Chapter 4: Sitting int he Hotseat

            Hotseating is a type of enactment technique that intensifies role playing by putting students “on the spot.”  This type of enactment requires students to think quickly and make inferences about the character, author, a real-life figure, a group or representative of a group, as an idea (democracy), a force (electrical charges), or a math concept (density, area).  Hotseats are wonderful tools, but it’s important for you to make sure the students feel comfortable and intellectually safe.  One way to do this is to model first what the expectations are. 

            While modeling you need to sit as a character and explain how you are feeling, what you want, or what your goals are.  Then you can ask students to write down questions they would like to ask you (the character).  Students are then allowed to ask you the questions.  When you are stumped, you can ask a group near you for suggestions on how to answer the question. 

            Just like all other enactments there are many different variations to the Hotseat. 

1.       The Inner Voice:  someone can stand behind the character and say what the character might really be thinking about without any inhibitions or internal editing.

2.      Voices from the past-

3.      Good Angel/Bad Angel

4.      Tunnel of Advice/Conscience Alley

5.      Response Montage

6.      Character/Self Think Aloud

7.      Inside/Outside

8.      Mantle of the Stranger

9.      Hotseat the author

10.  Personification

             One of the most important parts about Hotseats is the reflection that is required after the activity.  This is where students will be able to take this information and transfer it to their everyday lives.  During Inner Voice, you might ask students questions like:  What would relationships and communication be like if we always knew what the person was thinking?  What would change in your life if someone knew all of your thoughts? 

            The Good Angel/Bad Angel strategy is an excellent activity to help students understand choices and repercussions from those choices.  You have one person on the hotseat as a character.  Then you split the class in half.  One half is the angel while the other half is the devil.  They take turns persuading the character to make their choice.  The character can choose to be silent, or they can talk back to the devil/angel.  Reflections are the most important part of this activity.  It gives you an opportunity to discuss how in real life, different people may need different kinds of help.  It shows students the power of words to solve problems.  Reflections are a way to freeze time and consider the options and why we may be so easily swayed to the wrong decision.

            This type of enactment activity takes higher level thinking.  I can see how it can engage and stimulate students to help with their learning and understanding of texts.  In my classroom, I believe I’d have to model multiple times for the students to understand what the expectations are.  For some reason fifth-graders have a hard time staying in character.  This will be a fun activity to try.