How to Lead a Circle-Up!
(youth-led conversation circle)
What does a Circle-Up look like and what does it do? Check out this video to get a 1-minute glimpse.
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Define the Space: (3 Circle-Up Rules)
[First, get everyone into a circle, facing one another]
[Next, you can welcome people saying something like this]
Hi folks. My name is ____ and I'm going to be facilitating an eco-justice-oriented discussion circle called a "Circle-Up".
"To facilitate" basically means "to make easier," so my role as a facilitator is basically to make this discussion between us easier.
There are 3 simple rules to a Circle-Up discussion that I ask you to follow along with me:
- First: only one person speaks at a time (which means: no interrupting, interjections, or cross-talk, even if what you have to add to what someone is saying is really fantastic. Please wait until it's your turn to speak.)
- Second: Everyone has a chance to speak before you speak again. To make this easier, I'm going to ask that we move the conversation clockwise around the circle, starting with me. When it's your turn to speak, you can feel free to pass, or to ask for more time to think about the question. Your turn to speak is just an opportunity, not an obligation, to speak.
- Lastly: In a Circle-Up you can speak freely, but also remember to keep it respectful; respectful of other people's time, and respectful of our diversity.
- As the facilitator: If in the rare case someone isn't following the rules, goes wildly off-topic, begins to dominate the air time, or loses their civility, I'll step-in and play referee to get us back on track.
- So to sum it all up:
one at a time;
cycle through everyone before it's your turn again;
and be respectful of each other.
Let's do this!
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1st Question: (Introductions/ Ice Breakers)
Tell us your name, preferred pronouns, and your favorite (choose one)
Color
number
ice cream flavor
food
place to eat
songs
style of music
place to hang out in SLC
place to hang out in nature (waterfalls, forest, lakes, red rock)
If you would like to tell us why that is your favorite, especially if there is a story or
memory behind it, that would be great. But you don’t have to; it is up to you.
I’ll start. (Pass the talking piece to the person next to you after you are done.)
or
Tell us something about yourself that others might not guess just by looking at you.
I’ll start. (Pass the talking piece to the person next to you after you are done.
or
If a superpower genie came out of a bottle and: "I will give you one superpower, and
only one, to make right something that's currently wrong with the world." What
superpower would you wish for, what would you make right, and why? I’ll start. (Pass
the talking piece to the person next to you after you are done.
or
If you were a guitar string, would the tension in your string be too tight, too loose, just
right? I’ll start. (Pass the talking piece to the person next to you after you are done.
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2nd Question: (Bonding Over Shared Experiences & Struggles)
Teen life in general: According to experts, teenage life today is really hard, maybe
harder now than it has ever been. Do you agree? Does that sound right to you?
On a scale from 1 to 10, let’s see how much you agree. 1 means that you totally
disagree, that the experts are wrong and only seeing what they are trained to see—life
for teens could not be better! 10 means that it is way worse than the experts are
reporting. Despite their effort and training, they are not reporting just how bad it really is.
5 means that, yes, teenage life is filled with pain and hardships but also with many new
opportunities as well, so it is a mix of good and bad.
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or
Community building at school: Do we give ourselves enough opportunity and
encouragement to get outside of our comfort zones to get to know classmates who are
different? How important do you think it is to increase these encounters and
exchanges? How important do you think it is for us and for the school to plan events for
all of us to ask better questions and listen to each other?
or
Gratitude for others: Bring to heart and mind someone who has been helpful to you,
lent you a hand when you needed it. It could be someone who directly went out of their
way to help, maybe taught you a lifelong lesson through that act of kindness.
It could be someone who you’ve never met in person but because of what they did with
their life you feel you are standing on their shoulders. It could be a writer who helped
you sort out a question, that gave you key insight.
How did that feel do have someone do you such a good turn? Were you surprised?
or
When you think of your favorite spot in nature, what positive and negative feelings do
you sense? What do you feel when you are in that special place? Awe? Joy?
