Teachers are full of anecdotes because children are wonderful sources. The purpose of this opening activity is to create community among adult learners by encouraging conversation among small groups while purging recent experiences from their own lives, to clear the way for the day’s learning together.
1. Explain this activity is called “Profound or Profoundly Stupid” because we all hear examples of one or the other every day from our students.
2. Model examples of each category. For example, in the “profound” category, a student recently told me that if they were to receive three wishes, their first wish would be that every time they said the words “I wish”, they would get another free wish. In the “profoundly stupid” category, another student argued (in the context of completing an assignment) that, “My life doesn’t revolve around a clock like yours.”
3. Have a good laugh with the group, then give small groups time to think and share their own choice of profound or profoundly stupid memories with one another.
(To do this in an online class, it could be presented through a discussion board.)