1) As Mentors and Facilitator-trainers, we should be able to handle a group's arguments in such a way that helps the individual members of that group become more aware of how those arguments arose; such an awareness does not place blame, but seeks to clearly see what happened in the conversation. This also helps us understand how what we say and do can be interpreted differently by different audiences, so we need to be aware of audience assumptions.
As we saw during our discussion, some Studio groups will have antagonistic students that intend to harm others. For those cases, we need to help Facilitators determine when they can turn such instances into "teaching moments" by increasing the group's awareness of conversational dynamics; when they will need to enforce respect by reminding students of Studio's ground rules and supportive nature; and when they'll need to just "let it go." Of course, these will be situational, but we can help Facilitators be aware of the variety of situations they will encounter.
2) I wanted to increase the "safety" of our own group by bringing an unresolved conflict back to the surface of our conversation, to resolve it; otherwise, it would manifest in other ways. Lakey might say that this makes everyone "uncomfortable," and that this discomfort leads to learning. I think we did as much learning as we could do during that session.
We then went around and explained our personal, selected revisions to the existing training program. I was excited to see our revisions incorporate elements of Schunk & Zimmerman's research compilation, as well as suggestions gleaned from last year's experience. From these revisions, these themes and concepts emerged:
Clear and specific expectations of Facilitators
Facilitator-centered Training, emphasizing Facilitator research and development of usable SRL strategies for use during Studio
Identify SRL phases to aid Facilitators view of student work
Training and Studio language reflects SRL
Use experiential learning activities during training
Emphasize Studio's integration within University, not simply EOF
Build group dynamics, and awareness of group dynamics
Use learner-inclusive strategies to privilege all learners
Emphasize importance of Facilitators relating to students, and instruct how
Student-orientation of Studio, emphasizing support
These will serve to guide us as we revise the content of this year's training, and as we revise the actual language of the Facilitator Training website, which is where we went next.
We updated Sam's comprehensive list of training topics, and took responsibility for developing each:
1. Introduction; Objectives; Job Description: DeGarcia/ Vanessa
2. What-If; Responses: Simone, Marie and Tim
3. Introduction to Studio Language/Theory/ Discourse: Eric
4. Jeopardy: Sam
5. L2 Learners Support Groups: Eric, Sam, Nic, Vanessa
6. Quiz: Sam
7. Creating Effective Group Dynamic: Tim
8. Reading Protocol: Nic, Musheerah
9. Interactive Inquiry Practices: Nic
10. Mock Studio Sessions: Everyone
11. Writing Prompts; Ice-Breakers; Container Exercise: Tim, Eric, Sam
12. Data Collecting Practices; Notations; Pre/Post Survey: Angela, Simone, Nic, Sam
13. Technology; Using Net Books; Purpose of Electric Portfolio; Kean Google Tutortrac Training: Vanessa, Sam, Angela
14. Course List of Summer: Marie
15. High Order Concerns vs. Low Order Concerns: Musheerah
16. First 5 minutes: Angela
17. Reflective Assessment of Training
18. Dress Code: Nic and Tim
19. FACEBOOK; TWITTER : Simone, Eric (Sam)
20. Self-Regulated Learning: Nic, Simone, Tim, Sam
[Thanks, Sam!] Accordingly, we also each took responsibility for making revisions to the Facilitator Training website We divided ourselves into training groups A & B for the morning and "afternoon" sessions.
And that's where we are, heading into our final week. I'm elated to see this cohering, and looking forward to next week, as we bring our individual revisions together and hash out our preferences.
For Tuesday, June 7:
1) Develop and create any actual documents and/or activities you plan to use during Facilitator Training: revised protocols; alterations of data collection; assessment; experiential learning activities [it may help to review Lakey's Part III, and look at http://www.trainingforchange.org/]; writing prompts; Brainology; SRL-related material; L2-specific material for Facilitators, etc.
We want to have these to review during Tuesday's class, and so we can go ahead and finalize the conceptual timeline.
2) Revise the actual language of your section(s) of the Facilitator Training Website:
https://sites.google.com/site/kueeostudio/home
3) Bring at least two pieces of writing to present during a Writing Studio session. To make this fun (and productive to us as writers), one of these can be a "creative" piece, an academic piece, or any other piece you'd like feedback on. The second piece should be the website sections and/or content you're writing for your Facilitator Training topics. Of course, both pieces you bring can be material for Facilitator Training.
For both, prepare for Studio by writing the following: A) state your audience, focus, purpose; B) state the progress you've made thus far; C) state what kind of feedback you'd like from the group.
Post these on your blog, or email them to all, viewable via google doc. I think we have everyone's email address, but I'll send an email with everyone included.
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