Category: Workshops

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Student Voice Brainteaser Activities

FACILITATOR NOTES

Keep the pace of lessons up-beat and energetic with these challenging mind games! All of these activities are fun, although they can be a bit frustrating at times for participants. More importantly, they can serve as great metaphors during lessons to keep participants thinking. They can be fillers before you start, during break times, or after you end. There’s only one rule – you can’t tell the answers. Remember the adage, “Knowledge is earned – not given.” Try to memorize your favorite mind twist, and go without these notes. Good luck!

PROCEDURES

1. Activities Going Camping – Start by saying, “We’re going camping this weekend! The thing is though that we can only bring along particular items. It’s kind of a crazy camping trip!” Then, say one thing at a time, letting people think about each one. “We can bring a dog, but not its dog food… an elephant, but not a canary… an end table, not a lamp. . .” you add more.

Answer: Things with four legs can go camping; anything else can’t.

2. Silly Sally – Begin with, “I’ve got this crazy friend named Silly Sally. You see, she only likes certain things, very particular things. Let me tell you about her.” Then slowly start listing off what Silly Sally likes… “She likes apples, but not bananas… spaghetti, but not the sauce… Seattle, not Olympia… troops, not packs… Jeeps, not Fords… Bill, not Tom… the roof, but not the ceiling… the floor, but not the carpet…”

Answer: Silly Sally likes things with double letters!

3. Crossed or Uncrossed – Holding up two sticks, announce that you want the group to guess “Are these crossed or uncrossed?” As they guess you confirm or deny that they are crossed or uncrossed. You pass the sticks to the next guy, and he asks “Crossed, or uncrossed?” Go around the entire circle until everyone says “Oh, yeah, now I get it!” I like to say, “Remember, the answer isn’t always in the most obvious solution.”

Answer: The answer isn’t in the sticks, but the legs of the person asking “Crossed, or uncrossed?” Are they sitting with their legs crossed or uncrossed?

4. Ancient Counting Sticks – Hold up three sticks in the air, and announce that they are the ancient counting sticks of Zoogoobawgooland. “These three sticks will be conformed in such a way that will represent a number.” Then lay the three sticks on the ground in a unique way.

Answer: Show the number you wish to represent with your fingers. Put your hand someplace not too obvious… Keep having the participants guess, and keep changing the number and stick layout. Use both hands, making numbers up to 10. As you progress, keep making gestures more obvious as you go along.

SoundOut Skill Building Lesson Plans
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These lesson plans were created by Adam F.C. Fletcher for SoundOut under contract from the Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction funded through a grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service. All contents ©2007 SoundOut. Permission to use is granted exclusively for nonprofit and in-school education purposes only. All Rights Reserved.

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Lesson Plan on Creating Roles for Students and Adults

FACILITATOR NOTES

This is a lesson plan on creating roles for students and adults to support Meaningful Student Involvement.

Introduction

This inquiry-based lesson plan requires a group of 4-40 students and adults. This activity was adapted from Youth Empowerment: A Training Guide (1990) created by CampFire, Inc.

Goals

When this session is complete, participants should be able to…

  • Provide the opportunity to carefully think through how to involve students in programs.
  • Deepen understanding of the work and commitment required for effective Student-Adult Partnerships

Time

90 minutes

Materials

Flip chart paper and markers; copies of the worksheets from the end of this workshop.

Space

Enough to accommodate the group

Considerations

While not necessary, it is helpful if participants have first completed Exploring Group Strengths and Weaknesses and Students and Adults as Ideal Partners, both located in this section. Greater knowledge of individual strengths and interests, as well as what is needed to be an effective partner, helps to ground this activity in reality.

PROCESS

1. Split the group into groups of about 5 people each, depending on size of group. Groups should be mixed students and adults. Half the groups will work on roles for adults; the other half on roles for students.

