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Session Summaries: LUHS Freshman/Sophomore Group, Spring '07 |
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Intercultural
Leadership Initiative
2006-2007
Freshmen & Sophomores LUHS Activity Period
April 25, 2007 Session #15
9:45-10:15am
2006-2007
Freshmen & Sophomores LUHS Activity Period
April 25, 2007 Session #15
9:45-10:15am
LUHS ILI Students: 12 ILI Staff: Craig Kerr, Matt White
After the students signed in Matt had them all congregate at one end of the room. When they were all settled he gave them the challenge of moving together as a group (defined as everyone in the group being connected to someone else in the group creating one big ….blob type shape) from one end of the room to the other using only up to 11 hands and 11 feet. They then insisted that Craig and Matt join in. This made for a total of 14 people moving with only 11 feet and hands in contract with the ground. They worked on ideas for a while and came up with a solution that used 11 feet and only 6 hands. They then successfully completed the task.
Matt then called them together and asked what they saw happen. They listed a number of physical and communication examples. Matt then asked what was happening at the level of experience beneath that. They said “listening, teamwork, communicating, ideas” and a few others. Matt then asked if there was a level of thought beneath that. They said “thinking”. Matt then asked them to think of different layers of communication that they see at LUHS. Words. Actions. Feelings. He then asked if there were any inconsistencies that people in the group have shown to others in the group when we aren’t in an ILI session. For example do we say “nice to see you” at Weds morning ILI but then ignore someone at lunch. Matt then tied it to how our character will show itself by telling a story from his childhood where he was publicly kind but secretly unkind to certain people.
Craig then talked a little about how ILI is a place where we want to challenge ourselves to learn how others communicate and then to choose to communicate good things to them. ILI has the ability to be a good example of this in the places where we live, work, and play. Then time was up.
Bob
Kovar, Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
2006-2007
Freshmen & Sophomores LUHS Activity Period
April 11, 2007 Session #14
9:45-10:15am
LUHS ILI Students: 16 ILI Staff: Craig Kerr, Matt White, Alice McFarlane.
Matt started off today explaining the reasons for the annual survey the students were going to take. There are many people and organizations that support ILI and we have a responsibility to them, and all of our participants, to evaluate our progress and effectiveness. The annual survey is one evaluation tool that we are able to use to show the impact of the program on the students.
After the students had completed the survey, Matt asked them to write any questions or comments they had from the survey. One student asked what the word ‘assumption’ means. Matt used a number symbol game to explain the word. Some of the students have already played the game, so he asked them to not give away the answer. Using several pencils, Matt made a symbol on the floor, and then the students had to guess what number it was. The catch is that the pencils have nothing to do with the number. Each time, he made a symbol with his fingers on the floor to represent the number. More numbers were called out as the students caught on. Matt explained how we assume that the pencils are part of the solution, instead, we need to look at the big picture and take it all in.
We closed with an announcement about the Culture Fair this Friday at the Lac du Flambeau grade school, One Sky Two Views.
Bob
Kovar, Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
2006 – 2007
LUHS Freshman and Sophomore Session # 13
Multi-Purpose Room 9:40a.m. – 10:14a.m.
3/14/07
ILI Students: 20
ILI Staff: Ernie St. Germaine, Matt White, and Craig Kerr
All of the students were sad to see the spring floor replaced with the green tarp that lets us know that gymnastics is over and indoor track has started.
Craig had all of the students form a circle and we began by having the students who mentored the 4th graders tell us about their experiences. It was fun to see them talk about their experiences with mentoring 4th graders.
After the students were done sharing about working with the fourth graders, Craig asked is the students remembered what they had done the last time they met. One student responded that we wrote things down. The idea was to continue with that list they had come up with last time we met on the 28th of Feb.
Craig asked the students to break up in to two groups of about 10. Then, they were suppose to build the biggest “foot tower” they could possibly build. A foot tower is a tower of feet stacked heel to toe. The groups split up and began their work. The groups got to work right away. No planning needed just action! It was fun to see their trial and error approach to solving this problem. One group built a tower about 7 feet (standard measure) and the other group was about 7 ½ - 8 feet. They were proud of their accomplishments.
