A few years ago I was with a great teacher friend of mine, Lance Bridges, when he received a phone call from his daughter who had been on a day trip with some friends. I heard Lance ask his daughter, “Honey, what was your HIGH (favorite part) of the trip?” I then heard him ask, “What was your LOW (least favorite part) of the trip?”
Since that day I have incorporated this strategy in numerous ways:
ONE ON ONE INTERACTIONS
I have used this in leadership with my leadership team. After events, I will ask the leader of the event, “What was your HIGH (favorite part) of the event?” I will then ask, “What was your LOW (least favorite part) of the event?”
ICEBREAKER OF A CLASS
When I am teaching a class of any age I will often start out by asking the question, “What was your “High Low” from this past week?” I will then go around the room and have participants answer one by one. This gives me tremendous knowledge to what is going on in the lives of the participants of the class.
RECAP OF A CLASS
You can also use this strategy to recap what you have taught. You simply ask participants to give a high and a low of what they have just learned or experienced.
IMPORTANT TIP
The key is you cannot criticize his or her lows of the event or activity. This will cause them to shut down. Allowing them to speak freely will give you a wealth of information.
So, what was your “High Low” from this past week?
I used high/low today in my Sunday school class. They’re great, but all really quiet and somewhat timid-also so many are knew they don’t know each other all that well. This was a great way to get them talking and interacting and revealing a bit about themselves. Today’s class went fantastic and I think this was why!!
I used high/low today in a class where students are quiet and not overly interactive. Also, so many are new they don know each other that well. They each shared out and this set the tone. They were way more active in the lesson and used some of these as reference points and examples. Great activity! Thanks David!