Works with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or your own local model: paste this prompt and your AI will co-facilitate this exercise with you.

Help me prepare and run the exercise below. First ask for my participant count, time, setting, access needs and intended result. Check these against the stated limits. Use the supplied rules and materials. Explain any proposed changes before using them, and label them as adaptations. Do not invent source claims or require personal disclosure. Give me one step at a time when I say start. I manage the people, physical activity and clock; do not claim to observe the room. Ask me what happened before choosing a next step.

Reference revision: 54d164aa0b66d5c991f1873ec7f7fefa1f79ea9a5d7ac6a1c9cd27b572d1948c

# Whip Around

Participants independently list answers to an open prompt, then take turns sharing one item each in rapid sequence without repeating what was already spoken. The room concludes by identifying common themes and patterns across the responses.

**Time:** 10 minutes. UWT suggested timing based on source 5-15 minute band.
**People:** 4 to 24. Individual listing followed by a rapid whole-group go-around.

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** Collect a rapid inventory of unique ideas from all participants on a shared open prompt.
**Use it when:** Use when reviewing a shared text, checking understanding after a presentation, or gathering wide input quickly without debate.
**Skip it when:** Skip when the question requires private disclosure, complex multi-part explanations, or consensus on a single decision.

## Materials and tools

- 1 index card or blank sheet of paper per person
- 1 pen or pencil per person
- 1 whiteboard or shared document for recording themes
- 1 dry-erase marker

## Before participants arrive

1. Write the focal prompt visibly on the board or shared screen.
2. Ensure every participant has paper and a writing tool.

## Say this to open

Take two minutes to write down as many distinct answers as you can to the prompt on the board. When we share, we will go in sequence around the room. You will read just one item from your list that has not been said yet. If someone already stated your idea, check it off and read a different one.

## How to run it

### 1. Introduce prompt and write list (2 minutes)

Display the open prompt. For example: 'What specific friction points did users report during yesterday's testing session?' Ask everyone to write as many answers as they can onto their sheet. Keep time for 2 minutes.

### 2. Establish sharing sequence (1 minutes)

Set the physical or spoken path around the room so everyone knows who speaks after them. Remind participants to listen actively and check off items on their sheet as others say them.

### 3. Run the rapid go-around (5 minutes)

Call on the first person to state one unique answer in under ten seconds. The next person immediately states their item. If all of a participant's items have been named, or if they prefer not to speak, they say 'Pass'. Keep the pace steady without pausing for side discussion or critique until all participants have had a turn.

### 4. Identify themes and debrief (2 minutes)

Ask the room to call out recurring ideas or major patterns they heard across the shared answers. Record two or three prominent themes on the board to close the session.


## Debrief questions

- Which ideas or themes showed up most often across our lists?
- What was an unexpected point that emerged during the circle?
- What gaps remain that nobody mentioned?

**Finished output:** A shared inventory of non-duplicated answers and a short list of 2 to 3 recurring themes recorded on the board.

## Remote

Display the prompt on a shared slide or in chat. Give two minutes for silent writing. Type an ordered speaking list in the text chat (for example, Participant 1 through 16). Participants unmute, state one unique item, and mute again. Those who wish to pass type 'Pass' in chat or say it aloud.

## Hybrid

Establish a single spoken order that alternates between room participants and remote participants, or list remote names on the room screen. Room participants speak using a central room microphone; remote participants unmute in order. The facilitator notes spoken themes on a shared digital document visible to both audiences.

## Access and participation choices

- Participants may say 'Pass' or contribute their item via chat/written note if they do not wish to speak aloud.
- Provide a printed or screen-shared version of the prompt for visual access.

## If the session gets stuck

**Participants start explaining, defending, or storytelling around their point, slowing the pace.**

Gently interrupt and state: 'Headline only please. One sentence so we can hear every voice.'

**A participant panics because every item on their list has already been mentioned.**

Acknowledge that having all items already shared means they were on the same page as the room, and invite them to simply say 'Pass' or add a single nuance.


## Terms used here

- Whip Around: A classroom and meeting structure where the facilitator calls sequentially on every person to share a brief, non-repeating point.

## Sources and adaptation

Observed in The Teacher Toolkit as 'Whip Around'.

Retained the three-part core structure from The Teacher Toolkit (prompt, rapid non-repeating go-around, theme discussion) and the 'Answer or Pass' option from the source variations. Added structured step timing, setup requirements, explicit neutral example, and clear hybrid/remote turn-taking orders.

[The Teacher Toolkit](https://www.theteachertoolkit.com/index.php/tool/print-tool/whip-around)

[The Teacher Toolkit](https://www.theteachertoolkit.com/index.php/tool/whip-around)

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/whip-around-the-teacher-toolkit/