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LAURIE FRANK is a former school teacher who has worked in the adventure and experiential education arenas for over 35 years. She began her career as a special education teacher in emotional disabilities, working with students of all ages. Her path diverged upon the discovery of adventure education and experiential methodologies. The need to develop a sense of community within the school setting was apparent, and the adventure philosophy seemed the perfect vehicle to achieve that goal.



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Laurie is the owner/director of GOAL Consulting, working with people of all ages to create environments where everyone is invited into the process of working and learning together. Her major focuses are creating a sense of community, collaborative leadership, experiential education, Social Emotional Learning, and Appreciative Inquiry. Workshops with Laurie invite engagement by constructing knowledge through experience and exploration.

Ms. Frank was a leader in designing the nationally recognized Stress/Challenge adventure program for Madison (Wisconsin, USA) Metropolitan School District, and wrote their curriculum, “Adventure in the Classroom,” in 1988. Ms. Frank wrote Journey Toward the Caring Classroom, an experiential approach to creating a sense of community in schools. She also collaborated on four other books: Games (& Other Stuff) for Teachers, Adventure Education for the Classroom Community, The Mohican People, Their Lives and Their Lands, and Leading Together: Foundations of Collaborative Leadership. She has also written numerous experiential curricula for schools. 

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Laurie’s passion is to facilitate human interaction and to create environments where everyone is empowered. Some of her projects include: YEP (Youth Empowerment Process), Level One Training and Curriculum for School-age and Youth Development, Collaborative Leadership, and working with the Ho-Chunk Language Revitalization Program.

 

Although mostly retired, Laurie continues her work with experiential education through workshops, curriculum development, The Association for Experiential Education, and is a current board member of the United World College in Costa Rica.

7th Dec: pune
14th dec: bengaluru
Creating a Sense of Community Where You Are

It is important to hold in mind … that the person – that center of choice – develops in his/her fullness to a degree he/she is a member of a live community.

Maxine Greene

 

We talk about “community” as if it were a thing, yet it really is an environment or atmosphere that we create – generally in concert with others.  This workshop will explore a mindset for creating a sense of community with intention in any situation by delving into philosophical and theoretical perspectives about what it is and why creating it is important.  We will then interact with skills and tools facilitators can use to support the creation of a sense of community in their work. 

 

Outcomes

  • Participate in a dynamic community-building process

  • Gain information and insight to develop skills as an intentional community-builder 

  • Develop a working definition of “sense of community”

  • Gather ideas and activities for creating connections and a sense of community with one or more people

  • Leave with an awareness of conditions that support the development of a sense of community

Agenda

  1. Introduction/Context

    1. Welcome and Introductions

    2. Overview of the workshop

    3. Norms/Agreements for the day

    4. Connecting activities

    5. Creating base teams

  2. Mission:  Defining “Sense of Community”

    1. Personal experience with sense of community

    2. Group definition and sharing

    3. Other definitions factors to develop a sense of community

  3. Vision: Why Create a Sense of Community?

    1. Small group reflection activity

    2. Why do people join?  Factors to consider

    3. Brain research

    4. Personal rationale

  4. Conditions for Creating a Sense of Community

    1. Safe & Trusting Environment

    2. Balancing “Me” & “We”

    3. Positivity

    4. Understanding Group Development

    5. Intentionality

    6. Other conditions & factors

  5. Putting ideas into practice

    1. Base team discussion and sharing of ideas

    2. Actions as individual, as facilitator, as community member

  6. Closing

8th Dec: pune
15th dec: bengaluru
Facilitating with Social & Emotional Learning in Mind

Social and emotional learning (SEL) is the process through which children and adults understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions. ~

Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL)

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Imagine our world if everyone were socially and emotionally adept!  We can help people gain these attributes and skills through our work as educators and facilitators.  

 

This workshop will bring the concepts of SEL to life and offer an exploration for facilitators to both use the concepts in your work, and support participants in learning how to integrate them into their lives.

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This workshop will use a model developed by CASEL (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning).  Founded in 1994 by Daniel Goleman (author of Emotional Intelligence) and others, this organization is a leader in research, theories, and practice of SEL.  Although created for use in schools, the CASEL model contains universal principles and concepts that can be used in a variety of environments, as the competencies and skills are basic for all human interaction.

Come prepared to participate in group activities, reflect on your practice, and discuss ideas with others who share your interest in using experiential methods to support the development of social emotional learning. 

Outcomes

  • Become familiar with Social Emotional Learning (SEL) competencies and skills

  • Understand why SEL is important for human and community development

  • Explore how to support individuals and groups to develop SEL competencies experientially

  • Leave with ideas for supporting SEL development in one’s professional and personal life

Agenda

  1. Introduction/Context

    1. Welcome and Introductions

    2. Overview of the workshop

    3. Create base teams according to interest

    4. Norms/Agreements for the day

  2. Why is Social Emotional Learning useful/important?

    1. Connections with communities and society as a whole

    2. Our collective vision of how things can be

    3. Teaching, learning, and using SEL with intention to achieve our vision

  3. What is Social Emotional Learning?

    1. 5 Competencies

    2. Related Skills

  4. How can we develop SEL competencies and skills experientially?

    1. The role of intentionality in support of SEL

    2. SEL and the connection with life skills

    3. Activities to support SEL

  5. Putting ideas into practice

    1. A framework for using activities to develop SEL competencies & skills

    2. Assessing SEL in group work

    3. Other ways to address SEL in one’s personal and professional spheres

  6. Closing

 Workshops in Pune & Bengaluru 

LAURIE FRANK & CARLA HACKER

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