2. Hand out the appropriate worksheet to each group. Have participants work in their groups to complete them.

3. Groups report back on the roles they developed. Allow for questions and comments.

4. Close with a discussion, including:

  • What was it like to create these roles?
  • How realistic do you think the descriptions are? Why or why not?
  • How might you apply these job descriptions to your work together?

Worksheet: Defining the Role of a Student

Describe the role for students.

Answer the following questions about the opportunity:

  1. Is this a real job? What is its usefulness to the class or school?
  2. Will this position lead someone to greater responsibility in the class or school?
  3. Is adequate support and supervision available from the staff? Do staff know how to supervise?
  4. What skills, training, experience, and knowledge will students gain from this opportunity?

Answer the following questions about possible candidates for this opportunity:

  1. Who will really want to fill this role? Is this work that is of interest or value to some students? Why?
  2. What knowledge, skills and attitudes are necessary to succeed in this role?
  3. How can you adjust the work schedule, quantity of work accomplished, quality of work accomplished, nature of training, responsibility for others, degree and kind of supervision, formal reporting requirements, and other parts of the opportunity so that more students might qualify?

Worksheet: Defining the Role of an Adult

Describe Opportunity Here:

Answer the following questions about the opportunity:

  1. Specifically what will this person need to do to make Student-Adult Partnerships work?
  2. How is this different from existing opportunities in the class or school?
  3. What kind of resources (time, training, other) will the person need in order to be successful?

Answer the following questions about possible candidates for the opportunity:

  1. What knowledge, skills attitudes, and other qualifications are necessary to succeed at this role?
  2. How could you determine if someone was suited for this role?
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These lesson plans were created by Adam F.C. Fletcher for SoundOut under contract from the Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction funded through a grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service. All contents ©2007 SoundOut. Permission to use is granted exclusively for nonprofit and in-school education purposes only. All Rights Reserved.

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Lesson Plan on Creating Roles for Students and Adults to Improve School

FACILITATOR NOTES

Introduction: An inquiry-based lesson plan for 4-40 students and adult participants

Goal: When this session is complete, participants should be able to…

  • Identify their goals for Student-Adult Partnerships
  • Understand where Student-Adult Partnerships can benefit our society

Time: 40 minutes

Materials: Flip chart paper and markers

Space: Floors or tables with enough space for teams to spread out their paper and work

Considerations: We often talk about what an individual needs in order to work with students or adults. However, it is useful to get these ideas out in the open and down on paper. This helps people see what is really expected and evaluate what is realistic. This lesson plan engages people by showing their creative sides. It gives them the chance to symbolically represent the ideal characteristics and abilities of an ally.

PROCEDURES

  1. Break people up in two teams of 4-8, depending on the size of the group. Keep teams all students or all adults.
  2. Tell each team that you will give them a large piece of paper on which they will draw the outline of a person. Tell them that after the outline is complete, they will illustrate it with the kind of characteristics or abilities that an ideal student or adult partner would have. For example, draw big ears on the person to indicate ability to listen.If you really want to get into it, give them a piece big enough to actually outline someone on it. Start with student teams drawing ideal adult partners and adult teams drawing ideal student partners. If you have time, have them do both.
  3. Have teams present their drawings. Create a master list of characteristics as each team reports back.
  4. If time allows, create an Ultimate Partner drawing all together.
  5. Debrief by asking:
    • Which characteristics do you think are most important? Why?
    • Are these realistic? Why or Why not?
    • (If in a mixed group) How do you feel about the ideal partner the other teams came up with? Do you have any concerns? Would you add anything?

If the group is an on-going one, make sure the master drawings and/or a couple of the others stay hanging around to remind people what they’re striving for.

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These lesson plans were created by Adam F.C. Fletcher for SoundOut under contract from the Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction funded through a grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service. All contents ©2007 SoundOut. Permission to use is granted exclusively for nonprofit and in-school education purposes only. All Rights Reserved.

