Icebreakers and Energizers:

Make Your Meetings and

Workshops Active!

Washington Library Association Conference

Friday, April 11, 2003
10am-Noon
Yakima Washington
Sponsored by WLA, WALT Interest Group
Washington Library Trainers
Presenters:
Jess Chandler, Sno-Isle Regional Library
Kandy Turk, Sno-Isle Regional Library
Elizabeth Iaukea, Washington State Library
Karen Miller, Kitsap Regional Library
Mary Ross, Seattle Public Library
Mary Stillwell, Independent Consultant/Trainer
Susanne Woodford, King County Library System
Facilitated by: Tina Bixby, Whatcom County Library

ASKING QUESTIONS IS
MORE EFFECTIVE THAN
GIVING ANSWERS.

CLOSED QUESTIONS
Yes/No response or a specific answer.
What does URL stand for?
OPEN QUESTIONS
No single answer. Require discussion and encourage sharing of
experiences.
Why would you want to use the Internet?
RELAY AND RETURN QUESTIONS
Thrown back to the questioner or to the group. Encourage group to
interact and promote active learning. (Also good if you dont know the answer!)
Thats a good question, John. Does anyone have any experience with
that?
What do you think is the best way to find a book that is misfiled on the
SLICK shelves?
LEADING QUESTIONS
Guide the learner in the right direction.
So, you would use CIV for?
NEXT-STEP QUESTIONS
After a concept has been explained, prompt the learner to the next step.
Then, what do we need to do next to put a patrons name back in the Hold
queue?

USING QUESTIONS AS LEARNING TOOLS

Choose your words carefully.
What do you think about?
What is your experience with?
NOT
Who knows the answer to?
First ask the question of the whole group, then to an
individual.
Give learners time to respond.
Dont always stop at the first response. What do others
think?
Use questions to check understanding.
Does that make sense?
Is my explanation clear?
Find something positive about every answer.
Avoid saying that an answer is wrong. Guide learners
to the right answer.
Create an atmosphere that encourages participation.
Treat their questions equally.

Different and the Same IceBreaker

This is a diversity icebreaker to show that although we have
different cultures and languages, we are also united by our
similarities that cross language barriers.
There is some advance preparation for this activity.
On a slip of paper, write the name of an animal that makes an
obvious noise, a country, and the sound that animal makes in the
language of that country. Create at least two papers of each
animal, but with different sounds/countries.
For example, if I have a group of 10, I could have:
2 ducks (different countries and different sounds)
2 horses (different countries and different sounds)
2 birds (different countries and different sounds)
2 monkey (different countries and different sounds)
2 cows (different countries and different sounds)
(or I could have 5 ducks of different countries,
and 5 monkeys of different countries)
There will be more fun if you have more animals!
Give each participant one of the slips of paper, but tell them to
keep their animal a secret. The participants are to find the rest
of their kind, but there is NO talking. So, how do they find the
others? They have to make the noise of the animal. Once two of
the same kind have found each other, they stay together to find
more. Continue until all of the like animals have created one big
group or the time is up.
This will definitely create some energy and fun for adults!

HeyWere a Lot Alike

Use as:
Icebreaker or Game
Objectives: Finding commonalities
Team-building
Diversity
Activity:
(1) Divide the class or meeting into small groups (2-4 each).
(2) After dividing the group, designate a scribe for the group. This can be done by
asking for each group to find out whose birthday is next, and then asking that
person to select a scribe.
(2) Tell participants that this is a competition among groups, to see who can
come up with the longest list. The topic of the list is: Things We All Have in
Common
(3) Tell participants that when you ring the bell or chimes (or clap your hands),
they can begin. At that time they need to come up with a list of everything they
can discover about one another that they have in common. Give them a couple
of examples: Brown eyes; like to read mysteries. Tell them theyll have five
minutes, and to continue adding to the list until you ring the bell (or make the
noise) again.
(4) Give them five minutes between chimes.
(5) Now find out whos the winner. Ask first, who had five or more? Then, who
had eight or more? And so on until youve established the winning group. Give a
bag of candy to the winning group. (If you give each group a couple of open
containers of candy, theyre likely to share with the others during the workshop.)
Time: About 15 minutes
Materials needed:
Flipchart paper (one for each small group)
Flipchart markers (one for each small group)
Chimes, bell, or other noisemaker (Your own hands clapping works just fine, too.)
Bag of candy
Useful when:
A workshop or meeting is composed of people who either
dont know one another, or who dont work closely together as part of the same
team, or who work in very different jobs.
Source of activity unknown.

Mary Bucher Ross

Training Coordinator
Seattle Public Library
mary.ross@spl.org
FOCUS ON LEARNERS
Tips for Technology Training
Do you provide technical training (Internet, library catalog,
database) for library staff or users?
Here are some tips to make your training interactive, involving,
and fun!

Attract the attention of the learners at the beginning by using a hook.

This can be a question, a story, a joke, a personal experience or an unusual
fact, connected to the learning objectives.

