Opening Circle Activity and First Session Agenda

Circle Plan * LC Schedule and Ethos * LC Opening Activity and First Session Agenda * Example Projects * Circle Reflections

Opening Activity and First Session Agenda

Five-Word Stories

An Evaluation Writing Warm-up

This narrative contains a summary of both the opening activity I plan to use with my Learning Circle, as well as the general agenda for the first meeting session (estimated at about 1.5 hours). My participants include:

• 3 masters level graduate students in education (Tracey, Becky, Ellen)

• 1 undergraduate student - mathematics major (Jonathan)

• 3 doctoral level graduate students in education (Cara, Keith, Crystal)

• Myself – An Associate Professor of Administrative and Policy Studies, the Director of CEAC, and the students’ “boss”

Context of the Group:

All of these students are either interns or employees (as graduate assistants and one as a fulltime staff member) of CEAC and report to me as both the Director and as a faculty member.

Most have worked together for 2 or 3 years; all of them have spent at least one year working with each other. Some work closely with each other on projects, others more loosely across similar projects. They have been together at planned academic and social events.

Purpose of the Activity:

As a result of knowing each other and working together, the opening activity can serve more as an introduction to this work together (that of the learning circle) and as a fun way to begin to engage in thinking about writing together, rather than serving as an introduction to each other.

The purpose of the activity is to focus on the necessity of being collaboratively creative in writing while having fun.

Directions: Each person begins with a 5-word prompt and then adds exactly five words of his or her own. Pass papers in a circle. Each time the papers are passed, people add exactly five words to the story in front of them in round-robin style. When ready to wrap things up, tell everyone to begin bringing their stories to a close. Finally, pass the papers one last time so people can add their last five words to the ending.

Ask participants to consider the field of evaluation and their experience with writing when they are adding the words to the story.

Five-word story prompt ideas

• Once upon a time there . . .

• The mystery began when the . . .

• In a kingdom far away . . .

• I could barely believe what I was seeing!

• Once, long ago, a tiny . . .

• Last week, while digging in . . .

• Today was far from normal!

• The pathway seemed especially . . .

Debriefing: Each person reads the story that they started with to the whole group. The group can debrief using some of the following questions as jumping off points:

• What was most fun about the exercise?

• What was most challenging?

• What were you individually trying to accomplish with each story? Was it the same or different across stories?

• What considerations did you think of related to the next person in line to write?

• What do you think it might be like to collaboratively learn together? Write together? Publish together?

• What have you thought about wanting to write, create, or produce? (This is a culminating question for the opening activity/debriefing and will lead to brainstorming research/writing agenda items as a way to focus learning from our existing projects).

Brainstorm summary: On the board or projected computer, note key responses and summarize the items below:

• Identify interests, overlapping interests or foci, potential partnerships for writing assignments

• Identify common needs

• Identify strengths, special skills, ways of augmenting each other’s work

• Identify agenda/schedule for the total Learning Circle: purpose, timing, products, how will we know we succeeded?

• Identify next steps and commitments

Session debriefing:

• What kind of learning do you envision as part of the writing?

• What kind of writing do you envision as part of the learning?

• What seems most exciting about what we plan to do? What seems most frightening or risky?

• What concerns do you have?

• What do we need to clear up before proceeding? (This is a common question we tend to ask related to our work and specific projects. It is a way of “ending” meetings by having folks take stock of what they know, how they feel and what issues or concerns remain unaddressed or unsettled. We work to put them on the table to “clear up” anything that might hinder our progress prior to our next meeting.)