Ongoing engagement

Diverse ways to structure online conversations throughout the semester

Do you have an activity that you would like to suggest?

Equity Unbound Activity

This collaborative activity encourages students to discover and focus on what each person has the freedom and resources to do now.

Maha Bali, Jasmina Najjar

Equity Unbound Activity

9 Whys of Liberating Structures

This activity helps individuals and groups uncover deeper motivations by repeatedly asking “why.” It fosters reflective listening and meaningful dialogue, supporting students in clarifying their academic goals and educators in exploring teaching and strategic priorities. Simple and adaptable for any learning context.

Michael Weinraub

Equity Unbound Activity

Annotate the Syllabus

Annotating the syllabus helps learners to read, make sense of, question, and discuss their learning.

Remi Kalir

Equity Unbound Activity

Appreciative Interviews

This activity will help students prepare for working in groups by discovering and building on the roots of their successes.

Maha Bali, Autumm Caines, Mia Zamora

Equity Unbound Activity

Cognitive / Exam Wrappers for Metacognition

This activity helps students reflect on their exam or assessment experience to improve future learning and performance. By answering guided questions about what went well, what was challenging, and why mistakes happened, students develop self-awareness and strategies for growth and success next time.

Maha Bali

Equity Unbound Activity

Collaborative Literature Review Matrix

Help students engage in shared academic conversations while improving their reading, research, and source-handling skills.

Jasmina Najjar

Equity Unbound Activity

Collaborative Storytelling

Promote a sense of community and break the ice in class with collaborative storytelling activities.

Jasmina Najjar

Equity Unbound Activity

Conversation Cafe

Engage everyone in exploring and making sense of complex or challenging topics. Ideal for addressing difficult or confusing issues through open, respectful conversation.

Maha Bali, Mia Zamora, Autumm Caines

Create a Fake Photo Group Assignment

This fun activity helps students learn new skills while taking a small step towards building community.

Maha Bali

Equity Unbound Activity

Critical Uncertainties

Engage students or faculty in a structured process to make sense of complex challenges. Use this activity to explore difficult or confusing topics collaboratively.

Autumm Caines, Maha Bali

Equity Unbound Activity

Daily Creates

This activity fosters regular, low-stakes creative practice that builds student confidence, engagement, and community. Ideal as a warm-up, reflection, or community-building tool throughout a course.

Mia Zamora

Equity Unbound Activity

Gratitude Journal

Support students' wellbeing by suggesting a daily or periodic practice of gratitude, promote radical self-compassion.

Maha Bali, Nadine Aboulmagd, Hoda Mostafa, Azza Awwad

Equity Unbound Activity

Guess The Topic Mingle

This is a fun activity to introduce a new topic which will also work well as a warm-up activity.

Heather Kretschmer

I Wish My Students / Teacher Knew

A reflective activity that fosters connection and wellbeing by inviting teachers and students to complete the prompt “I wish my teacher/students knew…” - encouraging empathy, feedback, and meaningful communication.

Amena Magdy

Equity Unbound Activity

Language Portrait

Reflect on language experiences with your students and share biographical information.

Francesca Helm

Equity Unbound Activity

Pass the Paper

Create an opportunity for your students to connect through writing.

Sarah Silverman

Activity, Equity Unbound Activity

Personalised Conversation Cards

This activity can be used in any course for getting students to talk to each other. It can also be adopted for foreign language courses to support practicing speaking and listening skills.

Scott Bowyer

Equity Unbound Activity

PowerPoint Karaoke

Engage students in improv presenting, and enhance oral presentation skills in a light and humorous way.

Maha Bali, Jasmina Najjar, Hoda Mostafa

Equity Unbound Activity

Room 101

A lively, team-based debate activity where students argue to banish a topic or idea to "Room 101." Encourages critical thinking, reflection, structured argumentation, and collaborative discussion.

Jasmina Najjar

Share Music and Create a Class Playlist

Invite students to share a favourite song and why they chose it, helping them express themselves and build community through a collaborative class playlist. Works synchronously or asynchronously.

Maha Bali

Equity Unbound Activity

Simple Metacognitive Activities

Some simple questions that can help students develop their metacognitive learning skills.

Maha Bali

Equity Unbound Activity

Start / Stop / Continue

Use this activity to help students to reflect on what's working for them and how to identify actions that can be taken to make improvements.

Maha Bali

Equity Unbound Activity

Structured Dialogues

This pair or trio activity is ideal for reflection and also to practice focused listening.

Sherri Spelic

Equity Unbound Activity

Studio Visits

Bring external voices into your classroom with a studio visit — an informal discussion with one or two guest professionals who share insights into their work, creative process, or professional journey.

Mia Zamora

Equity Unbound Activity

Surrealist Free Drawing Introductions

Creative take on doing intros that can help students to know one another and challenges perfection paralysis.

Autumm Caines

The Shape of You

This fun icebreaker will help your students to get to know each other.

Sarah Neuwirth

Equity Unbound Activity

Theatre of the Oppressed: Image Theatre

To invite students to use their bodies to represent, collaboratively, an image of something that is worth discussing.

Maha Bali, Alex Fink, Tina Pippin, Sarita Shukla

Equity Unbound Activity

Thick Greetings

Try out a slower and more deliberate opportunity for everyone to introduce themselves.

Maha Bali, Mia Zamora, Autumm Caines, Laura Gibbs, Rebecca J. Hogue

Equity Unbound Activity

Third Places for Ongoing Community Building

Creating semi-formal, semi-synchronous spaces outside of class time for students to socialize with each other.

Maha Bali

Equity Unbound Activity

Tiny Tales

Encourage short, focused storytelling, easy to share with others, writing stories in 100 words (or fewer), or 6 words or 2 sentences, etc.

Laura Gibbs

Equity Unbound Activity

TRIZ

Help students think critically by identifying actions that hinder success. Through structured group reflection, TRIZ turns worst-case thinking into a powerful, engaging way to foster innovation and change.

Maha Bali

Equity Unbound Activity

Troika Consulting: Adaptation for Class Community Building

Get students used to supporting each other without always turning to an 'expert' for solutions.

Maha Bali, Mia Zamora, Autumm Caines

Equity Unbound Activity

Two-Minute Paper

This is a great activity for capturing students’ learning, and helping the teacher to understand what students need to know more of, and what they enjoyed in class.

Maha Bali

Using Dominoes in Teaching

In this activity students team up to solve puzzle-like domino chains by matching connected concepts. This engaging hands-on activity transforms learning into a collaborative game.

Ahmed Gebaly

Activity, Equity Unbound resource

What We Don’t Know About Each Other

This activity can be used for ongoing engagement mid-semester helping students to get to know each other better.

Noha El-Rawy

Equity Unbound Activity

Wheel of Life for Wellbeing

Support individuals in reflecting on their overall wellbeing and satisfaction across different areas of their lives, helping them identify where they might want to make changes or improvements.

Maha Bali