I've Never

This week my Ignite mentors had classroom visits. The theme of the month was "Diversity" and they played a few games and led some great discussions with freshmen centered around that theme.

The mentors that visit my sixth hour class are amazing. They did an absolutely fantastic job this month. I was very impressed. They finished the lesson plan with about eight minutes left, so they organized an impromptu game of "I've Never."

Have you ever played this game? Basically, you put chairs in a circle. Enough chairs for every person except one. The person without a chair stands in the middle of the circle and says, "I've never...." and names something they've never done. The people sitting in the chairs listen to what's been said, and then, if it is something they HAVE done, they get up and run around the circle looking for an empty chair. The person in the middle tries to grab an empty chair, too. The person who is left standing when all the chairs are taken is the one who gives the next "I've Never" phrase. For example, if J were in the middle of the circle, he might say, "I've never been to Mexico." I have been to Mexico (twice - it was amazing and I'm dying to go back, by the way!), so I would stand up and look for a new chair.

Most of the time the statements make several people get up and move, but sometimes nobody does. It is always interesting to see what gets a response and what doesn't. Sometimes kids get very "personal" and will name something so specific that only their best friend qualifies. For example, two of my mentors are step-brothers. I had no idea they were when I assigned them to both come to my class. Fortunately, not only are they brothers, but they're great friends. But C was up in the middle and he tried once or twice to name things, but nobody moved. So then he looked at his brother and said, "I've never played SHS football and worn #22." B had no choice but to get up and take his brother's place in the center of the circle.

When B ended up in the middle again, he thought he'd be funny and say something he never thought anyone would have done.

B: "I've never set myself on fire."

He got the expected giggles, but they turned into hysterics when one of my freshmen stood up and moved to the center of the circle leaving his chair open for B.

D: "It was my arm and it was an accident."

Well, I never.