"Now we're going to see how we worked together, and how we can get better in this activity for next time."

"Get in your Family Groups"

You are now going to have students choose group roles for the debrief.

The first few times you do this (or after students are comfortable), give them a chance to try to select their own roles. However, make sure to assign roles from time to time to make sure the same students don't always take the same roles.

If you have four people in the group, you can split up the Reporter/Recorder role.

"So we've gone over roles - and we're almost ready to dive in and talk with each other and come up with ideas. Before that, though, I want to make sure we know how to hold each other accountable to working well with the group when we're doing our debrief. So, how can you hold each other accountable? In other words, if the Task Manager needs to remind somebody to give reasons for their ideas, how can they do that without making anybody mad - but actually get it to happen? Take one minute to talk with your group about this."

(students talk - write the secondary (example) prompt on the board to help them, if necessary; after one minute or so, ask the group to share out examples)

"So what did you all come up? How can you all hold each other accountable during the debrief?"

(get many ideas, get concrete - "What does that look like?" - modeling how to talk to each other, etc.)

(once ready, move on)

"Okay - now we can dive in and talk with each other. I am going to time each section, and you won't have a ton of time, so make sure you are carrying out your roles, so you can come up with as many ideas as possible."

"First, we're going to come up with our objective? What were you trying to accomplish during the activity? What were the rules? Go ahead and discuss in groups now."

(timing will vary depending on your class, but ~ 2 - 3 minutes is a good amount of time for an activity that was simple; if they are diving into something less obvious - like a 'case' scenario - then at least 5 minutes is necessary)

(at time, go to next slide)

"Okay, now that you have your objective, you need to figure out your obstacles to success. What things got in your way and made it more difficult to accomplish your objectives? Focus on ideas and things - not people - so if something somebody did slowed you down, do not name them, just talk about the actions that slowed you down.

Focus on how you communicated - did everybody get involved? Did one person take over? Okay - discuss your obstacles now."

(~3-4 minutes, maybe a little longer, depending on your class)

(after time, next slide)

"Okay - now comes the juicy part. How are you going to overcome those obstacles you came up with? What worked well during the activity? For obstacles you didn't overcome during the activity - what MIGHT work well? Remember - make sure you are giving reasons for your ideas - WHY might it work well? Okay - come up with how you'll overcome obstacles now."

(~ 5 minutes, more if there's good momentum; if students are getting stuck, always feel free to end a little early)

(at time, next slide)

"Okay - now comes the juicy part. How are you going to overcome those obstacles you came up with? What worked well during the activity? For obstacles you didn't overcome during the activity - what MIGHT work well? Remember - make sure you are giving reasons for your ideas - WHY might it work well? Okay - come up with how you'll overcome obstacles now."

(~ 5 minutes, more if there's good momentum; if students are getting stuck, always feel free to end a little early)

(at time, next slide)

"Now that you have some ways to overcome your obstacles, it's time to take all those ideas you shared and come up with your plan for next time you do this activity (or see this situation). What will you ACTUALLY do to overcome obstacles and do well? What is your plan for practicing it? List out all the things you will do that will make you better. Talk about this now."

(~3-5 minutes, depending)

(at time, next slide)

"Okay - now you're about to share your plans out to the other groups. Spokespeople - you need to be ready with the most important ideas and a professional attitude. Your group can now take ONE MINUTE to help your Spokesperson be ready to share your most important ideas out to the class. Go."

(after a minute)

"Now you should all be ready to share. Spokespeople, you are going to have (allotted time - don't give more than one minute) to share out for your group. Make sure you are standing up, speaking with College Voice, and focusing on your most important ideas, so you don't run out of time. We will start with Group 1."

(be consistent on time - set an obvious timer, so students know that - if you cut them out - it's because they ran out of time, and that it's fair for everybody; if any Spokespeople are NOT being serious in their share-out, feel free to ask them to stop sharing because they are not following the expectation; then, if there's still time after everyone has gone, they can try again)

(after all share, next slide)

"So now that everybody has shared out their group's main ideas, let's briefly talk as a class about how we're going to improve next time we do a debrief. What would make this go better? Are there any questions about any particular roles?"

(get some student thoughts, ask "what does that look like?", etc.)

"So now we're going to wrap up our Debrief. A lot of really helpful ideas were shared today, so let's all remember to check in tomorrow before outdoor PLT (or before situation debriefed) to talk about our plans and how we can do better.

As we get better and better at this process, we'll get faster, and come up with more ideas - and this can help us solve all sorts of problems. I'm looking forward to practicing this more with you all."

(*note - moving forward, make sure to connect this Debrief/Problem-Solve process to other situations - in Core academic classes (how we solved this math problem) or other PLT situations)