1. I eat ice cream for breakfast. 
2. The very first short story I wrote was titled “The Day I Got My Dinosaur”. 
3. I was born in El Paso, Texas while my dad was stationed there.

Two of the above statements are true and one of them is false. You might have played this ice breaker before and it can be a good method of introducing yourself to your new students. 

When we were in national orientation, it was how we got to learn about the other new teachers. We were all nervous… It was a new environment for many of us and we were strangers from around the world. 

By the end of the exercise we were less nervous and more open to talking and working with each other for the next couple of weeks of training. 

You can choose to share as much or as little as you want. Each of these statements can give you the opportunity to share crazy (but school appropriate) stories and facts about your life. The more your students know about you, the more invested they will hopefully be in your class. 

Students are curious by nature and you might be the first foreigner they’ve met. Once they get more comfortable around you, they might ask you (or your co teacher) questions about your life. As a native English teacher, hearing you talk naturally can help them internalize how English sounds while also providing you with an opportunity to share your own culture. 

Your first interaction with your students will set the pace for the rest of the school year and ice breakers like this one can help the students open up and talk more. With higher level students, you could even have some of them try the activity as well. 

With my elementary students, I tried to use visuals when I could. My co-teacher/mentor teacher assisted by translating the statements and students formed teams. They competed to see who could get the most statements correct. 

You can easily adjust the number of rounds depending on time and award a simple treat to the winning team (my students tend to like Mychew). 

My family members and close friends probably already guessed which statement was false/the lie. I was actually born in South Korea, though I’ve lived in both El Paso Texas and El Paso Illinois at different points in my life. 

Anyways, I hope that everyone is staying healthy during this uncertain time. School here in Korea has been delayed further until April, so I have more time to prepare materials for class, learn new things, and write with my spare time. 

What are you doing to help pass your time at home? For current and new teachers, do you have anything special planned for your first day back at school? Comment below and share your answers. If you have any ideas/suggestions on what you want to see in future articles or videos, let me know below as well.