OASC FIRST
RESOURCES FROM THE NAWD SPRING ADVISOR CLINIC IN LAS VEGAS
BET ON IT.
In between, Sandy brought in two former students and a former colleague. The first student, Alex Bybee, is the Nevada State Director of Teach Plus, a non- profit in 12 states that helps educators take leadership over key policy issues that affect their students' success (and the 2012 Nevada Association of Student Councils State President). The second student, John Beede, has climbed the tallest mountain on every continent and had lessons for us from those challenges. And lastly Dr. Greta Peay, the Chief Executive Officer of Infinity: Diversity Matters, LLC, talked about including those with diverse gender identities or expressions.
The following BIG QUESTIONS were posed to us at the end of round tables and I think they are great questions to process with your council. Some of the handouts have great things councils from across the United States are doing to answer them.
MEMBERSHIP:
How do you recruit members?
How do you retain membership?
What is the image of your group on campus?
how do you discipline or remove members?
How often do you review you constitution/bylaws?
Graduation recognition?
Officer induction?
ADVISOR HITS & MISSES:
How does your group make decisions?
How do you get your students to follow through?
What if none of their ideas/plans are realistic?
Best advice you ever received?
What was your worst disaster?
SOCIAL MEDIA:
What apps do you use to contact your students?
What apps do you use to promote your organization?
Is it run by you or a student? Who monitors?
What are your guidelines?
Concerns and consequences for students' social media?
ICEBREAKERS AND GAMES
Alphabet Soup Circle (From Phil Boyte)
Description:
· Have the delegates form a good circle - go around circle & share where you are from. Learn who is by you. This is your SOUP CIRCLE
Have them get in alphabetical order by first name (still in a circle). This is your ALPHABET CIRCLE
· Explain to the delegates that when the activity begins they will make eye contact with someone and then complete a task.
o Level 1 – Make eye contact with someone – switch places with them in the circle.
o Level 2 – Make eye contact with someone – give them a high 5 as you switch places with them.
o Level 3 – Make eye contact with someone – give them a high 5 & say your name as you switch places with them.
o Level 4 – Make eye contact with someone – give them a high 5 & say his/her name as you switch places. **If a delegate cannot remember the name of the person he/she is high 5ing, the delegate should say, “How’s it going?” and the other delegate will respond with his/her name.**
Supplies: NONE
Step In (Round 1)
Description:
· Have the delegates remain in the good circle following Alphabet Soup Circle.
· Explain to the delegates that it is time to learn a little about each other, so the JCs will call out a statement, if the statement applies to a delegate, the delegate will step in to the circle. The delegates will move back to the circle after each statement.
· Statements: “Step in if…”
o You are in 11th grade.
o You have a job.
o You are an only child.
o You have pets.
o You have an Instagram account.
o Math is your favorite subject in school.
o You love country music.
o You are the oldest child in your family.
o You prefer the book over the movie.
o You are a super hero fan.
o You were born in (this town/State)
Supplies: NONE
Draw on your Head
Materials: Blank paper plate
Instructions:
To play Draw on your Head, each participant needs a strong paper plate and a pen. Have the participants put the paper plate on their heads and follow the drawing instructions given by the leader (without looking at the plate or taking it off their heads).
Instructions
1. Draw a horizontal line to be your grass.
2. On top of the line, draw a square.
3. Turn your square into a house by drawing a triangle roof on top of the square.
4. Draw two square windows and a door inside the square.
5. Draw a sun in the upper-left corner next to the house.
6. Draw a tree to the right of the house on top of the grass.
7. Draw three stick figures standing in the grass below the house.
Then, have students take the plates off of their heads and look at their drawings. You should allow a few minutes to laugh and share drawings with the students around them.
Scoring:
1. 2 points if your house touches the grass.
2. 2 points if your roof touches the house.
3. 1 point for each window that is completely drawn inside the house (no lines overlapping).
4. 2 points for a door that touches the bottom of the house.
5. 1 point if your sun doesn’t touch your house.
6. 1 point if your tree touches the grass.
7. 1 point if all three of your stick figures are below the house.
