STARS — Students Taking a Right Stand
STARS exists to serve schools and communities by providing prevention, intervention and treatment services addressing bullying, substance abuse, violence, and social and emotional barriers to success.

Suggested Go-Rounds for Classroom Meetings

Going around the group, ask participants to say something about:

  • One word which describes your job
  • One thing you’d like to change about the world
  • Something pleasant that happened to you in the last week
  • A color that describes how you feel right now
  • A characteristic that you look for in a friend
  • Your favorite food
  • A value you’d like to teach the world
  • A famous person–living or dead–with whom you’d like to spend a day
  • A book or movie you’d like to recommend
  • One thing you’d like the group to know about you
  • Something people would not ordinarily know about you just by looking
  • An animal with which you identify
  • If you had a million dollars, you would…
  • If you could do it over again, you would…
  • If you could be an historical figure, who would it be?  Why?
  • An animal, flower, or color you would use to describe yourself
  • One word that comes to your mind when you think of change
  • One thing you’d like to see happen in this workshop today
  • Attributes of a good friend (kind of the same as “A characteristic that you look for in a friend”)
  • In a conflict, I usually…
  • Something not everyone usually knows about you
  • Something you’re good at (or that you’ve been doing lately) that ends in “-ing.” (examples: swimming, talking, etc…)
  • Something that has changed your life in the last few months or year
  • Something that makes you feel happy
  • A strength you possess
  • A time when you thought you were being taken advantage of and you stood up for yourself
  • One of your most treasured possessions
  • Something new- a “first” that you have experienced in the past year
  • A strong feeling you have had in the past week, and some reasons for that feeling
  • Something I like about my cultural/ethnic background is…
  • A time I got something I wanted was when…
  • I feel good about myself when…
  • Something about me that usually doesn’t come up in conversation is…
  • A hiding place you had as a child
  • Something you have that you would fight for–even risk your life for–if someone tried to take it away (this can be a material thing or something intangible like someone’s reputation)
  • If you saw a fight starting in the street between two people you didn’t know at all, what would you do?
  • Say your whole name and positive adjectives that begin with the first letter of each word in your name (for example; George Frost, gorgeous, friendly) and that describe something about you
  • Something positive you would like another person to say about you
  • A time you helped out a friend or relative who needed some assistance

“If conflict were a color…”

Lay out an array of colored paper on the table or floor.  (Origami paper is especially good to use; you can get it at museums or art supply stores.)  Ask participants to choose a color of paper that represents “conflict” to them.  Say, “If conflict were a color, it would be…” and have them get up and pick out a piece of paper. Be sure to have lots of red, as that’s the color many people choose.

This same technique can be used with words other than conflict, such as “happiness.”  That is, “If happiness were a color, it would be…”  Ask participants to explain why they chose that color.

New and Good

Ask participants to think of something in their lives lately that has been new and good.  Very often people spend all their time thinking about the things in their lives that are not going well.  Meanwhile the beautiful and hopeful things that are also going on around us are unnoticed.  Focusing on something “new and good” is a way of bringing attention to those things.

A “new and good” can be anything- a good time with a friend or friends, a new idea, finishing a project for a class.  Model the activity for the group by speaking first.

Guess what’s in the box

Show a closed box or wrapped package to the group.  Going around the room, ask participants to guess what might be inside.  The guesses can be as wild or silly as they choose.  Reveal the object inside.  Ask a few volunteers how they came up with their guesses.

From Dealing with Differences: A training manual for young people & adults on intergroup relations, diversity, & multicultural education