Craig had them all come back and sit in the circle. He asked them if they noticed how they split up their groups. No one would say how the groups split up. Craig asked what they were afraid of saying. (The groups had split up with one group being “Native” students and the other group was primarily “White” students). The students said that they did not what to say anything that was offending to the other group of students. One student said that it was easier not to talk about these things. Craig talked about the importance of talking about these things in a group like ILI. Craig talked about his family and how they did not really talk things through when he was growing up and how that was not a real good thing and Matt talked about how his family talked and talked and talked until the issue was resolved. Craig asked the students what ILI was about. The students answered that it was about interacting with different people; it was about learning about other people’s culture; it was learning about people who are different.
Ernie talked to the students about an experiment of putting oil and water together and that when you shake it up that they mix but after a while they begin to separate. He then went on to talk about working with the 4th graders the day before. There was an activity where the students had to split into three groups. One girl in particular was not really joining a group and ended up in a group with all boys. Ernie went on to explain that she was not really interacting with the group and one boy as they were spelling out their word said to her you can dot the “I”. He consciously involved her even though she was not interacting with the boys. Then he asked the students if it was okay that they split up like they did. Ernie went on to explain that grouping with people that you are comfortable with is normal as long as that grouping does not keep a person from getting to know and appreciate another person from a different group of people.
Lots to talk about and not near enough time!
The next meeting is April 11
Bob
Kovar, Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
2006-2007
Freshmen & Sophomores LUHS Activity Period
February 28, 2007 Session #12
9:45am-10:15am
ILI Students: 20
ILI Staff: Craig Kerr and Matt White
This group of students always comes into every session with a lot of energy. Craig had the students gather into a circle and talked with the students about the upcoming sessions with the 4th graders. The students were excited to work with their mentees again. We also had some more students express interest in working with 4th graders. Craig talked with the students about the responsibilities the LUHS students have as they mentor the younger students. He also emphasized that if he did not see those qualities he would not be able to take them to mentor the younger students.
Craig then had the students play “Mosquito Tag.” The students wholeheartedly participated in this activity and we played three times. Craig then had the students return to a circle. He started by asking them if they remembered playing that in grade school. Some of the students did and others did not remember. He then asked the question of the students if ILI had helped them as they entered LUHS. A majority of the students responded that ILI had helped them as they entered into LUHS. A student responded that being in ILI had helped them meet new people and that they recognized them when they all came to LUHS. Another student said they were not as scared of people and ILI helped them have a more open mind about others.
Craig then asked the students if they thought there was a difference in ILI at LUHS and in grade school. Most of the students agreed that it was different. Then he asked the students what they wanted in ILI for the high school. This seemed to be a difficult question for them to answer, so Craig asked a different question. He asked if there were things at the school that they would like to see changed. They all answered that they thought there were things that needed to change. Matt handed out paper and markers and the students wrote about what they would like to see change in the student-to-student interactions. After they were finished, Craig asked them who could change those things that they had written on the paper. A few students answered “we can”. Craig then encouraged the students to change the things they did not like about the student-to-student in their own interactions. As is always the case, the bell rang, and the students departed.
The next meeting is March 14.
Bob
Kovar, Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
2006-2007
Freshmen & Sophomores LUHS Activity Period
February 14, 2007 Session #11
9:45am-10:15am
ILI Students: 15
ILI Staff: Matt White and Craig Kerr.
After a few moments of mingling, Matt introduced an activity called “Mushrooms”. It is an activity that includes elements of Tag, Dodge-ball and working with a partner. It is an active game that has become one of the favorites for many in the group. As the time came to a close, Craig called us back to a circle and asked people to think about what kind of actions and words were used in the game. Then he asked everyone to think about how some of those things could be misinterpreted or taken the wrong way if we did not know each other well enough. We left with encouragement to think about how people see not just our words but our physical speaking as well.
