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

Rapidly clarify for individuals and a group what is essentially important in their work.

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

Help students reflect on their exam/assessment performance in order to improve future performance in your course.

Maha Bali

Equity Unbound Activity

Collaborative Literature Review Matrix

Create a discourse community whilst also sharpening close reading, research, summarising, paraphrasing, and citation 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 making sense of profound challenges. Use to address difficult or confusing topics.

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 everyone in making sense of profound challenges. Use to address difficult or confusing topics.

Autumm Caines, Maha Bali

Equity Unbound Activity

Daily Creates

Provides a space for regular practice of spontaneous creativity through mini challenges published every day.

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

This activity helps to promote positive student-teacher connections.

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

Sharpen logical reasoning and debating skills. Create discussion.

Jasmina Najjar

Share Music and Create a Class Playlist

Help students share something about themselves, musical tastes, while building community as they speak about their musical choices.

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 in external speakers into your classroom via a virtual studio visit, an informal discussion with one or two external guests.

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

TRIZ can stop counterproductive activities and behaviours to make space for innovation. Try it out!

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