Celebration? Elation? Confusion? Sadness?
or
Do you see yourself as an optimist or pessimist when it comes to the future of the
planet? As you see it, is the health of the planet getting better or worse? Are our best
days behind us or ahead of us?
or
If you could design your ideal school curriculum, what kind of classes would you want?
Where would the classes take place? Who would be there? Who would teach?
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3rd Question: (Application of Peer Facilitation Skills)
Which Question 2 should be posed at the school assembly on April 14?
Ecotopia Now! will be participating in the school assembly on April 14. Our plan is to
pose a bonding question, one of those suggested under Question 2. After the question
is posed, we will give students a minute to think about that question and their answer.
We will then encourage them to share their answer in a small listening group with five
classmates immediately following the assembly, during the lunch period, where free
pizza will be provided. We’ll let them know that Youth Court members, and perhaps
other students, are ready to serve as peer facilitators and to lead those Circle-Ups.
Help us! Is there a Question 2, Bonding, that you would prefer that we ask during the
assembly? Or would you like to suggest a question?
If you would like more time to think about it, that is fine since we have several weeks
until the Assembly. Please let us know which question under Question 2 is your
preference and/or whether you would like us to ask a different one.
Click this link:
https://forms.gle/GvYW7N1T8sfauqtm9
or scan this code:
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to go to our Google Survey and leave your preferred question there.
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YOUR Question 3 During Your Circle-Up, Following the Assembly:
As a peer facilitator on April 14, you will choose which Question 1 (Introduction) to ask
your Circle-Up and which Question 2 (Bonding).
You will need to pose a Question 3 (Application). Here are alternatives to Question
3 or feel free to craft one of your own:
Our Circle-Ups today should not stop after we are done today. We need more
opportunities to speak freely and listen to each other, don’t you think?
How often would you say you engage in conversations like the one we're having right
now, in your life?
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How important do you think it is to share the experience we are having today with more
of our classmates?
Are you a member of any school clubs, including Drama, Hope Club, the Eco Club,
Black Students Alliance, Latinos United, Gay Straight Alliance, etc.?
If so, could you tell us whether one or more of those clubs would be interested in doing
what we are doing here, a peer-facilitated Circle-Up?
or
Our Circle-Ups today should not stop after we are done today. We need more
opportunities to speak freely and listen to each other, don’t you think?
How often would you say you engage in conversations like the one we're having right
now, in your life?
If you knew that [Ecotopia Now! and] we, members of Youth Court would help you,
would you be willing to approach one other school group that might be open to learning
peer facilitation, such as the Hope Club, the Eco Club, Black Students Alliance, Latinos
United, Gay Straight Alliance?
If you knew that [Ecotopia Now! and] we, members of Youth Court would help you,
would you be willing to arrange for us to go together to one their meetings, show the
Circle-Up video clip on peer facilitation, and demonstrate peer facilitation?
or
Our Circle-Ups today should not stop after we are done today. We need more
opportunities to speak freely and listen to each other, don’t you think?
How often would you say you engage in conversations like the one we're having right
now, in your life?
Would you be willing to ask student groups to co-sponsor a petition with Youth Court
asking the administration for a designated courtyard on campus for Circle Ups?
If the administration approved the petition and set aside a certain area and certain
days/times for you to meet and do Circle Ups, would you be willing to be a peer
facilitator at those sessions?
Would you be willing to invite student clubs to attend, provide them with the 3 questions
ahead of time, and listen to their personal stories and perspectives?
If you are interested in helping us spread the word on Circle-Ups, use this QR code to
leave your contact information.
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or
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Our Circle-Ups today should not stop after we are done today. We need more
opportunities to speak freely and listen to each other, don’t you think?
How often would you say you engage in conversations like the one we're having right
now, in your life?
There is a Google Classroom where we are making plans to do more Circle-Ups at East
High. Use this QR code to leave your contact information. [The link and QR code will
be provided before the assembly.]
