Showing 29 of 29 practices
Everyone has time to think silently about a topic before discussing it with a partner. Partners then discuss the topic in a group of four before sharing insights and new knowledge with the whole group.
A silent raised hand brings the group’s attention back to the facilitator after an engaging activity done in pairs or small groups.
Collaborate to sort, match, or sequence cards with content/information that is generated by participants. Card sorts help keep groups focused as they narrow large brainstorms down into key concept categories in the problem solving process.
In this pairing activity, each person has their own copy of a “Clock Buddies” handout and enters the name of a fellow participant on each of the corresponding slots. These will become partners for various activities throughout the engagement.
This protocol offers a structured and condensed way to engage with data, with a focus on reflecting on implications and developing next steps.
Participants are divided into two groups that are seated in concentric circles, all facing the center. The outside circle listens while the inside group has a discussion about a topic. Then the groups switch places so the listeners become the speakers.
Express feelings or opinions in response to a prompt, using fingers to show response. The facilitator, as well as the whole group, gets input from all participants simultaneously.
Participants reflect on a piece of text, image, or prompt and then move to an area of the room or "corner" that matches their choice, to share their thinking in a small group. “Corners” is helpful for promoting the importance of divergent perspectives and the value of having all voices heard while maintaining a sense of belonging.
Write a letter to your “future self” about what you learned from this session and what you’d like to take away. It may be appropriate to encourage participants to offer “sage advice and heartfelt appreciations” to remind themselves of their goals and aspirations of today.
Like viewers at a gallery, individuals or small groups of participants rotate from poster to poster, stopping to view, discuss, and add ideas at each station.
Participants reflect, and share new ideas while building community in a high energy protocol.
An opportunity for each person in the room to make a brief connection with many participants. It lifts the energy and helps make connections between participants who are meeting for the first time or reconnecting.
Participants form a human bar graph by standing in a row that best represents their response to a prompt.
At the end of an engagement, participants are asked to reflect on something that they are curious about as a result of the presentation/meeting/lesson. They will then share their reflection with a partner or with their table group.
Small groups each discuss a different excerpt of an article or topic. Groups then reorganize so that each new group contains one member from each of the original groups. The members of the new group now "teach" their excerpt to the members of their new group.
Acting as a maître d', the facilitator calls participants to form "tables” where they "dine" (exchange ideas) with a variety of tablemates.
People move around the room and share ideas with a partner or small group. Mix and Mingle starts with curiosity and builds a sense of belonging and agency by encouraging participants to interact with each other while valuing everyone’s thinking and voice.
Close the engagement or class by inviting participants to make a commitment to take immediate action based on the topic and their experience in the session.
Participants form a circle and interact verbally and non-verbally to learn each other’s names and favorite activities.
Participants are asked to consider and name a take away—an idea, strategy, tool, action step—that they want to try out.
This activity is a quick and easy way of starting out or closing a session. The facilitator asks a question or provides a prompt and participants think before going around and providing a one-word answer. As always, reinforce everyone’s right to pass if they wish.
The facilitator invites a moment of reflection on the current experience, then sets a timer for one minute to allow the group to contribute toward seeing how many voices can be added to the room during that time.
Participants reflect on a prompt, and then write and silently share their ideas with one another.
After reading a text or viewing a video participants follow a protocol to share and discuss their responses in a small group. The structure ensures that everyone has an opportunity to interact with new information and share their thinking without entering into a dialogue.
Participants review social and emotional skills that they used or saw others use during the engagement and select one to share with the group.
Participants reflect on and then share takeaways from the experience using playing card suits as a novel way to categorize a focus area for their response.
Brainstorming and metaphorical thinking invites a high level of inclusion and encourages the expression of culturally relevant, divergent, and novel ideas.
Participants form a standing circle, join hands, and are surprised when the connection of their hands allows the UFO/Energy Ball to light up. When they stop touching hands the ball is silenced.
This is a quick welcoming activity in which everyone’s name and voice are heard. Each person is asked to share their ‘news’—something that is on their mind that they are open to sharing either with a partner or in a small group.