Community circle questions serve teachers and students in various ways. They help foster trust and a sense of connection. As students answer the questions carefully selected by teachers, they open themselves up. Sharing things about themselves and their life gives them a sense of belonging and connection with the educator. It is important to remember that teaching and learning are social activities. Educators can increase the effectiveness of their teaching by creating a supportive and trustworthy environment. Community circle questions, like those listed in this post, help students and teachers get to know each other better. Ultimately, this leads to a nurturing and positive learning environment.
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Questions to Get Started
Community circle questions can be divided into various categories. We will start with questions you can ask to get started or check in with your students. These help both the teachers and students get acquainted with each other. These questions act as an ice-breaker. They are good for other students to learn about each other. Choose any set of questions from the list below.
- What flavour of ice cream do you prefer the most?
- What is your favourite subject?
- What do you do when you are happy?
- What would you do if you won the lottery?
- If you could wake up in the body of an animal or as a vegetable, which one would you choose and why?
- Share your best and worst parts of the day.
- If you could have an imaginary friend, whom would you choose?
- If you would want to return to an age, which would it be and why?
- What has occupied you lately?
- What is that one thing that you would wish to own and why?
- What is your favourite season, and why do you like it?
- If there was something you could change about today, what would that be?
- What makes you angry?
- How does rain make you feel?
- What comes into your mind when you think of the colour red?
- What are you looking forward to the most in the coming days or months?
- What do you like to do on a sunny day outside?
- If you were a famous personality, who would you be and why?
- Do you like the day or night, and why?
- Describe your ideal job.
Questions to Get to Know the Students
The following questions are more than surface-level ones. They will help you get to know your students better. However, it is crucial to exercise caution when choosing from the list of these questions. They are deeper and can trigger some of your pupils, depending on what they have been through in life.
- What about your life fills you with happiness?
- Describe a difficult experience that helped you discover a gift in your life.
- Describe a time in your life when you acted without fear.
- How do you deal with a difficult challenge?
- What is something that you do every day without fail?
- Describe the most pleasant memory of your life till now.
- Do you have a habit you wish to let go of?
- What do you regret not doing in life?
- How would you like your future to look?
- If you go back and change something, what would that be?
- What touches you deeply?
- Name one thing that you would like to get better at.
- How do you practice kindness?
- What do you feel grateful for in your life?
- What makes you feel motivated?
- How would your father/mother describe you?
- What do you like about your family?
- What is something you feel that money cannot buy?
- What do you excel at?
- What qualities in others make you want to befriend them?
Questions to Know Your Students Deeply
If you have built deep trust with your students, use the questions below. These questions are more abstract; students will only answer them properly if they bond well with their educator. You can use this list if you have reached this stage. But if you feel like a question is triggering any negative emotional response, report the behaviour to the concerned authorities immediately.
- Is there something you wish would have given better results if you did it differently?
- What makes you conflict with another, and how do you resolve it?
- What makes you respect a person?
- How do you deal with guilt or shame?
- What is one thing you would not want to change about yourself or your life?
- What does respect mean to you in a relationship?
- How do you think your life will look 10 years from now?
- What makes you go out of your comfort zone?
- Are you working towards any goal in life? What is it, and what progress have you made so far?
- How do you want people to remember you after you die?
- What is something that you learned after losing something?
- What makes you lose control?
- What is something unique about you?
- What is something that you will always remember about someone?
- Is there someone you feel who knows you the best? What is their opinion about you?
- Are there any situations where you feel like you have no say?
- Do you practice solitude? If yes, share some insights gained from it.
- What is one change that you want to see in the world?
- What is one of the simple pleasures of life for you?
- Do you feel like you are standing in the way of your goals? If yes, why do you feel so, and what steps would you take to improve it?
- What are you dealing with in your personal life right now?
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Summing Up
Community circle questions help the students and the educator become more empathetic as they listen to each other. They help students open up and share more with the teacher. Circle questions, when picked appropriately, allow students to gain many insights about themselves. Thus, they help positively influence the teaching-learning trajectory.
