Oct 23, 2020 October Newsletter: Re-Imagining Meaningful Engagement, Social and Emotional Learning and Community Building

When my travels to facilitate professional development came to an abrupt halt in March, I couldn’t imagine how I would bring my experiential facilitation, teaching, social and emotional learning, and teambuilding practice online. Before that time, I had turned down offers to facilitate online professional development as I couldn’t see how I could meaningfully engage with and build relationships between participants in a learner-centered way on an online platform.

That all quickly changed in April when my colleagues at West Virginia University asked me to be a guest presenter in a facilitation class that had moved online. I found all of my spring social and emotional learning conferences and school district professional development symposia had shifted to Zoom. I knew I had to change my attitude towards remote learning, push my comfort zone, and, like so many of my educator colleagues, take the leap and figure it out.

I reflected on my pedagogical philosophy, and the essential elements of my tried and true facilitation practices such as participant-centered teaching, intentional sequencing/scaffolding, the importance of thoughtful activity choices and honoring the introvert, giving opportunities for choice, control, and ownership in learning, and building community, rapport, and trust before engaging in challenges or academic content. Though I was unfamiliar with using Zoom, I knew I wanted to engage learners using multiple senses, movement, and metaphor, cultivate relevancy and emotional connection, and integrate meaningful reflection using metaphoric objects and images. I realized I could bring these practices online, especially with the use of breakout groups. It was clunky at first, but with practice, a willingness to fail forward, and co-creative input from friends and colleagues, it has been more successful than I ever imagined, stimulating creative energy, adaptation, and collaboration. Being forced into online teaching and facilitation has changed my practice forever in many positive ways.

I found that I could continue to facilitate many of my impactful in-person strategies online, such as using strong beginnings and hooks to engage during every meeting’s pre-start time, in fact, this practice was more important than ever before to spark interest, relevancy, and connection! I adapted my quotes, images, or objects to use in the first moments of an experience by photographing them for slides or using a document camera/phone, sending “participant care packages” by mail prior to a group’s experience, or using found objects in participant’s environments.

The Zoom platform’s responsiveness to feedback from users has been phenomenal. Their continually evolving breakout features have allowed me to use my treasured playing cards, dominoes, vintage keys, and other object prompts to partner or form small groups. My all-time favorite community builder and content reflection, review, and data-gathering activity, “Team Tally,” works beautifully in breakout groups online and in-person at a distance for promoting social-emotional learning and engagement.

Taking the time to facilitate activities such as Name Meanings and or object introductions and appreciations are more important now than ever for creating engaged, supportive, and equitable learning environments. With some planning, creativity, and new options for moving in and out of breakout groups, my favorite playful active academic content review and assessment strategies are as dynamic and fun online as they are in person.

I am grateful for the opportunities that my ongoing Inspiration and Support Sessions have given me to reconnect with colleagues from across the world and form new connections with many new participants I have been able to work with now that geography doesn’t constrain us. I greatly appreciate the collaboration and coaching from talented colleagues like Iggy Perillo, Dan Miller, and Rebecca Tedesco, who helped me moderate online experiences and gain confidence in using the exciting tech tools available to enhance remote teaching facilitation.

Look for upcoming articles in the blog about “bringing the tangible online” integrating content and social and emotional learning, and interviews with some of my creative colleagues across the globe about how they are engaging adults and youth online and in-person at a distance. Or, join us for an upcoming Inspiration and Support Series, 2021 dates to be announced soon. Check out the upcoming November/December sessions or email me with requests for winter!

Articles from the Inspired Educator Blog Archives:

• Thoughtful activity choices and honoring the introvert
• Choice, control, and ownership in learning
• Building community, rapport, and trust
• Using metaphoric objects and images for sparking dialogue and reflection
• Team Tally
• Strong beginnings and hooks to engage
• Harnessing the Power of Play to Teach
• Charades Race for Review and Formative Assessment