Welcome to Where Do You Stand!
In a nutshell. Give a prompt. Students move to stand for what they believe. Ask students in each area why they are standing in that particular area
The purpose of this activity is to stimulate connections between students and a story’s themes and ideas.
The setup. There are four areas in a classroom that need to be agreed upon before the exercise begins. These areas can be a corner of the room, a table, a wall, etc. One area is called I Agree. Another area is called I Disagree, a third area is called I Don't Know, the fourth area is called I'd Rather Not Say.
Tell students that they will be asked to speak about why they choose to stand in any particular area. The only exception to this is for any student that stands in the I’d Rather Not Say area. You may have a student or students who feel that the easiest response to all the prompts is just to stay in the I'd Rather Not Say area. Please do not challenge them on this choice. This exercise works best when you acknowledge and honor their choice to not share. It reinforces to the other students who are participating fully in the exercise, that you are still honoring that space and not challenging it for any reason.
Left: Nate Burger, Triney Sandoval, Colleen Madden & Jamal James, Hamlet, 2022. Photo by Liz Lauren.
The Flow.
Speak a prompt from the list.
Following each prompt, encourage each student to move to the area that most closely signifies their response to the prompt.
Give students a moment to move to an area. Some prompts may require more ‘thinking’ time than others.
Within each group, choose a student or ask for volunteers, to express why they standing in that area. Within each area, you can ask one student or several for a response.
Right: Derrick Moore & Charence Higgins, A Raisin in the Sun, 2022. Photo by Liz Lauren.
Some thoughts.
Each student's response should be their own. They should speak for themselves and not for a group. For instance, everybody in my town; everyone in my family; every one of my gender, my age, my race, etc. Their response is their own.
Remember, as the authority in the classroom it is very easy for your comments to be taken as either a challenge or validation of a student’s feelings. Stay as neutral as possible. Questions can be asked of students as long as it feels like they are being asked for clarity or expansion.
Often, students will be formulating their very first spoken opinions on these subjects. It is important as the facilitator to constantly remind students that this is not a challenge or a test. There will be no retorts or refuting the validity, logic, or reasoning on why a student holds any particular opinion. These prompts are solely about sparking each student's personal stance on a prompt.
It is important that each student feels that they can express their opinion without ramifications from any authority. Ideas must still be expressed respectfully, but the more diverse opinions in a classroom the richer the conversation that will ensue.
As an educator, this is a very rich time for you to get to know your students and how that student wrestles with a story’s ideas. For example, ideas of family, duty, lying, trust in authority, love, dating, etc., will garner very different responses from students based on their own lives and experiences.
Right: Jamal James, Marcus Truschinski, Ronald Román-Meléndez & Nate Burger, Love's Labour's Lost, 2022. Photo by Liz Lauren.
Lastly, some of the prompts are intentionally vague or simplistic. This is intentional. When students ask for more specifics or better context, you are free to generate context or let the statement stand as-is, as you find necessary. The fact that students struggle with the context is an indicator of how they are wrestling with the idea. Giving them more open-ended prompts can lead to new and innovative viewpoints.
Enjoy!
Credits:
Liz Lauren