Suggestion Circle Teacher Training

This is a teaching/learning strategy. Students will sit in a large circle for this. Typically, this strategy is used to review ways to handle pressure situations. Often the situations or scenarios are made up but common to students; however, in some cases a student may wish to request the advice of the class and present the situation/scenario to the group using the suggestion circle strategy. To start, a pressure-situation scenario will be read aloud to the group. Students will think to themselves for a few seconds about how they might handle the situation. The teacher/facilitator will then ask for ideas and suggestions from volunteers in the group as to how they would respond by trying to refuse, delay or negotiate in each situation. After several responses to the first scenario, another situation can be presented.