One thing that makes this game fun is that students can compare their drawings with others and share a communal experience because they all had to draw the same picture. Discuss expectations- how we see the big picture one way but need to communicate the expectations to team members.
Ping Pong Alphabet
Time Allocation: 10 minutes
Materials: Ping pong balls, students folders/notebooks
Instructions:
1. Participants get into group of no more than 10.
2. All participants have a folder and a ping pong ball per group.
3. The first person starts with their folder and the ping pong ball and says the letter “A” when they hit the ball to another person. They cannot hit it to the person to their immediate left or right. The next person hits the ping pong ball and says the letter “B” and so on.
4. If the ball is dropped, the group must start over with the letter “A”. The activity is finished when they complete the alphabet.
Piece of the Puzzle
Each person gets at least 1 piece of the puzzle and they must get the puzzle together ASAP
(time them)
They are allowed to talk
(the puzzle pieces are all the same color on 1 side and another color on the other except for 2-3 pieces that are painted in reverse so for the puzzle to work there will be 2-3 pieces that are the wrong color.
Some problems require thinking outside the box (or outside the color in this case)
we did not get to these:
Integrity Ball
Description:
· Have the delegates form a good circle.
· Lead a discussion on the word “integrity.”
o Integrity = people with integrity tell the truth and act in a sincere way. They treat people equally and take responsibility for their feelings and actions. Integrity is more than just being honest; it’s acting ethically, consistently, and in a trustworthy manner. Sometimes, integrity is explained as “doing the right thing, even when no one is looking.”
· Explain to the delegates that you are going to SILENTLY toss the ball randomly around the circle with the following three rules:
o No one can make any noise or sound.
o No one may make a bad catch.
o No one may make a bad throw.
· At this point, the delegates may ask for further interpretation of the rules – simply say, “It is up to you to interpret the rules.” Do not offer any clarification of the rules. You may restate the rules as many times as requested.
· Next, instruct the delegates that once the activity begins, if they feel they have broken any of the rules, to simply take a step backward out of the circle.
· Ask for a volunteer to begin the activity. The volunteer will then throw the ball (crumpled paper, hacky sack, ball, small stuffed animal, etc.), to another delegate in the circle.
· Have the activity continue for several minutes, or until more delegates are OUTSIDE of the circle than in the circle.
Debriefing Questions:
· Without using names or pointing, did you notice anyone not following the rules? How were the rules being broken?
· Was there a time when you weren’t sure if you should move out of the circle? What happened? What did you decide to do?
· If no one steps outside the circle, as the delegates what might have influenced someone’s decision to step outside the circle?
· How can you apply what you have learned from this activity in your own life or within Student Council/NHS/Chess,?
· Looking back on the activity, what two things stand out to you the most and why?
Supplies: “ball” item (crumpled paper, hacky sack, ball, small stuffed animal, etc.)
About Now
Description:
Delegates will form a good circle – standing.
explain that the individuals will be asked to sit down after 1 minute has passed – each delegate estimating for himself/herself how long has passed.
The group will not, however, be able to use any time keeping devices nor speak out loud to each other.
To prohibit the use of the clock inside of the classroom, the delegates will be asked to keep their eyes on the floor. Or the JCs may cover the classroom clock.
Delegates will be asked to remove their watches, if wearing, and put their cell phones away.
Once the delegates understand the concept and all questions have been answered, one of the JC’s will set a timer for 1 minute and say “BEGIN”.
Each student will begin sitting down when they believe the 1 minute is up (it will look somewhat like popcorn popping).
· Let the timer run until the 1 minute mark and then notify the group when the time has passed. Note how many people are standing and sitting.
· inform the delegates that they will be given one more try with the same rules to get the entire group to sit down at the correct time and reach a consensus. The delegates receive 2 minutes to reflect upon the 1st round and problem solve for their second attempt, but after this time is up, they must be silent again.
· After the 2 minutes is over, the C set the timer again and the group will attempt to complete the task.
· After the 1 minute is up, note the number of people sitting and standing.
OKLAHOMA ASSOCIATION OF STUDENT COUNCILS
Email: oascok@gmail.com
Website: oascok.org
Location: 4220 Lorings Circle, Norman, OK, USA
Phone: (405) 919-9091
Twitter: @OASCOK