Strong Beginnings: Find a Hook to Engage Your Groups!
This evening as I sit cutting out quotes with “new year” and “new beginnings” themes in preparation for some upcoming workshops, I have been reflecting on
The Brain, Learning, and Reflection
A century ago, John Dewey emphasized the importance of engaging learners in reflection. He believed that our experiences shape us, and when reflective practice is part of the learn
The Value of Reflection
Reflection brings learning to life. Reflective practice helps learners find relevancy and meaning in a lesson and make connections between educational experiences and real life sit
Allowing for Labor in Learning
The art of teaching and group facilitation requires a careful balance of challenge, observation, encouragement, guidance, and the ability to know when to step in to help learners,
Re-Purposing “Ice-Breaker” Activities for Academic Review, Reflection, Context Setting, and Formative Assessment
The teachers, corporate trainers, high school advisors and other educators I work with are constantly trying to create a balance of learning in their classes and groups. These inte
The Power of Using Objects, Pictures, and Other Metaphoric Methods in Teaching and Group Facilitation
My summer travels forced me to take a break from the blog. Today I’m inspired to write again after reading Adam Clark’s comment on my June post about “Making the Most of Tran
Dominoes, Match Game Cards, and Other Simple Tools to Engage Your Groups From the Moment They Walk in the Door
A number of group facilitators and teachers who visit my site asked about the pictures of dominoes they have seen in some of my workshop and classroom activity photo albums. Per th
Variations of the “Trade and Share” Activity to Explore Academic Content
In my past two posts I explored an active dialogue activity “Trade and Share” that can be used as a rapport builder, and for reflection. In the next couple of posts I am offeri
Learning Through Play with Playdough Pictionary: Blending Community Building With Academic or Training Content Review
Playdough Pictionary has been one of my favorite "go-to" activities for years. Though I first started using it in team-building programs I have found that it is a great active mult
The Educator as Guide
When I work with educators from all backgrounds I often find myself encouraging them to reflect on the idea of a “student centered ” or "participant centered" view of teaching
What is Experiential Education?
The experiential approach to education and group work is based on the idea that change and growth take place when people are actively (physically, socially, intellectually, emotion
An Exciting Month On the Road and Thoughts On the Words We Use in Experiential Education
This experience of facilitating through an interpreter stimulated reflection upon the words I choose to describe concepts in experiential education. When presenting with an interpr
The Right Ingredients at the Right Time: Sequencing Group Learning Experiences
As with cooking, facilitation is an art that involves a combination of practice, observation, knowledge of theory and creativity. Effective facilitators act as a good chef does, ad
Using Quotes to “Hook” Your Group’s Attention
This is the second post in a series that offers ideas for actively involving learners from the first moment they enter the room for a workshop, training or classroom lesson. In my
Start Off With Style. Find a Hook!
“The beginning is the most important part of the work”. -Plato Starting Off with Style: The events or activities experienced the first time learners are exposed to information
Reflective Practice Versus Debriefing
Promoting new ways to engage groups in reflective practice has been a personal passion and focus of my work as an educator. From the beginning of my career as an education and clin
Can a Lecture Be Experiential?
Can a Lecture Be Experientiall? While in graduate school, I had an interesting conversation with Dr. Jasper Hunt my professor at Minnesota State University, Mankato. We were fillin
The Educator as Guide
“A teacher is one who makes himself progressively unnecessary” – Thomas Curruthers Last week I was inspired by some recent discussions with educators and counselo
