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Last winter, my daughter, one of her friends and I wrote six-word memoirs to sum up our days. This exercise was based on the very popular book called “Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure.”
I found it a challenging and interesting way to review my day. We shared news about a sister’s engagement, acceptance at graduate school and other big and small events.
I’ve since used Six-Word Memoirs to help groups sum up their discussions as I was facilitating character education programs for the Institute for Character Development. I find that it helps people really focus on the central idea, and saves giving lengthy reports on discussions.
These free Teaching Guides are fun too. Check out Assignment Redux. I hope you’ll try some of the ideas from our colleagues at the University of Iowa. They include–
And here’s a place to post your own six-word memoir.
One of my favorite ways to process learning is to use my treasure box. I usually save it for groups with whom I’ve spent at least a day. I’ve found that middle school girls love this way of processing what they have gained from their time together. A bonus is that they get to keep something to remind them of what they learned or gained.
I’ve collected a boxful of small, free (mostly) or inexpensive items–buttons, shells, stones, old pins, pennies, Barbie shoes–in a small box that my daughter decorated. At the end of a program, I open the treasure box and spread the contents out on the floor or on a table. Then I ask each person to choose one and tell how it is related to what they learned or did and how it will help them remember something from the time we spent together. They get to keep the “treasures.”
Thousands of teen volunteers contribute more than 1.7 million hours of service each year in west central Florida through ManaTEENS! Two sisters, who were 12 and 17 years old then, started the organization in 1994. It’s grown into the largest locally based teen volunteer initiative in the United States!
Their president spoke at the Youth Service Institute I attended in October 2008. When I was in Florida, they had conference participants working on a resource directory of “Pet Friendly” facilities for people to use if they’re confronted by a hurricane or flood and have to abandon their pets. That project was part of their Animal Welfare and Homeland Security initiatives; their other initiatives are–
ManaTEENS is a great example of the power of young people to change the world! The president had these tips for making powerful contributions–
Here is another group process for committees or small groups to use once they’ve decided on an activity. They start with the final activity, event or outcome and work backwards to define the steps toward accomplishing it.
The group members have paper and markers, at least one sheet for each step of the process needed to accomplish the activity. They start with the last step on one sheet and work their way back to the beginning, rearranging as necessary. Once they have laid out all the steps and put a timeline with them, they will have a comprehensive, orderly plan for how to go forward.
Once your group has decided on an activity to do, this process helps the group move toward making it happen. It could be done with the whole group, but it might be more effective in a committee or small group. It will help the girls who are in charge of the event to figure out the steps for making the activity a reality. Post-It Planning gives you a method for understanding the actions that are necessary to make the activity happen.
Start by writing the activity the group has chosen to do on a flip chart. Now the whole group writes questions and things that need to happen on sticky notes, one question or item per note so that they can be arranged later. Put these questions and other notes randomly on the flip chart. Give the group time to read the notes and make sure they have covered everything. Finally, the group arranges the notes in a logical order and divides them up among the group so everyone shares the responsibility for facilitating the activity. Finally, have the group decide on deadlines for the stages of action. This would be a good activity to use a Tack-E-Wall.
This planning technique is described in “Planning and Reflection” by Tom Akiva from HIGH/SCOPE, page 19.
Brainstorming is an old technique for gathering ideas from a group, but if it’s done with attention to ALL the rules, including no judging, it’s really effective. If groups are not allowed to put down wacky ideas, it defeats the purpose.
These eight rules to “Brilliant Brainstorming” give a good explanation of the skill and mindset that is needed for success at this method for facilitating brainstorming. You need more than a flip chart and markers to do it well. I use timing, taking turns, a Tack-E-Wall, to manage the brainstorming, but that’s another post.
This Web site from Studio 1151 provides a clear description of brainstorming, and includes a process for narrowing ideas after the initial discussion.
Providing opportunities for making choices and speaking out are critical components of positive youth development programs. But it’s challenging to do this with a large group of kids who may want to go in 30 different directions. Here are ideas from a gallery activity at the 2008 Chrysalis After-School Facilitator Training for creating meaningful advisory structures with young people–
Okay, I put it out there–What are some good discussion topics for middle school girls? Here is the first response I got on Facebook–
–music, clothes, dance, friendship and who’s cute-circa 1970’s
–music, clothes, dance, friendship and who’s cute -using cellphones, social networking, text, -circa 2009
Here are some more–
A fishbowl discussion allows everyone in a large group to participate in a series of small group discussions. In a group larger than four or five it’s hard for everyone to have a chance to speak.
This method allows up to five people to discuss a topic for a set amount of time, with the rest of the group taking turns as the audience. It’s a non-threatening way to develop speaking and listening skills. It can help people get over the fear of speaking in front of a group because it’s more like a conversation than speaking before an audience.
Arrange four or five chairs in an inner circle. This is the fishbowl. Arrange the rest of the chairs in concentric circles around the fishbowl. Select enough participants or ask for volunteers to fill the fishbowl, while the rest of the group sit on the chairs outside the fishbowl.
Now introduce the topic for discussion and the participants in the fishbowl start discussing the topic. The audience outside the fishbowl listens.
You can choose between an open fishbowl and a closed fishbowl, two different methods to make sure everyone gets a chance to join in the conversation.
In an open fishbowl, leave one chair empty and explain that any member of the audience can, at any time, occupy the empty chair and join the fishbowl. When this happens, one member of the fishbowl must voluntarily leave the fishbowl so there is always one free chair.
The discussion continues with participants frequently entering and leaving the fishbowl. This method, if your audience members are interested and assertive, will allow most audience members to spend time in the fishbowl and participate in the discussion.
When time runs out, close the fishbowl and summarize the discussion.
In a closed fishbowl, all chairs are filled. The initial participants speak for a specified amount of time, maybe five minutes. When time runs out, they leave the fishbowl and a new group from the audience enters the fishbowl.
This continues until most audience members have spent some time in the fishbowl. Once the final group has concluded, close the fishbowl and summarize the discussion.
In a timed discussion, let the people in the fish bowl discuss the topic for a certain period of time – say, 15 minutes. Then stop the discussion and invite the people who aren’t in the inner circle to give feedback on what they heard in the fishbowl.
To use the fishbowl exchange, divide the group into two smaller groups; have each of these groups meet separately and come up with three or four open-ended questions for the other group. Have them write their questions down; reconvene and exchange questions.
Form two circles, one small group inside the other, both facing inward. Have the fishbowl (the inside group) read a question and discuss it. The outside circle cannot speak, only listen.
Go through all the questions, making sure everyone in the fishbowl gets to speak. Now switch circles and go through the process again.
This activity will help your group generate ideas for achieving personal and group goals. It provides a way for the group to “bombard” one or a small group of people with ideas for accomplishing their goals.
Start with the whole group in a large circle, then spend about five minutes talking about how to set goals–making them realistic, short-term so they can see progress, and about things they really want. The group may set personal goals for things like fitness, doing better in school, having more fun or learning a new skill. Or they may set goals for the group to accomplish something like a service project or a trip. Don’t get hung up on the writing part. The more often you do activities like this, the better people will get at setting goals. Just remember to give people opportunities to talk about how their goals are going and what they may need to do differently.
Now have each person write a goal on an index card.
Go around the group and have everyone share their goal, listening for others in the group that have similar goals.
Now, group members with similar goals take them into the center of the large group and form a smaller circle.
The group in the outside circle “bombards” the inner circle with ideas for accomplishing their goals. Those being bombarded may want to take notes about their favorite ideas. Rotate different small groups into the inner circle, giving the bombardment five minutes or less for each small group.