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Lesson Plan on Responsibility in Schools

FACILITATOR NOTES

Introduction: Inquiry-based lesson requiring between 8-40 students and adult participants; a mixed group is required.

Goal: When this session is complete, participants should be able to…

  • Further explore the roles of power, respect and trust in Student-Adult Partnerships
  • Prepare adults to let go of some power and students to take some responsibility

Time: 120 minutes

Materials: Flip chart paper and markers

Space: Space large enough for the whole group plus at least one break out room; more will be needed if the groups so large as to require several small groups.

Considerations: This discussion offers participants the opportunity to bring together the lessons of the preceding activities and conversations, and begin applying them. It allows time for students to talk as a group and adults to talk as a group. Be aware that some people may be a little uncomfortable with this, believing that if they are to work in partnership they need to do all their work together. But students and adults both need time to talk among themselves. Each has specific issues that are likely only to come out in the support of peers. They will close by reporting to each other what they discussed and creating agreements for how to work together.

The discussion questions included here are suggestions. You may want to change them depending on the dynamics of the group and issues that have come up over the preceding exercises. The important thing is for adults to talk honestly amongst about how they feel at the prospect of students taking power, and for students to talk honestly amongst themselves about how they feel at the prospect of taking some real responsibility.

PROCEDURES

  1. Explain to the group that it will be split into teams of students and adults for the next hour, but will reconvene to report on their discussions.
  2. Split group into students and adults and have them use separate rooms so that each will have the opportunity for completely open discussion.
  3. Select questions from each of the following two lists for discussion by the appropriate groups:

Students

  • How do you feel about working with adults?
  • What does it mean to you to take on some significant responsibilities for this project/program?
  • How will it affect your time for school, your relationships with your friends, your involvement in other things? What scares you? Excites you?
  • Overall, what are your top three worries about taking this kind of responsibility?
  • Usually, students expect that adults will know what to do, and they expact that adults will have an answer. How do you feel knowing that these adults aren’t going to have answers all the time and they’re not always going to know what needs to be done next?
  • What are your top three worries about working with adults?

Adults

  • How do you feel about working with students?
  • What does it mean to you to have students taking on some of the power and responsibility to this project/program?
  • How does it feel to let go of some of the control?
  • Adults in your culture are expected to have all the answers for students. How does it feel to be in a situation where you can’t have the answers?
  • Part of having respect for someone means letting them try out their ideas, even when you are sure it’s a mistake.

How do you feel knowing that at some point you will witness a student fail?

  • What are the top three worries you have about working with students as partners?
  1. Each group should close by discussing the following questions. They should use flip chart paper to create lists they can use to report back to the large group.
  • What will you need to do to make this work?
  • How can you help each other out?
  1. Have the groups come back together. Spokespeople from each group give a report on what they talked about, ending with their lists about what will make Student-Adult Partnerships work. Give each group a chance to ask questions of the other and respond to their report as needed.
  2. Close by creating a very short list (3-5 ideas) of things the group can do together (e.g., once a month do an hour of teambuilding activities) to make Student-Adult Partnerships work. You may also want to have each individual take a moment to write one thing for himself or herself personally that he or she will try to do in the future.
SoundOut Skill Building Lesson Plans
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These lesson plans were created by Adam F.C. Fletcher for SoundOut under contract from the Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction funded through a grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service. All contents ©2007 SoundOut. Permission to use is granted exclusively for nonprofit and in-school education purposes only. All Rights Reserved.

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Lesson Plan on Roadblocks to Student Voice

FACILITATOR NOTES

Introduction: Inquiry-based lesson plan for 4-16 students and adult participants

Goal: When this session is complete, participants should be able to…

  • Acknowledge issues and concerns
  • Anticipate and plan for problems before they occur

Time: 40 minutes

Materials: Flip chart paper and markers; index cards and pens/pencils

Space: Enough to accommodate whole group

Considerations: Even after discussing power and respect, laying ground rules, building teams, defining terms, and talking about structural barriers between students and adults, issues often remain. Concerns may be raised by people in the school who have not been a part of the process of fostering Student-Adult Partnerships. Participants themselves may have concerns. Therefore, it is critical to get the issues out on the table and address them. Without clear and open communication, the group runs the risk of having the issues surface later to sabotage their work.

