It sounds like you have a very good approach to team bonding. Please send me a list of what you do. Getting teams to bond is an area I would like to improve on.

Frank Dinan at Canisius College in New York has a similar approach. He teaches organic chemistry and has a different group of students than you do, but he firmly believes in the value of time spent in team bonding and orienting his students to the value of a team approach to learning. I have attached a copy of his "First Day" article.