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 multi-sensory approach to curricular content review as well as a community and group building. The game encourages creativity, consensus building, social interaction, communication, cooperation, appreciation of others, play, and pro-social group work. For teachers this is a playful approach to differentiation, and can be a fun formative assessment.

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 and group facilitation. In this approach an educator/counselor/facilitator thinks of themselves as a “guide” in the process of learning, discovery and group development rather than as an all-knowing teacher and center of knowledge and direction.

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 school, graduating seniors on their way to adulthood and teachers [...]

Experiential Approaches to Building a Classroom Community: Highlights from Jen Stanchfield’s Winter Workshops for Educators at the Southeast Vermont Learning Collaborative. This winter SVLC hosted two days of workshops for teachers and school counselors focused on experiential strategies for building a positive classroom environment and active approaches to differentiating instruction. Thanks to everyone who participated. [...]