Chunk content into digestible units. Provide lots of practice time. For a
60 minute class, plan for 30 minutes of content and 30 minutes of practice.

Use their names and their needs. Provide name tents (Trainers Warehouse
sells name tents that have an erasable whiteboard surface for re-usability).
In the introductions, ask learners to give their names and one thing they
want to be able to do as a result of this training. Then use their needs in
demonstrating Web or catalog searches.

Take a MindBreak. I use the brainteasers in Games Trainers Play (McGrawHill, 1980) for quick, fun exercises that give learners a break in
concentration and get them interacting with each other.

We learn what we do. Your role is to facilitate their learning, not to give a
lecture or a fancy slide presentation.

Give learners a sense of control over the entire learning process; offer
choices whenever possible. Do reality checks if you sense that a break
is needed, or to find out which activity they prefer to do next.

Use team and partnered learning activities. Ask them to work in pairs or
small groups, searching the same question with a variety of approaches
and comparing the results.

Constantly give immediate real-world applications for whatever you are

demonstrating. This is where their needs become important. (Here is a
great resource to help your children with their homework assignments.)

Never take control of the keyboard or mouse for your learners. Even when
its slower, they learn better when they do it themselves.

Asking questions is more effective than giving answers. Avoid Closed

Questions that seek a specific answer. Instead use Open, Relay, Leading
and Next-Step Questions. Always create an environment that encourages
questions and comments.

Use open, welcoming body language and walk away from the podium to the
group. Indicate that you welcome their comments and questions with arm
in L-shape, open hand, palm up.

A little trick to get more participation from a reluctant groupask a closed

question (Who has used Google?) to the group, look for hands or nods,
then follow up with an open question to an individual. (John, tell us about
what you use Google for.)

Use analogies to build mental bridges between what learners already know
and what is new to them.

Check for understanding. Did I explain that clearly? Does this make
sense?

Walk around the room while learners are working on practice exercises.
Observe their progress, reinforce and coach one-to-one. Many people will
not ask a question in front of the whole group for fear of appearing stupid.

RESOURCES

Bruners, Daina A. How to Deliver Dynamic Training: 77 Sensational Tips

for Computer Instructors. Dynamite Press International, 1997.
Clothier, Paul. The Complete Computer Trainer. Computing McGraw-Hill, 1996.
Masie, Elliott. The Computer Training Handbook: Strategies for Helping People
to Learn Technology. Lakewood Publications, 1998.
Newstrom, John W. Games Trainers Play. McGraw-Hill, 1980.
Sugar, Steve. Games That Teach: Experiential Activities for Reinforcing Training.
Jossey-Bass, 1998.

WALKING BILLBOARDS
A Get-Acquainted Activity

Objectives: To provide an active way for participants

in the training to get acquainted and share interests
with each other. To take the first step in creating a
community of learners.
Supplies needed: Easel with pad of paper, colored marker pens, masking tape.
Procedure: Tell the group that they have an opportunity to design their own getacquainted session. Ask them to list the things that they would like to discover
about the other participants in the training. List these on the pad of paper.
Examples:
1. talents or hobbies
2. a person they admire
3. best book recently read
4. all-time favorite movie
5. ideal vacation
Ask for a quick vote on the three top preferences from the items listed. Using a
rough tabulation, select the five or six items receiving the greatest support, and
identify those for the group.
Provide every participant with a sheet of flip chart paper and markers. Ask them to
place their name at the top, list the five or six categories down the left side, and
answer each for themselves.
Now (and this will produce some laughter) use masking tape to attach the sheet to
the persons shoulders (they will look like walking billboards). Then invite them
to walk around the room and discover what others wrote.
Time Required: 20 minutes
Source: Still More Games Trainers Play
Anytime, Anywhere Answers
http://wlo.statelib.wa.gov/services/vrs/training.cfm

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Seattle, WA 98115
206-524-0429

SAFETY
ICEBREAKERS, ENERGIZERS & CLOSURES
Compiled by Susanne Woodford, King County Library System, susannew@kcls.org

Vulnerability Analysis Icebreaker

Use this activity to help participants focus on probable emergency
situations or disasters that could happen.
Pass out the Vulnerability Analysis Chart to the group.
Choose the first column probability and ask them to indicate
from 1 to 5 (5 definitely it could happen to 1 no it is not likely)
Give them 5 minutes and then poll the group for similar ratings for
each disaster. This chart allows in depth analysis on emergency
disasters likely to happen at the workplace with follow up
discussion by manager with staff.

101 Ways to Use a Diaper Energizer

Use this activity to help participants generate new
ideas relating to emergency situation or disaster.
I have used this energizer following a discussion on
earthquake preparedness. Show a disposable to the group.
Ask them to work in pairs and list five ways you can use a
diaper in an emergency situation. Review the lists with the
whole group. Takes 5 minutes.

Communication Methods Energizer

List 5 alternate ways to communicate in an emergency
other than using the telephone.

Using the same activity scenario as above.