mental meanderings - you got me going Julie (long)

[Winston Kinch]

Re: [OSLIST] mental meanderings - you got me going Julie (long)Totally... beautiful.
Thanks for being you.
wk
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Chris Weaver 
  To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU 
  Sent: Wednesday, October 30, 2002 1:30 PM
  Subject: Re: mental meanderings - you got me going Julie (long)


  Hey Winston!


    Did you mention a book in another message or is Julie "inviting" you to one?

    It's Julie, being the muse!
     
    A few things which I am curious about ..
     
    "...group sizes have maximums (average ratio of 1:7)"
     
    Why do you set maximums?

    Each instructor/mentor sets his/her maximum.  We experiment.  We debrief each day, and there is often a discussion of a sense of critical mass for different activities and ages.  For example, Jerry teaches "stage combat" (choreography of fights).  His maximum for 7th graders is six - that's the number he can watch and keep safe.  But if it's 9th graders, he will take eight.  Maximums for climbing tower, ropes course, woodworking depend on tools and equipment.  The simple question is, How large a group provides the best learning experience?  For most of our workshops the answer falls between six and ten.  Instructor/mentors often report how bad it feels when a group grows beyond their capacity to be fully responsive (and yes, this happens at one-third the size of the average school classroom).

    "...participants stay with the session they choose, and do not move between them".
     
    Why? Is this required by the facility? the setting? 

    Partly the facility.  Our groups are spread across many acres of forest, and it's out of my comfort zone as the director for children to be traveling without an adult.  In addition, many of our workshops have a cycle to them, with important safety instructions delivered to the whole group in the first part (technical climbing, etc), so it doesn't make sense for kids to join in the middle.  Other groups engage in a lot of trust-building over their 90-minute workshop, and develop a strong group identity, and the consistency helps.  

    It would be interesting, however, to try the process with a full law of 2 feet, and design workshops that would work well in free-flow, and see how it goes.
     
    "..We have met in a circle three times already in the day as as a whole"
     
    When? morning/opening, plus..

    ...plus a reflection circle following each session.  Our methodology-du-jour for the first reflection circle has two parts: 1)  I invite them to pair up with someone who was in a different workshop.  Each partner takes one minute to tell "something interesting" that happened in their first session.  With a hundred teenagers the sound of fifty simultaneous animated conversations if fabulous, like a river.  2)  Then it's a stick-in-the-middle circle of "compliments and appreciations."  As I am walking the circle, I say, "If someone impressed you with something they did, something creative, or funny, or useful, or skillful, or brave, then walk in and compliment them.  And an appreciation is a thank you.  Maybe you have someone to thank.  If so, come on it and tell the group."  Especially for the teenagers, this explicit invitation to notice and recognize one another is effective in establishing openness, trust, and humor for the rest of the day.

    Second circle is usually, "so, what happened?"  Or, in the marvelous words of someone on this list, "Who are we now?"
     
    Chris
     
     


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