The next time these folks will get together is Wednesday, the 28th of February.
Bob
Kovar, Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
2006-2007
Freshmen & Sophomores LUHS Activity Period
January 24, 2007 Session #9
9:45am-10:15am
ILI Staff: Matt White, Craig Kerr, and Alice McFarlane
We began this morning as we often do, in a circle. Craig welcomed everyone and talked about Bob accepting an award from the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families in Madison. He explained to them that people from across the state of Wisconsin chose ILI for this award to recognize and celebrate the hard work we all (the students and staff) are doing to positively change some of the negative attitudes and behaviors that have existed in this area for a long time. We consider these students to be the role models for the rest of the community and indeed the state. Craig told them we are very proud of them for what they are doing.
Craig introduced a new activity called “Fireball.” Fireball is an activity we read in Chris Cavert’s book Affordable Portables. Here is how he describes it. “Players form a large circle and toss the ball to each other following these rules:
1) Players cannot make any vocal noises.
2) Players cannot make a bad catch.
3) Players cannot make a bad throw.
Do not define the rules for the players. If they ask, just say, “It is up to you and only you.” Observe how rules are interpreted. If a rule is broken, the player must step back from the circle and kneel down on one knee. These players are no longer allowed to catch or throw the fireball. The game continues until only 2 or 3 players remain. We then stress the point that it is the individual’s choice to kneel down, being a test of honesty and honor within themselves.
The students really liked this activity. They participated very intently. There were a lot of questions before we started and they were all answered with, “It is up to you to decide.” After the first round we decided as a group what constitutes a good throw. This process took a while and Craig was being very purposeful in trying to define a “good catch.” After the students were more than satisfied with the definition we played again. It was interesting to see how the students eliminated themselves from this activity. After the second round we took some time to talk about the activity.
Craig asked the students “if you lost did you sit down?” Some of the students said yes and other students said no because they were following the rules. He went on to explain about how we interpret rules in our lives, reputations of “cheaters” and how hard it is to overcome that reputation. The purpose of this activity is to help students assess how their choices not only are interpreted by others, but how those choices affect how they ultimately feel about themselves as well.
There is a real question of what is fair and what is not fair in young people’s lives in the high school. Is there an equal playing field? What constitutes “fairness”? These are very important questions we hope to be able to help students discuss in the future.
The next meeting is February 14
Bob Kovar, Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
2006-2007
Freshmen & Sophomores LUHS Activity Period
January 10, 2007 Session #8
9:45-10:15am
ILI Staff: Craig Kerr, Alice McFarlane, Ernie St. Germaine, Matt White, Bob Kovar.
Today we started out session with a new activity Stephanie St. Germaine taught us. It is an activity we are calling “Up, Down, Go!” The students had to get into pairs. After they found their pair, one stood behind the other, in a circle. When the leader yells, “Up!” the partner in the back jumps up on their partner’s back. When the leader yells, “Down!” the partner on the back dismounts. And, when the leader yells, “Go!” the back partner runs around the circle until they reach their partner again, crawl through their legs and retrieves an object from the middle of the circle. There is one less object than partners. So, one pair will not be able to retrieve an object, and they will have to sit out until the next round. The students really got into this activity and had a great time with it. We played two round of “Up, Down, Go!”
After the second round, Matt had the students get a different partner and introduced the concept of finding similarities and differences. He then had the students take a look at their partner and then they stood back to back and one of the students changed something about their appearance. They then turned and faced one another and had to guess what they had changed. He had them repeat it with the other partner changing something about themselves. After that activity he had them discuss what they had in common and what they did not have in common.
When the students were done discussing their similarities and differences, Matt had them come in to the circle and led a discussion on they positives and negatives of similarities and differences. The conversation evolved into an emphasis on helping the students recognize the bad things that can happen between people when miscommunication, anger, hate, jealousy and rumors conspire together. We talked about how recognizing and coping with these is critically important in making decisions and personal choices.
The next meeting is January 24, 2007
Bob Kovar, Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative