A sunny afternoon at the start of the school year, while some students sat in the classrooms, some English students were outside throwing snowballs at each other.   First week of school ice breakers with Mrs. McKay look different than ones you may have seen before. Instead of an “All about me presentation” or standing in a circle telling facts about yourself, Mrs. McKay had her students write 5 facts about themself on a sheet of paper. They crumbled it into a ball, and threw them at each other. After all snowballs were thrown, whatever snowball was closest to you, you had to guess who it belongs to.

“ I want my students to feel comfortable sharing things with each other in class. We do a lot of group work. And I think it helps the learning process when they feel comfortable in their environment.”  Many students get first week of school nerves. Meeting new teachers, classmates, and the transition from summer to school is not easy.  After speaking to students in Mrs.Mckays class about their first week nerves, what student Izzy Ellis said stood out. “Making friends is difficult. I do think that this was less intimidating though. I hope other teachers here will do this.” 

Different activities that get students moving together and having fun can help with the anxiousness of meeting peers. Could school wide snowball fights be in the future? Speaking to Mrs. McKay, advice she would give other teachers wanting to try this in their classroom,“Just have fun. If the students see the teacher having fun and really getting into it, then their more likely to get into it. Because I mean, I was picking up snowballs four or five at a time and just wailing at the students. The students loved seeing their teacher get so involved, and they had a lot more fun with it. So teachers don’t be scared to try something new and fun.”