Interpersonal

Respecting different points of view 

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Change your point of view. One student argues a point of view with another student but on a specific signal, a bell or buzzer, they have to completely change their point of view and argue for the other side. Examples: Students should not be allowed to use phones in class. Exams should be abolished. The Second World War brought prosperity to the U.S. The feminist wave has been won. Space travel should be privatized. 

Equality with time and views 

One minute speech. Time a “share” for one minute, change speaker 

Throw the ball. Everyone has a ball except one person in the group. That person is given the floor to talk about…… Once someone throws a ball to them, they have to stop talking and the person who has thrown the ball continues the conversation. 

Egg timer. Pass an egg timer round in a circle. Each person talks about the main idea of a reading or one criticism of a paper, or an idea for re-using plastic, for the length of time the sand takes to fall through. Pass it on to the next person. 

Identifying and respecting diversity of skills and experiences 

Different perspectives. Put 4 pictures around a box and give each group of 4 students a box where each student can only see one picture. Each picture shows a possible point of view on a topic. Each student describes their picture. The other group members write down the description on this chart. Students discuss the commonality in the photos, then have to guess the connecting theme. See here for 5 examples. While debriefing bring forward the idea that different people think of different things when discussing immigration or insects, depending on their past experiences. We have to take this into consideration when working as a group, not as a draw-back but as an asset. 

Skills tests. There are many of these tests that are pre-written, but you can build a more personalized on in Canvas. Students take the test, discuss the results, and see how this enriches the way we work with each other. 

Role play. Do intercultural role play, for example, this one about gender roles or cultural norms (hint read the title backward) 

Recognizing and rewarding group work 

Build a check sheet. At beginning of course talk about what is ideal group behavior/product. Write it out so have a table each time they meet. After each meeting check off what they did well 

Practicing Leadership through

This website (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. has podcasts about leadership, trust and strengths. 

Conflict resolution 

Case studies. Give students scenarios of what might happen and get them to build strategies of how to work with students that are not ideal team members 

Role play. Watch excerpts from The Office, or Big Bang Theory where conflict is happening. Discuss good strategies to deal with this. 

Promoting trust 

Defining trust – what could break trust – Add Paul Woodruff’s rubric 

List qualities of trust. Ask students to list the qualities of trust. Share this article. (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. What could break trust? 

 Sharing authority and responsibility 

Keep a record. List the roles people took at each meeting with thoughts about how well it went. 

Switching roles. Look at the roles (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. that are possible in team work. Discuss whether students need roles, choose their own or rotate? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each?