PROCEDURES

  1. Distribute two or three index cards (scratch paper may also be used) to each person. Place the rest within reach.
  2. Ask the group to think of their worries and fears about the partnerships they are building, Tell them to imagine worst-case scenarios—or even just annoying-case scenarios. Examples include over-burdening staff, adults not following through on their promises slower board meetings. Adults taking over, students misrepresenting the agency in public, etc. Have people write each concern on an index card. Using anonymous index cards allows people to admit to worries that they might otherwise not express.
  3. Collect cards. Read them aloud and create a master list on the flip chart. If there are a lot of issues, create priorities by having people come up and place check marks by the three they are most concerned about.
  4. If the number of issues and /or the number of participants is small enough, with no more than 10 people, you can work in the large group. Otherwise, break the large group into smaller groups of 4-8 people.
  5. Each small group should come up with…
  • At least three ways to prevent this concern from occurring
  • At least three ways to deal with it if it happens
  1. Ask each small group to share their discussion with the large group.To close, ask if there is a concern that wasn’t addressed that someone feels is critical. If time allows, address it then. Otherwise, make sure it will be discussed at some point in the near future.
SoundOut Skill Building Lesson Plans
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These lesson plans were created by Adam F.C. Fletcher for SoundOut under contract from the Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction funded through a grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service. All contents ©2007 SoundOut. Permission to use is granted exclusively for nonprofit and in-school education purposes only. All Rights Reserved.

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Lesson Plan on Staying Solutions Focused

FACILITATOR NOTES

Introduction: Inquiry-based lesson plan for 4-40 students and/or adults

Goal: When this session is complete, participants should be able to…

  • Anticipate potential problems and develop preventative solutions
  • Examine specific barriers to partnerships

Time: 20-60 minutes, depending on the number of people and desired amount of detail.

Materials: Flip chart paper and markers.

Space: Enough for the group to work together or in teams.

Considerations: Often people are aware of he barriers that prevent students and adults from working together. They may even be able to list them out in detail. However, knowing the problematic issues is not enough, It’s important to solve them ahead of time when possible. In this activity, participants select a specific upcoming event—it’s got to be a real one! — and devise solutions for how to get around the major barriers.

PROCEDURES

  1. Instruct the group to select a specific upcoming event that they are working on. It may be a meeting, a workshop, a conference, a focus group, a banquet—whatever, as long as it involves students and adults working together. Have someone in the group give brief description of the event, its purpose and the key players.
  2. From a list of the top barriers that get in the way of students and adults working together, have the group select here to six that are major concerns for their event.NOTE: If you haven’t conducted the Lesson Plan Introducing Student-Adult Partnerships with this group, and thus developed a list of barriers, select from the following:
  • Lack of trust
  • Lack of respect
  • Lack of resources
  • Poor communication
  • Not listening
  • Unclear expectations
  • Unclear motives and agendas
  • Stereotyping
  • Fear Power issues
  • Tokenism
  • Bad attitudes/stereotype of activities
  1. In teams or as a large group, go through each of the barriers one by one (if conducting the exercise in teams, you may want to assign a different barrier to each team). For each barrier, develop two or three strategies for dealing with that barrier when it comes up, the strategies should be both concrete and realistic. That is, the group should be able to implement any one of them.To close this activity, ask participant if their thoughts have changed. Did they learn anything about planning activities for which students and adults will be working together? How might they plan another action to take to improve schools in the future?
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These lesson plans were created by Adam F.C. Fletcher for SoundOut under contract from the Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction funded through a grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service. All contents ©2007 SoundOut. Permission to use is granted exclusively for nonprofit and in-school education purposes only. All Rights Reserved.

