In this blog post Jennifer Stanchfield explores the importance of prioritizing time for self reflection to improve your practice as an teacher, trainer, counselor or group facilitator. Taking the time to reflect on our professional practice helps us find meaning in our work, develops insight...
Those of us who espouse the philosophy of experiential education understand the importance of reflection as the key to moving learning forward and creating lasting and meaningful lessons. We seek out new tools and ideas to facilitate reflective practice with our students or groups,...
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, adding together the important elements in the right amounts at the right time to create a palatable and...
Today I am returning to the blog after a few weeks offline due to Tropical Storm Irene. Our little village of Brookside in South Newfane, Vermont and many neighboring towns were hit hard by flooding during Irene. Some of our neighbors lost their homes. Power,...
Jennifer Stanchfield's post on the important ingredients for teaching and group facilitation. Techniques for maximizing engagement, reflection and building a positive group or classroom environment....
The past few days have marked the end of the school year for a number of programs I work with here in New England. Over the last week I have worked with 5th graders "stepping up" to 6th grade, 8th graders "moving up" to high...
This time of year many summer recreation and camp programs are gearing up to begin the season. These programs offer great opportunities for youth to develop important social and emotional skills through a myriad of activities. Though many of these programs offer great structured activities...
My last two posts have focused on methods for positively influencing learning outcomes with groups through strong beginnings. I shared some of my favorite activities for starting off with style and creating a "hook" to engage participants from the moment they walk through the door,...
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 last post I shared information put forward by neuroscientists promoting the idea that...
“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 greatly impact their ability to retain the information. John Medina (2008), author of Brain Rules states: “If you are trying...
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 clinician in therapeutic and educational settings I noticed that both facilitators and participants...
In my last post I described how I have been re-purposing the well-known ice-breaker Have You Ever? into Anyone Who as a strategy to engage participants in reflecting on or reviewing content from a lesson. I recently had great success using this game in adult...
Research on the brain and learning emphasizes the importance of breaking up lecture and direct instruction with activities that involve learners socially, emotionally and physically as well as intellectually. Getting learners away from their desks and moving helps them engage more readily and retain lessons...
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 filling out conference proposal forms for an experiential education conference. He commented about the "check box" on the application...
"A teacher is one who makes himself progressively unnecessary" - Thomas Curruthers Last week I was inspired by some recent discussions with educators and counselors about educational philosophy and dug into the blog archives with a post on "What is Experiential Education". Today I am adding...
If you are reading this post, chances are you believe it is important to find ways to actively engage learners in your classroom, boardroom, or group counseling setting. However, when we have a lot of material to cover in our lesson plans or agendas some...
There are still a few weeks of summer left- and time to relax, read and gather new ideas and perspectives to enhance your practice as an educator and leader. In my last post I shared a number of books useful to educators wishing to explore...
Summer Reading List Books on the Brain and Learning: Jen Stanchfield, M.S. Summer is a great time to relax and rejuvenate. Many educators find that some time away from our students or clients is perfect for reflecting on our professional practice. It can be enjoyable...