I offer coaching to All Stars teachers who desire to be their best and do their best when teaching the program . The lesson I coach the most is the Opinion Poll Game. I want to share with you the tips I recommended to teachers to improve their effectiveness. I hope these insights are helpful.

• Be clear with the students that they are guessing their own answers. Remind them when they completed the Opinion Survey. Describe the process you went through to tally their answers from the survey.
• Include only answers that were given by two or more individuals.
• Before you play each question, tell students how many answers there are to guess.
• Use a flip chart (such as a Post-It Note flip chart) to write the correct answers as the students guess them.
• List correct answers in the order of their point value.
• Point out that the points for each answer reflect how many of them gave that answer.
• After each round, write the answers in that were not guessed by either team.
• After each round, allow the excitement and noise in the room to diminish before you discuss the meaning of the class answers. Ask questions like:
  1. What do these answers tell you about your group?
  2. What do these answers tell you about how you feel about this behavior?
  3. Does your group see this behavior as being good/bad, right/wrong or acceptable/unacceptable?

• After discussing each question, hang the flip chart paper on a wall.
• At the end of the game, review and discuss all questions and answers with students. Direct the students’ attention to all of the questions/answers as listed on the flip charts. Ask questions like:
  1. What were the most common answers given about risky behaviors?
  2. How does this group feel about risky behaviors?
  3. What do these answers tell you about your group?

The Opinion Poll game is fun for the students to play, but the point of this lesson goes beyond having fun. Be sure you play the game in a way that the students also learn what they need to from it. Students should come away knowing that collectively they feel participating in risky behaviors is not acceptable.