Speaker Series I
Class Discussion
The speeches were incredibly powerful. I can't even explain to you the mood in the room. I don't think the students really knew what to expect, but there was not a single phone out - not a single kid talking to their friends. They were all captivated by their teachers. These teachers opened up their hearts and poured their souls out to hundreds of teenagers. I know how nervous they all were, and how hard they had worked on their speeches. They were touching, poignent, and most importantly they were honest.
Since the topics that were discussed were sometimes heavy, we wanted to let kids have the time to digest, reflect, and discuss in their classes. We made sure this lesson was to happen with the same class they were in the assembly with.
Essentially we wanted students to have a moment to reflect first. As soon as students got back in their classrooms, teachers passed out a blank sheet of paper with a prompt on the top. Students were asked to respond, in writing, to the following prompt:
What resonated with you while listening to these presentations and what from these presentations can you relate to your own life?
Students then had time to write. As much time as they needed. And we let them know that WE WOULD NOT READ THEM. Teachers did, however, collect them and keep in a file for students to refer to later.
When everyone was done writing... some wrote a few sentences and some filled up the front and back of the page....
Teachers and WYM committee members helped lead class discussions. Some of the discussions lasted for a few minutes, and some took all hour. It was up to the teacher's discretion.