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<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>Re: [OSLIST] mental meanderings - you got me going Julie (long)</TITLE>
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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Totally... beautiful.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Thanks for being you.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>wk</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=chris@springbranch.net href="mailto:chris@springbranch.net">Chris
Weaver</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A
title=OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
href="mailto:OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU">OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, October 30, 2002 1:30
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: mental meanderings - you got
me going Julie (long)</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>Hey Winston!<BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE><FONT color=#0000ff><BR><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial>Did you
mention a book in another message or is Julie "inviting" you to
one?<BR></FONT></FONT></FONT><FONT size=2><FONT
face=Arial><BR></FONT></FONT><FONT face=Arial>It's Julie, being the
muse!<BR></FONT><FONT color=#0000ff> <BR><FONT size=2><FONT
face=Arial>A few things which I am curious about
..<BR></FONT></FONT> <BR>"...group sizes have maximums (average ratio
of 1:7)"<BR> <BR><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial>Why do you set
maximums?<BR><BR></FONT></FONT></FONT><FONT face=Arial>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).<BR><FONT
color=#0000ff><FONT size=2><BR></FONT></FONT></FONT><FONT
color=#0000ff>"...participants stay with the session they choose, and do not
move between them".<BR> <BR>Why? Is this required by the facility? the
setting? <BR><BR></FONT>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. <BR><BR>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.<BR><FONT color=#0000ff> <BR>"..We have met in a circle three
times already in the day as as a whole"<BR> <BR><FONT size=2><FONT
face=Arial>When? morning/opening, plus..<BR><BR></FONT></FONT></FONT><FONT
face=Arial>...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.<BR><BR>Second circle is usually, "so, what happened?" Or, in the
marvelous words of someone on this list, "Who are we now?"<BR></FONT><FONT
color=#0000ff> <BR></FONT><FONT face=Arial>Chris<BR></FONT><FONT
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