"Who's in the Spotlight?" was a typical question that was asked in our group this past Wednesday. We had had some trouble hearing each other last week because everyone was talking over each other, so Arielle had this wonderful idea of using a flashlight to show whose turn it was to talk! If a student (or coach) had the flashlight they were "in the spotlight" and it was their turn to speak. If we noticed others were talking when they didn't have the flashlight we would simply ask "Who's in the spotlight?" to get them refocused. It worked magnificently!
We also established some roles in our group which helped focus them in. We had two Facilitator roles to do two different beginning activities. The Facilitator of the Opening Focus Activity (OFA) came up with a question to ask the group. It could be anything from what was one good thing that happened to you this last week to what's your favorite animal? Olivia was our OFA facilitator this past week and she asked, "What's the silliest thing that happened to you this last week?" As we were debriefing after our time with the students Arielle commented on how it was nice to have even that short amount of time to get to know the students a little better and not have to be solely focused on just "getting the job done;" the job being the public achievement project.
The other Facilitator was in charge of running the Remember and Review (R & R) activity in which we reviewed what we did the week prior. So they asked their classmates what they remembered from the week before and gave them the spotlight as well as said what they remembered. Avery was our facilitator for this activity. It was great to see him step into his role this week in contrast to last week where he was easily distracted.
We also had the role of the Recorder. The Recorder is in charge of writing or drawing anything needed during the meeting. They may also do any audio or video recording needed during the meeting. This last week Rowmar was the Recorder and we needed him to write down new ideas the group had about needed expectations for each other during our meeting times. He did a GREAT job and was very organized about it!
The Encourager is another role we assigned. It may sound kind of like we were running out of ideas, but I believe this is a very important role. It gives the students an opportunity to really reach out and care about their classmates. When they notice a student hasn't been saying much or had the chance to say much they might ask them if they have any ideas or what their thoughts are. The role of an encourager is to give everyone an opportunity to be heard and to encourage others to continue to contribute by including, uplifting, and complimenting them. Brian was the encourager and he was excited to encourage his classmates to speak and contribute to conversation. He definately felt this was a role for him!
The last role we had was the Task-Master. This person will get an outline of the schedule for the meeting and will make sure that the group stays on task to be sure to get all necessary things done. They will keep an eye out for the time and help with transitions to different activities by giving the spotlight to whoever is facilitating the next activity. La'Tavia was our task-master this last week and we could see the pride she took in her role as she paid close attention to the time and helped us move from one activity to the next.
Arielle led an activity in which we responded to the journal entries the students made last week. It was all about what they needed from their classmates in order to do their best with the public achievement problems. In short, what expectations do they have. They each got to be "in the spotlight" and share what "rule" (for lack of a better word) they thought was the best and why. In the end they came up with some new ones, got rid of some they didn't think were necessary, and decided on a list that was somewhat long, but they thought was best. I think having this conversation was very beneficial because now they all know what they need to do and not do. I was very surprised at the importance of throwing trash away to the group. They felt that if their focus was on trash and the environment they needed to be doing their part in not littering! What integrity from our group of fifth graders!!
The last activity we did was brainstorming. We did what's called "Pass the Paper" brainstorming. They used a journal piece of paper and at the top put one idea on a specific issue related to trash/environment. Then they passed their journals to the left. And then read the idea from their classmate and added another idea to the list until they kept passing journals and they got back to where they began. I was a little apprehensive as to how this would go. Would enough ideas be generated? Would it go too fast? It ended up going a lot better than I expected, and it was the perfect amount of time. I think it was a lot better than having 5 students shouting out ideas all at once. It kept them focused and thinking which I believe kept ideas flowing.
Their assignment for journals this week was to pick one of the brainstormed ideas (either thiers or one they read) and research it a little. What is the issue? Why is it important? What causes it? How could it be solved? They are going to bring back their researched ideas on Wednesday and we're going to talk about the different ideas they have and hopefully pick one to start really digging into and researching!
This week was a very motivating week! Things seem to start coming together and I'm excited where the students take us from here!
