high point–low – A weekly first-year seminar at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology uses a simple ritual—students share a high point and optionally a low point—to break silence, build community, and make classroom struggles feel normal rather than isolating.
On a fall afternoon when the room goes quiet, it’s rarely the lesson that has failed. It’s the moment—staring back from students who are unsure how to speak, worried about being the only one struggling, or silently wondering whether their peers are doing fine.
At Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, instructors have been countering that kind of silence with a short, repeatable activity built for exactly these classroom pressure points: high point–low point.
The approach is deliberately small. In a required first-year seminar that meets once a week in the fall term for 50 minutes. with an average class size of 15 students. each session begins with a prompt that asks students to share a “high point”—a highlight from the past week that they feel good naming out loud. There are no restrictions on what qualifies. Sometimes it’s as basic as “waking up in time for classes.” At other times. students choose something more consequential: doing well on an exam. getting a design project to work. or visiting with family.
The sharing part is required, but the choice is theirs. Each student decides what their personal highlight of the week will be, knowing they’ll share it with the rest of the class.
Instructors say they’ve also tested different names for the activity, including “Roses and Thorns” and “Happies and Crappies.”
Then comes the more vulnerable half. After the high point, students are given an opportunity to share a low point from the past week. Unlike the high point, the low point is optional. The goal isn’t to embarrass students; it’s to normalize the reality that the college experience includes setbacks—and to pave a path for open. honest communication. In practice, that choice doesn’t close off participation. Hands shoot up when instructors ask for examples.
Students describe low points that range from something as small as showing up to class not realizing they had an exam to bigger moments like a major project malfunction at the last minute. As with high points, students decide whether to share at all and which low point to name.
While one student is speaking, the expectation is that others listen.
When students share high points. instructors use the moment to reinforce positive behaviors and encourage students on their journey—especially in weeks where they may not be feeling successful. When low points come up. the conversation shifts toward empathy. and instructors share strategies that might help students handle what’s next.
The seminar is built inside a structured course environment: Rose-Hulman provides a formal curriculum for first-year seminars. alongside leeway for an operational curriculum. Instructors use high point–low point as a consistent entry point to the class. even as the day’s topic and students’ immediate needs don’t always match neatly.
The impact shows up first in classroom sound. The activity gives students a regular way to practice talking in class. Many students, instructors say, are used to being passive participants—and that can make discussions stall. But public speaking fear doesn’t disappear just because the prompt is friendly. McKeachie and Svinicki (2006) describe a blunt reality students often carry: “the safest thing to do is keep quiet” (p. 46). They also suggest that getting acquainted helps students risk expressing themselves once they know they are among friends (p. 46).
High point–low point creates that repeated “acquainted” space.
Instructors say it can reduce the dreaded silence during lectures and. in their experience. it helps effort rise when students feel connected to others and believe people care about them and are there to support them. Harrington (2021) frames that connection this way: “higher levels of effort when they feel connected to others and when they believe others care about them and are there to support them” (p. 35).
Over time, the same-week sharing also helps students find common ground with classmates. A moment like “I failed that test too!” is not just confession—it’s recognition that the struggle has company. Instructors say that sense of normalcy has supported group activities, because students feel less alone when the work gets hard.
There’s a social layer to the routine too. one rooted in what student affairs leaders often see behind the scenes. From that perspective, the activity creates room for validation. Students. instructors say. can feel pressure to look like they are managing college well at all times. especially in academically rigorous environments.
By intentionally making space for successes and struggles. high point–low point tells students that challenge is part of the college experience rather than a personal failure. In practice—because students hear peers naming academic. social. and personal stressors—shared awareness can reduce isolation and make it easier for students to acknowledge when they’re struggling. Over time, instructors say those moments reinforce that students belong in the classroom even when things aren’t going well. That idea aligns with Tinto’s (1993) argument in Leaving college: Rethinking the causes and cures of student attrition: “students belong in the classroom even when things are not going well.”.
A key design choice keeps the balance from tipping into pressure: low point sharing is optional. which preserves students’ control over what they disclose. Instructors are not expected to solve what students raise. Still, the discussions can open doors to empathy, normalization, and—when appropriate—connections to resources.
The activity also can travel beyond small seminar rooms. Instructors recommend spending five to ten minutes each week on high point–low point. calling it worthwhile given the first-year seminar structure. Smaller section enrollment helps, but it isn’t treated as the only requirement. For larger enrollments. the approach can shift without disappearing: it can still work once a week in a course where students meet several times; students can be broken into smaller groups; students can share particularly salient examples with the entire class; or instructors can call on a set number of students each week to share their high point with the whole group.
Underlying the method is a simple teaching message instructors point to in scholarship: students respond not to power, but to investment. Bain (2004) writes, “The best teachers we studied displayed not power but an investment in the students” (p. 139).
For instructors trying to cut through silence, build community and belonging, and connect in real time about issues students are facing, high point–low point offers a single tool with multiple purposes.
Sarah A. Forbes, PhD, serves as the Student Academic Success Director and a first-year seminar instructor at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. She also works as a first-year seminar instructional designer, summer bridge program director, and academic advising program administrator.
LeAnne Myers is the Assistant Dean of Student Affairs and a first-year seminar instructor at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, with professional work focused on fostering inclusive learning environments that support student engagement, persistence, and overall well-being.
high point low point activity first-year seminar student engagement classroom silence psychological safety community building Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology