etc.
v You may want to include one “fun fact” in the interview process i.e.
o favorite toothpaste
o If you could be an animal which one would you be and why?
o What is the weirdest thing you’ve eaten?
B. An alternative ice breaker game is called “Two Truths and a Lie”. Each person in the room writes down three things about herself each on a separate index card. Two of the facts she writes down are true and one is false. After all the girls finish writing their three “facts” they pass the index cards to the person on their right (teachers are encouraged to play along!). Go around the room and have each girl state whose index cards she has and then proceed to read them all out loud. The group then has to guess which of the statements are true and which one is false.
Sophomores/Juniors: If there is a group mixed with freshmen and an upper grade, please make sure to use one of the introduction activities previously described. However, if the girls are all upper classmen, alternative icebreakers can be used. Here are a few ideas:
A. Sentence Circles – You will need one piece of paper and one pen per round. The students will have four minutes to complete each round. On your signal, the first person in the group writes one sentence on the piece of paper and then passes it to the left. The second person then writes the second sentence of the story/paragraph etc. The writing continues in this pattern around the circle - with no talking until the paper has gone around the circle four complete times (each student writes four sentences in total).
When the sentences are complete, the students share their creations with the class. This is a funny, laid back way to help the students reconnect with their peers and their mentor.
B. House on Fire – Tell the girls "Your house is on fire, and everyone is safe. You have thirty seconds to run through the house and collect THREE things you want to save. What would you grab? Why?" After everyone has done this, the group can discuss what they learned about the things they value. This is a good way to facilitate discussion about priorities and for the girls to get to know each other on a deeper level.
