La mesa redonda - The Pit

Teacher Guide
Content / Directions
Time allocation
Purpose
Increase awareness of African American Black and Latina/o Leadership issues on their college bound campus.
Provide maximum participation using communication guidelines, respect and dialogue to procure viable action plans (Teacher, see lesson 1).
Use a democratic process to raise issues impacting the student learning community
To create a community-prioritized list of significant issues effecting the development of Afro-American Black and Latina/o Leadership on college bound campus.
To explore how my values and beliefs effect my working relationships in this student learning community (Teacher please review lesson 2)

ASLA ESLRS TO BE MET
Animo graduates will be Academic Achievers who:

1. Think and write critically and analytically across the curriculum
2. Identify and use resources effectively to research and evaluate concepts across the curriculum
3. Demonstrate learned skills through the use of application, analysis, and synthesis
4. Gain eligibility for college by completing required coursework and are equipped with the knowledge of educational pathways; career choices; and institutions of higher learning
Animo graduates will be Cultural Learners who:

1. Are culturally aware and work towards understanding diverse perspectives, values, and histories
2. Are able to communicate with sensitivity within and across diverse communities and groups
3. Are leaders within their community who contribute to the improvement of life in their school and community
4. Are models of ethical behavior through their involvement in school functions, clubs, and committees
Animo graduates will be Effective Communicators who:

1. Utilize technology as a tool for learning and communicating
2. Demonstrate skills of speaking, listening, reading, and writing for different purposes in an academic and social setting
3. Collaborate, work effectively, and manage interpersonal relationships with both peers and adults in diverse settings and groups
Animo graduates will be Life-Long Learners who:

1. Are adaptive to a wide array of professional and cultural settings
2. Are goal oriented and value continual goal setting and reflection
3. Are open to discovery and develop enthusiasm and interest for learning

Set – up
Chairs should be set-up for an equally gender and ethnic heterogeneous grouping of four to no more than five students.

Facilitator
Explain that this process has four parts;
1. Large Group Brainstorm
2. Group Prioritizing
3. Decision Pit
4. Comunity Debrief

Activity # 1
BRAINSTORM: On a large poster brainstorm, “What are the issues impacting African American Black Latina/o leadership on your college bound campuses?” Take up to 25 items, this is done without comment or explanation. Do not number issues; ask that the issues be as specific as possible.

Activity #2
PRIORITIZING: Ask each STUDENT GROUP to select the ten items they consider most important

Activity #3
DECISION PIT: Ask each group to send a representative with its list of ten items to the center of the room. Ask representatives to speak loud enough to be heard.
Procedures for student group decision making: After representatives are in the center of the room, in a circle or in chairs facing each other, ask them to come to a total group consensus on the 5 most important items they wish to address.
TOTAL UNANIMOUS AGREEMENT among representatives is necessary. NO COMBINATION OF ISSUES IS ALLOWED. (If concerns become too broad goals have a tendency to become too abstract).

Rules for Negotiating
1) Representatives speak loudly enough to be heard.
2) Everyone else is to remain quiet.
3) No-one speaks to representative from the “floor”. Since representative represents group-- anyone in group may call “Familia” and bring representative back to group for instructions from group.
4) Representatives may call “Familia” to confer with his or her group.
5) Representatives may be changed by group at any time.
6) During any “Familia” time, all conversation at negotiating circle stops, but the time for the overall exercise continues to tick.
7) There are no time-outs.
8) Facilitator gets representatives back to negotiating circle quickly.
9) As each priority (not necessarily in order) is selected, write it on butcher paper.


You will have 15 minutes to get 5 issues! Remember the clock ticks continuously throughout the exercise regardless of “familia” time.

The reason for not numbering concerns on butcher paper is so discussion does not become a numbers game but centers on substance.

The purpose of the process is to make every student a member of a “panel” through their representative on the negotiating team.

The final five items become Animo Priority Leadership Issues (This info needs to disseminated back to Mr. Moreno and Mr. Pantoja and Mr. Alvarez.