I like to start a major fist-fight with the first student that dares to question my god-like authority. I deadpan an old-timey “put-up-your-dukes-sonny” kind of fisticuff… they buy it 100% of the time. I like to let the student get a few in before I absolutely make mincemeat out of them.

After that, the students seem to really respect me. I have to maintain that bitter grudge with that one student the rest of the semester, though. At no point do I want them to think I’ve gone soft.

In highschool we had a maths teacher who always did the birthday paradox as a kind of opener in the first lesson. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birthday_problem

He bet 10€, that there are 2 students with the same birthday in the classroom of (abt) 30 students. The class was allowed to work out, if they want to accept the bet, or not (exchanging birthdates was not allowed ofc).

Usually the students think, that it’s nearly impossible, and accept the bet. Little did we know, that the probability of success was around 70% for the teacher.

“Good News, everyone!”

My highschool chem teacher’s first words were. “Ice breakers are so boring, let’s go blow stuff up!” And then imediately showed us what happened when you drop a cube of pure sodium on water.

Best fucking class I ever had.

Eberybody stand up. Those who can answer a question can sit down (this was the first class of the subject in the semester). Those who can’t answer can either remain standing or leave the class and drop the subject. It surely broke the ice, especially since the organic chem subject was compulsory.

Actually breaking ice

I had an interesting one once:

We were paired up with the random new person next to us. Interview each other. Then, everyone gets to introduce their interview partner to the rest of the group.

Don’t. Just teach.