Chiji Processing Cards $15.95/deck secure checkout through Paypal, or click here for alternate payment methods Chiji Processing Dice $29.95/deck The Leader Who Is Hardly Known: Self-less Teaching from the Chinese Tradition by Steven Simpson $24.95/book The Processing Pinnacle: An Educator’s Guide to Better Processing by Steven Simpson, Dan Miller and Buzz Boucher $24.95/book Springboard: Quick [...]

Journals come in a choice of three designs: Teach, Tree of Life and Dream (7″x 8″) $13.95 Choose Design:  Teach Tree of Life Dream secure checkout through Paypal, or click here for alternate payment methods Record your team development experiences or track your trainings Time spent reflecting alone, away from the group, balances and supports [...]

Conversation Starter & Reflection Tool This carefully selected collection of unique images captures a group’s attention and inspires meaningful reflection and conversation. The postcard collection is popular with teachers, counselors, and group facilitators for helping individuals and groups process specific experiences. They can be used as a great introduction activity or for group closing activities. [...]

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 first few minutes of an experience or lesson are a key time to hook and engage learners (See March 12th post).

The activities presented in this series are some of the “tried and true” methods I have used to increase engagement, help participants transition into the learning space, make positive connections with their peers and introduce and review the academic material at hand.

“The beginning is the most important part of the work”. -Plato   Starting Off with Style: Research on the brain and learning is demonstrating that the events or activities experienced the first time learners are exposed to information greatly impact their ability to retain the information. John Medina, author of Brain Rules states: “If you [...]

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 often struggle with engaging in reflection. In books, articles and [...]

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 form requesting us to identify which portion of the [...]

“A teacher is one who makes himself progressively unnecessary” – Thomas Curruthers 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” approach to teaching and group facilitation.  In this approach an educator thinks of themselves as a [...]

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 of us might find ourselves forgetting just how important movement [...]

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 to take some time to learn about new resources and [...]