ABSTRACT
Students are more likely to stick with their education if they have friends in the class, and their rates of success are higher if they enjoy the course and their classmates. This chapter provides various activities that students can do in the beginning of the semester to help build up a community of learners within their classroom. Students can also adapt these activities for later in the semester in order to continue the community building. The objective of these activities is to foster a positive, safe, encouraging classroom atmosphere. Engagement, motivation, and persistence are habits of mind that are developed as students learn more about each other by learning about their personal lives and thoughts, and as they cheer each other on by sharing their backgrounds, goals, and needs. Students then circulate to find people who have done the various things. They have a few minutes to talk to each person about the activity.
