Speaking out

These teaching strategies help students to:

• actively listening
• assertively communicate 
• analyse situations where two or more people are communicating
• determine ways to effectively communicate individual needs, preferences or beliefs without causing conflict
• develop basic negotiating skills
• avoid peer pressure
• make safer and healthier choices. 

Chook house speeches

• Pose a statement for students to consider.
• Give students five minutes to write their key notes before moving to the ‘chook house' (a designated area of the classroom or outside the room as the noise level resembles a chook house) to practise their speech.
• Place the name of each student in a container.
• Draw the names of two students who are to present a 1 min timed speech.
• Invite other students to add further points to those already raised by the two speakers.
• Ask the group to vote for or against the statement after listening to the points highlighted in the speeches.
• Statement examples:
  • Needle syringe exchange programs reduce the risk of Hepatitis C and HIV transmissions among injecting drug users.
  • Social media presents only unhealthy messaging.
  • Boys like to play football more than girls.
  • Period products should be given out free to all people who menstruate.

Health promotion

Five key areas of health promotion:

• Needs assessment - Describe the target group, explore the health problem, analyse contributing factors, assess community resources. E.g. Homophobic language is a problem in the school.
• Setting goals and objectives - As well as being global statements, goals need to specify time, person, place and amount. For example, By the end of the year, the number of notifications of homophobic language will be reduced by 90%.
• Selecting program components - Using limited reach media such as pamphlets, information sheets, newsletters, posters, stickers, caps, bags and other small merchandise, and videos. Students may also consider conducting smaller group strategies such as peer led discussions, role-plays, songs or video competitions.
• Implementation - Develop a timeline, project plan, draft content, publish content, deliver education sessions/discussions, etc.
• Evaluation - Measure the activities of the program, program quality and whom it is reaching - e.g. how many brochures given out, how many people attended discussions, pre and post discussion surveys, how many people saw the campaign/posters, etc. 

Think-pair-share

• Pose a question, issue or scenario then ask students to think about their response individually. 
• Form pairs then share ideas. This will allow students to consider others' ideas and perspectives.
• If time allows, one pair of students may share ideas with another pair, making groups of four. 
• The discussion can then become a whole class activity where all ideas are considered.
• Variations: 
  • Musical-pair-share: students move around the room until the music stops and find the nearest person to share with.
  • Think-pair-share-write: after discussing, students write their thoughts/decisions down.
  • Think-ink-pair-share: students 'ink' their own ideas before discussing with partners. This is helpful if you want the students to make a decision before discussing it further to determine if the discussions change their original thoughts.

Toss a die

• Prepare a set of six questions. The questions should require students to give a personal view or preference, or recall a personal experience related to the topic.
• These could be sent home for students to discuss with family or friends and think about their responses before or after this activity. 
• In groups, students roll the die and answer the question on the sheet that corresponds with the number thrown. The other group members listen to the student's response.
• Each person in the group then asks that person a question about their response. 
• The die is then passed onto the next person and repeated.
• Variation: instead of dice, use playing cards to randomly select questions (Question 1 = hearts, Question 2 = spades, etc OR Question 1 = 1-3, Question 2 = 4 - 6, etc)

Vox pop interviews

• Develop a scenario or problem related to a sex and relationship issue.
• Ask students to identify a group of people to interview (e.g. class members, parents, peers or other community members).
• Those interviewed are requested to suggest how they could communicate effectively and decide what actions could be put in place to reduce the risk for those described in the scenario or problem. Where possible, students can video or audio-record the responses.
• Students compare and contrast the responses then assess the most effective communication and actions to apply to the situation.
• Students can display the results of their vox pop interviews using a chosen medium such as a graph, chart, text summary or visual image. The display should include general information about respondents and an analysis of the responses.
• Information can then be shared through presentations to others (e.g. PowerPoint presentation, talking at an assembly or through a school newsletter article).

Partner retell

• Place students in pairs. 
• One person interviews the other about a specific topic and then summarises what they have heard. 
• Students swap roles and repeat, then summarise their partner's response to a larger group.

Barrier game

• In pairs, students place a barrier between them. 
• One has the speaker role and gives instructions while the other has the listener role and follows the instructions. 
• Upon completion, remove barrier to see if the instructions were followed correctly. 
• Examples:
  • Draw a simple picture and describe it to partner to see if they come up with the same drawing.
  • Have a set of shapes and create a pattern that the partner has to replicate.
  • Have a picture of a maze and give directions the other has to follow.