We also established some roles in our group which helped focus them in. We had two Facilitator roles to do two different beginning activities. The Facilitator of the Opening Focus Activity (OFA) came up with a question to ask the group. It could be anything from what was one good thing that happened to you this last week to what's your favorite animal? Olivia was our OFA facilitator this past week and she asked, "What's the silliest thing that happened to you this last week?" As we were debriefing after our time with the students Arielle commented on how it was nice to have even that short amount of time to get to know the students a little better and not have to be solely focused on just "getting the job done;" the job being the public achievement project.
The other Facilitator was in charge of running the Remember and Review (R & R) activity in which we reviewed what we did the week prior. So they asked their classmates what they remembered from the week before and gave them the spotlight as well as said what they remembered. Avery was our facilitator for this activity. It was great to see him step into his role this week in contrast to last week where he was easily distracted.
We also had the role of the Recorder. The Recorder is in charge of writing or drawing anything needed during the meeting. They may also do any audio or video recording needed during the meeting. This last week Rowmar was the Recorder and we needed him to write down new ideas the group had about needed expectations for each other during our meeting times. He did a GREAT job and was very organized about it!
The Encourager is another role we assigned. It may sound kind of like we were running out of ideas, but I believe this is a very important role. It gives the students an opportunity to really reach out and care about their classmates. When they notice a student hasn't been saying much or had the chance to say much they might ask them if they have any ideas or what their thoughts are. The role of an encourager is to give everyone an opportunity to be heard and to encourage others to continue to contribute by including, uplifting, and complimenting them. Brian was the encourager and he was excited to encourage his classmates to speak and contribute to conversation. He definately felt this was a role for him!
The last role we had was the Task-Master. This person will get an outline of the schedule for the meeting and will make sure that the group stays on task to be sure to get all necessary things done. They will keep an eye out for the time and help with transitions to different activities by giving the spotlight to whoever is facilitating the next activity. La'Tavia was our task-master this last week and we could see the pride she took in her role as she paid close attention to the time and helped us move from one activity to the next.
Arielle led an activity in which we responded to the journal entries the students made last week. It was all about what they needed from their classmates in order to do their best with the public achievement problems. In short, what expectations do they have. They each got to be "in the spotlight" and share what "rule" (for lack of a better word) they thought was the best and why. In the end they came up with some new ones, got rid of some they didn't think were necessary, and decided on a list that was somewhat long, but they thought was best. I think having this conversation was very beneficial because now they all know what they need to do and not do. I was very surprised at the importance of throwing trash away to the group. They felt that if their focus was on trash and the environment they needed to be doing their part in not littering! What integrity from our group of fifth graders!!
The last activity we did was brainstorming. We did what's called "Pass the Paper" brainstorming. They used a journal piece of paper and at the top put one idea on a specific issue related to trash/environment. Then they passed their journals to the left. And then read the idea from their classmate and added another idea to the list until they kept passing journals and they got back to where they began. I was a little apprehensive as to how this would go. Would enough ideas be generated? Would it go too fast? It ended up going a lot better than I expected, and it was the perfect amount of time. I think it was a lot better than having 5 students shouting out ideas all at once. It kept them focused and thinking which I believe kept ideas flowing.
Their assignment for journals this week was to pick one of the brainstormed ideas (either thiers or one they read) and research it a little. What is the issue? Why is it important? What causes it? How could it be solved? They are going to bring back their researched ideas on Wednesday and we're going to talk about the different ideas they have and hopefully pick one to start really digging into and researching!
This week was a very motivating week! Things seem to start coming together and I'm excited where the students take us from here!
I think your 'in the spotlight' idea was fantastic. I also like assigning roles, it didn't happen so much this last time we met but I'm sure i will implement it again in the future. Also to answer your question I have another blog post that I'm going to put up probably tomorrow about establishing group expectations and other things.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love the spotlight idea! I wonder if this idea can have the same effect for groups of students who aren't as outspoken as your group. It may be able to encourage them to open up and talk. I also like the idea of assigning roles within the group. I think that it would be interesting to see how they each respond to the different roles and react to each other in different roles.
ReplyDeleteI love how you assigned roles and i am thinink of trying that next time
ReplyDelete