Nancy+Whitman

**Nancy Whitman Icebreaker Activity**

**Course:** Span 50 Elementary Spanish I


 * Task:** Introductory exercise for the beginning of the course
 * Author:**Nancy Whitman, Ed.D. Los Medanos College
 * Objective:** To introduce yourself to the class and begin to get to know one another
 * Method:** Asynchronous
 * Instructions:** If you were an animal:

If you could be any animal in the world which one would you choose? Describe the color and texture in detail and in special features and tell why you would like to be this animal. You might want to include a photo, drawing or visual representation. Would this animal live alone or with others? Where in the world would it live? What would it do for fun? Could it sing or dance, etc.? Post your description and then go find 2 other student posts and ask at least one question per student.

Be sure to complete your first post by Wednesday and at least 2 questions by Friday. The first week assignment should be completed by Sunday 11:55pm.

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 * __ Critique of Nancy Whitman activity “If you were an animal” by Kseniya Orlovska __**

Nancy, as a psychology major I love activities like that, they can tell you a lot about people, because people feel safe when they talk about a subject or an animal, without even realizing that in such a hidden way, they volunteer a lot of personal information. (Yes, psychologists are very cruel indeed J ). This is a good way to start any class that deals with personal development, human relations, etc. Or even art class (I liked how you stressed the idea of describing the color and texture in detail and in special features). But if I had to teach Spanish I would personally choose an activity which is more content related. For Example: “If you had a choice of moving to any of the Spanish speaking countries today, which one would, you choose. Explain your choice by answering the following questions: ...”


 * __Critique of Nancy Whitman activity “If you were an animal” by Barry McCarthy __**

Nancy,

First, great job. As a business executive, I want to take a minor twist and suggest that your activity casts a wide net. As professional teachers and mentors we "get" the need for a good ice breaker - especially in a DE setting where F2F time is near or at nil. Perhaps not has apparent is the effect on group dynamics, the establishment of a mini "class culture", and the diversity spin that is in play.

A not so famous quote attributed to a famous leader - "A leader is a dealer in hope", purportedly attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte. I like this quote for several reasons, starting with its simplicity and ending with what it leaves unsaid. As instructors, we occupy / play a leadership role - whether we like it, choose to acknowledge the role as factual, ancillary, or demote it to a "psychological place" of sheer relegated unimportance. Either way, according to research literature, leadership incorporates three fundamental elements - leadership is a group phenomenon, leadership involves influence and seeks to accomplish goals and objectives, and leadership operates from within some type of hierarchy - formal or informal, but from within a structure nonetheless (Nahavandi, 2003). I guess we are leaders... Already, we are busy with the essence of academic ritual, as we should be. Nevertheless, it is always fun to take a minute to imagine how well a leader might perform with just a vision, great communication skills, and a few followers. :)

Back on task, as leaders, the DE environment can complicate matters as pointed out in our text. If we cannot create a sense of community and common purpose, the net result will be a less motivated group of students - and lower motivation affects performance (Plunkett, Attner, & Allen, 2008). Logically extended, poor student performance comes at a cost - the extent of which is beyond the scope of my mini critique. Simple stereotyped outcomes might be a less motivated student not working to their potential or an unhappy / struggling student dragging another student into “their world”. Or, perhaps the ultimate cost - a high student drop / attrition rate. No matter how we slice it, establishing a "mini culture" in our classroom or DE virtual worlds that support and encourage community and a common purpose are pursuits well worth the effort - right up front! Just as organizations strive to create cultures, so do we as leaders in the classroom - with the equivalent of culture statements classroom rites and rituals - whether implied and expressed. Another benefit of your icebreaker is the value it brings to acknowledge, extend and embrace diversity in classroom / virtual environment. Some of us are familiar with the work of Hofstede and his model of national culture - offering an insight into other global cultures. Hofstede identified five national culture dimensions - to include individualism versus collectivism, power distance, and long-term versus short-term orientation. My point, your exercise allows for and births an unlimited number of methods to explore differences. Good stuff given the reality of demographics that are a result of the global economy. Understanding and appreciating these differences is more important than ever.

Thanks for sharing!

Barry

Nancy,

With other activities I can’t necessarily speak to the content, but here I can! This is a fun activity that will provide students with the opportunity to review colors, textures, and physical and behavioral descriptors….but If this is for a Spanish 1 class at the beginning, how will they do this? I can see this as a great activity for the beginning of Spanish 2.

So for Spanish 1, what can they do in the first week? (LeeAnn pulls out her copy of Plazas!) For a text-based, asynchronous activity, perhaps you could have students select a picture from the internet of someone/something that represents them and post that to the DB (LeeAnn posted a picture of a dolphin). They introduce themselves in this way “Hola, me llamo LeeAnn. ¿Cómo soy you? And then everyone uses the pictures to add descriptors of what LeeAnn is like based on her picture ( using the verbs on pp 34-35).

In step 3 of this, you could have students go back in and respond to the descriptors their classmates gave them. Yo no soy rubia, etc.

That’s one idea, but because you teach Spanish, I would love to see you brainstorm a synchronous activity that would use Elluminate, where students can actually talk with one aother. What would you have them say? How would you organize that?

LeeAnn