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Lesson Plan on Problem Solving

FACILITATOR NOTES

Introduction: Lesson plan for 8-40 students and/or adult participants working in teams. The activity is designed as an experiential way of pulling together lessons from previous communication and teamwork.

Goal: When this session is complete, participants should be able to…

  • Practice solving a problem as a team
  • Highlight issues of leadership, support, communication and power by creating a stressful situation
  • Practice patience in the face of frustration

Time: 120 minutes

Materials: One 6” x 6” “lava rock” for each 2 of your group members. Rocks, logs, carpet squares, or paper can be used – whichever is most convenient. If your group has 9 people, you should have 4 items.

Space: An open, grassy field about 20 yards long is optimal; large indoor space is workable.

Considerations: A deceptively simple exercise, this lesson plan quickly develops rich lessons for how groups work together – especially when they are frustrated. Frustration is a key component of this lesson so it is absolutely critical that the group be allowed to work through mistakes, false starts, and slip-ups. Be warned that watching a group struggle in this manner can be just as frustrating for the facilitator. Be patient, it really does take at least an hour to complete. Pay close attention to the actions and interactions of group members.

PROCEDURES

  1. Tell participants story that the group is being chased and they need to get across a field of hot lava.
  2. Give the group their “lava rocks,” explaining that when they step on these magic rocks they will not sink into the lava. Their challenge is to figure out how to get the entire group from point A to point B (both marked by scotch tape on the floor or lines in the dirt), from one side of the Hot Lava Pit to the other.Explain that only one person can be on a plate at a time, and the plates may be picked up and moved. Participants should know that the key to the game is that only part of the team will be able to cross the field at once.A time limit can also be placed on this game.

    If people are talking, take one of the lava rocks away. You can return it when they show more cooperation.

  3. Ask if the group has any questions about the rules – however, do not answer any questions about how they should do it, and do not let them discuss it.The most common solution to the activity is to bunch up closely on the lava rocks with two or more people standing on each one. The team will then hand the iceberg at the back up to the front, slowly creep forward and then repeat until they reach the far shore.If participants are totally stuck, tell them that they have five minutes to get everyone on the lava rocks. This often helps them get the idea that they have to put rocks close together.

    If desperate, you can give them the chance to return to the starting pint, talk for a few minutes and then begin again in silence. These techniques can also help control the time it takes to complete the activity, thus ending with sufficient time to debrief. Dealing with frustration is crucial.

  4. When the group has completed the task, give them a moment to celebrate their success. Then sit down to talk about it. The debriefing of this lesson plan is absolutely critical. The following lists offer numerous possible questions.The key to debriefing this exercise is to keep good running notes on specific actions of both individuals and the group during the lesson and then call their attention to those actions during the discussion. Pay attention to the roles taken by the students and by the adults. Who makes the first move? Who is out in front? How do they work together? What kinds of tensions do you see?Listen to group member comments and help them relate the lessons to other situations they might be in, or might have already encountered, especially for groups that will be working together in the future.

Questions to open the debriefing:

  • How did it feel when I gave the rules?
  • How did it feel when I first got started?
  • How did you feel when you ran out of rocks/logs?
  • How did it feel to get off on the other side of the river?
  • How did it feel to slip off the iceberg and begin again?
  • How did people at the front feel? The back? The middle?
  • What was hard? What was easy? Why?Questions about Power:
  • How did the group decide what to do?
  • Did the team have a plan? Did everyone understand that?
  • What kinds of leadership did you see?
  • Were there differences in the roles students took and the roles adults took? How so?
  • In what ways did students and adults work well together? In what ways didn’t they? How could you tell? What would you change? Why?Questions about Communication and Respect:
  • What was it like not to be able to talk?
  • What other forms of communication did you use?
  • What did you learn about communication?Questions about Support and Trust:
  • How did you know you were being supported by others?
  • What kinds of things did people do that were supportive?
  • What was it like to have to hang on to each other?Questions about Apply what You’ve Learned:
  • What was useful about doing this exercise?
  • How is this group like other groups you have been a part of?
  • What does this tell you about what it takes for students and adults to work together?
  • What have you learned about how you work in a group?
SoundOut Skill Building Lesson Plans
SoundOut Facilitates Workshops... Contact us to learn more!

