Ice-Breaker Tuesday: Cultural/Family Tradition

Today's ice-breaker can also serve as a fun assignment spotlight as well and has to do with students sharing a cultural or family tradition. I created this assignment when I was reviewing cultural competence in one of my courses and thought it could be a pretty awesome ice-breaker activity as well. You'll learn all about it in today's blog post.

I have the good fortune to live in New York City which is a true melting pot of different cultures, languages, practices and beliefs. So when I have the opportunity to teach my students about cultural competence, I always start within the classroom and explore the different cultures that are represented. In an online course, this can be difficult, however, with the awesome new Ed Tech tools that we have access to, the process is much easier and much more fun and engaging.

For this ice-breaker, you can have students discuss one cultural or family custom or tradition that is important to them. You can add some flare to this assignment by incorporating an Ed Tech tool (I like VoiceThread) that allows students to share a picture or video of the custom as well. This usually leads to meaningful and engaging discussions among students and opens the door for a deeper discussion on culture.

Want the exact guidelines I use for this activity? I shared an overview of this assignment as well as the instructions and guidelines I used with members of the Innovative Online Educator Membership in October 2021. Get access to that resource as well as tons of other sample assignments, masterclasses, templates and ideas from other online educators by joining the membership today!  Learn more HERE!

I'd love to hear your ideas on this ice-breaker. Share them in The Online Educator Facebook Group!

Would you like me to spotlight one of your ice-breakers? Share your assignment HERE for an opportunity to be spotlighted in The Online Educator Blog.