Classroom · Politics & civics
The four corners activity and philosophical chairs, with every move counted.
Put up a statement. Students stand in the corner that matches their view and tap the same corner on their phones, each corner argues its case, everyone chooses again, and the big screen shows who moved and which way the room shifted.
- Up to 600 people
A practice run with fictional students. No real classroom or join code is created.
Try an answer on the phone. Lead the lesson from the screen.
On their phone
You are presenting
Setting up the room…
Lesson deck
Teach it as a ready-made lesson
Hook, how it works, the live activity and takeaways. Edit anything.
Four corners
A ready-to-teach lesson deck: a hook, how it works, the live activity and takeaways for the debrief.
6 slides · 1 activity
What it teaches
Students find three things in their own room's counts: a change of mind can be a step or a crossing, since moving from strongly agree to agree is a change too; a room can move a lot and shift a little, because moves in both directions cancel; and arguments move people both ways.
- Persuasion
- Deliberation
Debrief, while the boards are still up
- 01
If the room moved toward agree or toward disagree, which argument did it? If the moves cancelled out, what does that say about the arguments? If everyone stayed, were the arguments weak, or were our minds made up before we heard them?
- 02
If anyone moved within their side, from strongly agree to agree, is a step like that a change of mind? In philosophical chairs, is moving to Not sure?
- 03
What would the strongly-agree corner need to hear to move? What would the strongly-disagree corner?
- 04
Did standing in a corner make it harder to change your mind?
How it works
- 01
Add it to your library
Sign up free and pull the activity from Decka's built-in classroom catalog — one click copies it into your own library, ready to run from Decka or inside PowerPoint.
- 02
Students join by QR
Everyone scans from the projector and plays in their phone's browser. No app, no account, nothing to install.
- 03
You run the room
You move the activity phase by phase: collection closes, the boards resolve on the big screen, and the debrief happens while the results are still up.
The four corners strategy and philosophical chairs, as a live debate
The four corners strategy and philosophical chairs are two forms of one way to run a class discussion: you read a statement, and each student takes a position by where they stand. In the four corners activity the corners of the room are strongly agree, agree, disagree and strongly disagree. Philosophical chairs has three positions: agree and disagree on two sides of the room, with Not sure in the middle. Each position argues its case, and an argument that lands moves people. Here everyone chooses twice, before the argument and after it, and the board counts what moved.
Everyone who scans the code answers on their phone. The big screen shows the statement, and students walk to the corner that matches their view and tap the same corner on their phones. When the choice closes, the screen deals where the room stood into four lanes, and each corner makes its case in turn, a minute each, before the floor opens: a four corners debate with the room's own count on the board. Then everyone moves to the corner they now hold and taps it again.
The result plays in three presses. First a flow board stands where the room stood before the argument beside where it stood after. Then everyone who chose both times walks from their first corner to their second, so the room sees who moved, and which way. Last, each corner's net change prints, a stamp says which way the room shifted, if it shifted at all, and two lines say how far: “On balance, 3 crossed the middle toward agree.” and “5 crossed the middle; 6 moved within their side.” A room can move a lot and shift a little.
This page plays four corners. Philosophical chairs, which has three positions, with Not sure in the middle, is the same lesson under “Other versions” when you open the lesson in Decka. Its board counts who crossed the room and who left or joined the middle, and its sentence says which side gained more ground.
Counts only: where a student stands is visible in the room, but the screen never names a student or a seat, and nothing marks a corner right or wrong. A student who cannot or would rather not move taps from their seat and is counted the same. Each phone shows its own choices and its own path, then the room's sentence. Try the screen-and-phone preview: you run the projector's steps and play one student's phone, and fictional classmates choose through the same runtime as the lesson; they are illustrative, not observations of a real class.
FAQ
Four corners and philosophical chairs questions, answered
What is the difference between four corners and philosophical chairs?
The number of positions. The four corners activity has four, strongly agree, agree, disagree and strongly disagree, one in each corner of the room. This page plays four corners. Philosophical chairs, which has three positions, with Not sure in the middle, is the same lesson under “Other versions” when you open the lesson in Decka.
Which statements work well?
A claim reasonable people disagree on, that needs no prior knowledge and is about no person or group in the room. The lesson opens on one that splits a room honestly, conservation and teaching against captivity and welfare: “Zoos do more good than harm.” Others that work: homework does more harm than good; voting should be required by law; space exploration is worth what it costs; it is right to break a promise if breaking it helps more people.
Can I write my own statement?
Yes. The statement is wording you can change before you run it, so the same seven steps can carry any claim your class can argue about. So are the positions' names: all four corners, and philosophical chairs' three. The board's own lines still speak of moving toward agree or disagree, so keep each position's meaning.
Does the board show where each student stood?
No. Where a student stands is visible in the room, by the nature of the activity, but the board adds only counts. The screen and every phone are shown how many chose each corner only once each choice has closed, and how people moved between the two choices. Nobody is told how any one person chose; each phone shows its owner's own choices and path, and nobody else's.
What if a student cannot or would rather not move?
They stay in their seat and tap their corner on their phone, and the board counts them the same as everyone standing. The phone records the choice, so the board counts what the room chose, wherever each student is.
What if a student joins late or chooses only once?
They count wherever they chose. Only students who chose both times are in the flow and its net changes; anyone who chose only once is counted under the board, never dropped.
How long does it take?
Allow about twenty-one minutes: three to choose a corner, eight to argue, a minute for each corner's case and then the open floor, one to choose again, three for the flow board's three presses and six for the debrief. No step runs on a timer; you move each one on when the room is ready.
Do students need an app or an account?
No. Students scan a QR code from the projector (or open a link) and play in their phone's browser. Nothing to install and nothing to sign up for.
Does it work in PowerPoint or Google Slides?
In PowerPoint, yes: open the Decka add-in on a slide and choose the Classroom tile. Google Slides is not supported yet; there you present from Decka itself. Students play from their phones either way.
How many students can play at once?
Up to 50 participants per live activity on the free plan, 150 on Pro, and 300 on Badass.
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