These lesson plans were created by Adam F.C. Fletcher for SoundOut under contract from the Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction funded through a grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service. All contents ©2007 SoundOut. Permission to use is granted exclusively for nonprofit and in-school education purposes only. All Rights Reserved.

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Lesson Plan on Action Planning

FACILITATOR NOTES

Introduction: Lesson Plan for 8-40 students and/or adults

Goal: When this session is complete, participants should be able to…

  • Simulate the challenges of planning a project
  • Have a group examine how they function under pressure

Time: 40 minutes

Materials: Long rope

Space: Outdoors, with some variation in terrain

Considerations: This lesson plan has the potential to cause great strife within a group as it involves functioning—or, more accurately, dysfunctional, under both pressure and physical strain. You will want to debrief the lesson carefully if strife is evident. Also be prepared for possible anger directed at you as a facilitator. With all that said, this lesson plan can be an excellent metaphor for how a project comes together and the difficulties encountered.

PROCEDURES

  1. Explain to the group that this lesson involves screeching together in tight quarters. Anyone who feels uncomfortable participating (due to claustrophobia, twisted ankle, whatever) can coach from the sidelines.
  2. Ask the group to stand in a circle. Tell participants to take a big step forward, then another, then another. Keep doing this until there is no circle. Instead, you should have one big mass of loosely packed people.
  3. Take the rope and wrap it around the group. Make sure ahead of time that the rope is cleared of tangles and will wrap without you having to clear it.
  4. Pace out for them (briskly walk through, explaining as you go) a short but mildly challenging course that should involve at least having to navigate a couple steps or a one-to-two foot wall, going around a tree or bush and maybe under a pole, all depending on the terrain you have to work with.
  5. Explain that their task is two-part: To travel through the course while finding out something new about a person they are standing near. Any questions? Ready? Go!
  6. Pay attention to what they do and how they do it. What kinds of roles do people take on? What sort of conflict arises? What attitudes and emotions are surfacing?
  7. When the group is finished, let them celebrate their success (or anger, or frustration), then debrief?
    • How did it go? What happened? What was it like? [ask for reactions from people in the front, middle, back]?
    • How did people feel? [Again, ask for reactions from the front, middle, and back.]
    • What worked? What didn’t work?NOTE: Call any specific behaviors to attention and ask what was going on.
  • Did you have a plan? Was everyone included in the plan?
  • How many people were able to find out something new about someone near them?
  1. At this point you should have received enough input form the group to make a couple points. Generally, the people in the front of the group just take off and then get frustrated because the people behind the aren’t moving fast enough. The people tin the middle will notice the people in the front are going and decide that they had better start moving, too (although they aren’t really sure what’s going on). Meanwhile, the people in the back have the rope digging into them and are calling for people to slow down (calls which usually go unheeded). Ask if anyone has had the experience of being in a group where they were in the “back or in the “middle.” What’s it like? Also. If not many people were able to find out something new about someone near the, ask why. Often a group will lose track of part of what it se out to do when things start getting crazy.The dynamics of this lesson can be rich. Make sure you have enough time to debrief and use whatever happens in the group to shape the questions you ask.
  • What would you do differently if you were to do this again?Usually people will say, “plan!” Make the point that in a group that’s often the first thing to be avoided. Ask them to think about how they will make sure that people in the “front” hear what people in the ‘back” are saying. Remind them that participation of the whole group is needed. Keeping this lesson in mind, how can they ensure their whole group is involved as they work together?
SoundOut Skill Building Lesson Plans
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These lesson plans were created by Adam F.C. Fletcher for SoundOut under contract from the Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction funded through a grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service. All contents ©2007 SoundOut. Permission to use is granted exclusively for nonprofit and in-school education purposes only. All Rights Reserved.

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Lesson Plan on Sharing Appreciations

FACILITATOR NOTES

Introduction: Skill-based lesson plan for anyone with any number of participants of any age.

Goal: When this session is complete, participants should be able to…

  • Understand that their group forms a “community” of its own
  • Acknowledge the strengths of the group as a whole and among individuals

Time: 5-15 minutes

Materials: None

Space: Enough for group to break into pairs separately from others.

Considerations: This short and simple lesson plan has a variety of uses and adaptations which all serve to focus group awareness on the talents and contributions of members. At the same time, sharing appreciations builds one’s confidence in oneself and in the group.

PROCEDURES

  1. Explain to the group that,
    “The goal of this lesson is to share something you appreciate about someone in the group. The variations and ways by which you structure this positive feedback are endless. While the options are endless, there are a couple ground rules:
    • Nothing negative may be said
    • The person receiving appreciation cannot respond, but must simply accept the good things being said about him or her.
    • Everyone at some point must have a chance to be appreciated.”

Variations:

  • Ask everyone say something they appreciate about the person to their left.
  • Pick a different person at the end of each meeting who will hear appreciations from the rest of the group for seven minutes.
  • Write each person’s name on a separate piece of paper and put it up on the wall during a retreat. People write appreciations on the papers.

For every person in the group, go around the circle and have everyone else say one word that expresses a positive thing about that person.

SoundOut Skill Building Lesson Plans
SoundOut Facilitates Workshops... Contact us to learn more!

These lesson plans were created by Adam F.C. Fletcher for SoundOut under contract from the Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction funded through a grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service. All contents ©2007 SoundOut. Permission to use is granted exclusively for nonprofit and in-school education purposes only. All Rights Reserved.

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Lesson Plan on Evaluating Student/Adult Partnerships

A SoundOut facilitator teachers students about media literacy and STEM skills.
A SoundOut facilitator teachers students about media literacy and STEM skills.

 

FACILITATOR NOTES

Introduction: This lesson plan is an evaluation of Student-Adult Partnerships that should be conducted with students and adults. It can be used in any capacity by any group that wants an honest, thorough examination of currently existing Student-Adult Partnerships within its class or school.

Goal: When this evaluation is complete, students and adults should be able to…

  • Acknowledge the wide-ranging factors affecting student engagement through Student-Adult Partnerships
  • Recommend specific changes to Student-Adult Partnerships activities

Time: Depends on scope, ability, and interest of group

Materials: Copies of evaluation for each group member as applicable

Space: N/A

Considerations: There are many variations on how to conduct the following evaluation. It can be facilitated as a whole class activity with pairs or a small group, or done as an individual examination. The focus of the evaluation should be a finite center of Student-Adult Partnerships, such as a specific program within an agency, or the agency as a whole; a specific classroom, or the school as a whole. This evaluation was designed to explore every major factor within Student-Adult Partnerships, and should be acknowledged as a wide-ranging tool for class or school growth.

 

PROCEDURES

 

  1. Determine, before the lesson, who, how, and what this assessment will be used for. Consider whether this is simply an exercise, or an actual assessment. Before you go straight through all the questions, review each section and determine whether the appropriate people are present to answer all the questions.
  1. Distribute the Student Engagement Conditions Assessment handout to participants and begin the evaluation.
  1. When finished, review answers and determine next steps. You might close by reviewing other places in society where Student-Adult Partnerships might be engaged, such as classes, clubs, curriculum committees, hiring boards, research teams, district offices, or state education agencies. Charge participants to continue their analysis, and thank them for attending.

 

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Additional Lesson Plans

 

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