Biggest takeaway: Zoom is awkward for everyone. It’s just a fact of life. There’s nothing like talking to a wall of blank screens and muted participants. 

I tried a lot of different ways to break the ice at the beginning of our daily meetings. You’ll see in the list below some of the ideas I used and some other ideas that I’ve collected/seen from across the interwebs. If you read far enough, I’ve even included a few slide templates! Don’t @ me if you don’t like them. They are free. 

You’ll see the two sets of Zoom P’s & Q’s that I sent out in my welcome email to my students and parents. I learned after the first go around that I needed to be sure they knew they had to use their real first name (or what they go by) as their Zoom name. I legit had a kid for an entire month use his gaming ID. 

Zoom P’s & Q’s Take 1

• Sit in a quiet spot with limited distractions/noises.
• Keep yourself on mute until it is your turn to talk.
• Be on time!
• Make sure siblings/pets know not to interrupt you.
• Dress appropriately!
• Be kind and respectful.

Zoom P’s & Q’s Take 2

• Your Zoom name should be your first name.
• Sit in a quiet spot with limited distractions/noises. 
• Keep yourself on mute until it is your turn to talk.
• Be on time! 
• Make sure siblings/pets know not to interrupt you.
• Dress appropriately!
• Be kind and respectful.

I have seen debates on Twitter about where students should be when they are Zooming from home or if we should require students to always have their camera on. Hey, maybe a good first week back activity could be creating a Bitmoji character (some call them avatars) and setting that as your profile picture on Zoom?! Who would’ve thought it?!

I mean, which one would you rather be talking to?? Plus, it’s kind of fun to see the clothes and hair and accessories that kids choose when they have the freedom to do so. 

I also made the mistake the first time around of not giving kids an opportunity to un-mute themselves and have discussions. Part of this was because our Chromebook microphones are awful on Zoom meetings (the second round was on iPads). The chat and reaction tools are also super helpful in engaging with students. More ideas on that later.

Okay. So let’s talk about how we can break the ice to start these Zooms and Hangouts! 

Let’s be real. It’s way easier to be proactive and take 5ish minutes at the beginning to make sure all of the ducks are in a row so we don’t have to constantly stop, admit participants, and then re-explain everything they missed (yeah, this will probably still happen but hopefully will happen less if we just give students a few minutes -- think passing time -- upfront). 

I stuck with Which One Doesn’t Belong prompts for our July virtual session purely to experiment with it. We had the same routine everyday:

1. As students joined, I shared my screen and they saw the prompt (and instructions -- because... we all know why).
2. The first thing we did was take attendance and they would share what they thought and why. Sure, some of them just said what someone else said but I wanted them to defend what they were saying. 
3. I alternated starting at the beginning, the end, and in the middle.
4. On the very first day of the session, I had students introduce themselves and tell me their names. Then every day thereafter, I said their name and then thanked them for sharing. I also tried to greet them as they joined by name each day. I am under the belief that I couldn’t use their names enough in the virtual setting because I had never met them in person. 

Okay, enough housekeeping. Let’s get to the ideas!

Break the Ice Ideas

1. Playing Music -- Starting a meeting and then waiting is awkward for everyone. This can give you the chance to play some tunes and not feel like you have to fill the silence. Pro-Tip: use an external speaker or play it off your phone. You will already be juggling a lot of windows on your device, so make it easier and play music from somewhere other than your phone.
2. Would You Rather? Questions -- Google it. There are millions of questions you can use.
3. Which One Doesn’t Belong? -- These are super easy to find online. Students can quickly share out loud during attendance or in the chat. You can also add in some math-based ones to build that math talk muscle.
4. Fill in the Blank -- Think: “If I had a million dollars, I would ________.”
5. Compliment Creations -- One of my favorite SEL groups (CharacterStrong) promotes these fill-in-the-blank compliments. Wow, what a great way to build community between students in a low-risk way! They have a ton of ideas on their Instagram or you can write your own. Who doesn’t love getting compliments?!
6. National Day is… -- Celebrate the random national holidays
7. My Favorite Things… -- You know how this one works! You just have to decide if students will put their answers in the chat or if they will say it.
8. Either/Or -- Give students a choice between two things and see what they choose! Students could respond in the chat or out loud. 
9. Questions -- Think: What is your dream job? Check out Daily Check-In Ideas for more!
10. Finish the Drawing -- This is one of my favorite creative exercises. Give students the beginning of a drawing and then have them finish it. They only have the time you give them. When the time is up, you could have students all show their drawings at the same time.
11. Celebrating Birthdays -- Recognize birthdays! Woohoo!
12. Digital Poll -- You can create a poll (like with Mentimeter) that students can respond to. Then you could have students reflect on the data and draw conclusions. OR just talk about it. Sometimes simple is nice.
13. Good, OK, Bad -- You could have students “rate” things in the chat OR have students say which choice is their favorite.
14. Thumbs Up/Down -- Students can use the reactions or put a thumbs up or down emoji in the chat.
15. Four Corners -- Based on the topic, students can change their name (for a moment) or put in the chat what corner they would be in.
16. Going on a Picnic -- This a fantastic and fun game that challenges students to think creatively and solve the puzzle. You start out saying “I’m going on a picnic and I’m bringing a…” and then choose objects that fit a certain rule. Students can play along in the chat and you either say “Yes” or “No” based on if their objects fit the rule you created. You could even have students choose the rule once they get the hang of it!

If you’ve made it this far and you are still reading (or skimming), you deserve a freebie. Click here to grab some template slides! Note: if you want to edit, go to File → Make a Copy.

Even More Ideas and Resources:

More Virtual Team Building Ideas

Daily Check-In Ideas

Google Jamboard Templates