See Me
For the natural world in many ways, fall means preparing to slow down, and in some cases, hibernate. When it comes to our challenging context, COVID-19 and community work, the sense I am getting in my meetings with organizations around Rock County is that the opposite is true. Somehow this fall is filling with new energies for new adaptations and ways to work together. Individuals and organizations have built up a tool kit of favorite online platforms and games. We can laugh about Zoom fatigue, and at the same time imagine how a Zoom recording can be only the beginning of a collaboration instead of a low registration number. We are seeing possibilities, and that is the reason why it seemed appropriate for me to share here some of Division of Extension’s learning from our Summer Virtual Learning Calendar. As we see possibilities we also need to ‘see’ how our youth participants know they are ‘seen’.
I had the opportunity to read survey data as well as analyze open response survey questions and interviews conducted with participants from the Summer of Virtual Learning. I organized the main themes within the categories of the Thriving Model Principles of Program Quality.
While all principles were mentioned, participants spoke directly to particular factors.
They include:
- Space Structure-adult driven 15 (participation and content matter)
- Action Steps/Follow Up 13
- Learning (skill, new content) 11
- Safe Sharing Space 10
- Encouragement/Feedback from adults/facilitators 7
- Engagement 7
- Acknowledgment/Acceptance 6
- Share with others 6
- Diversity of Opinion Sought/Valued 6
Themes represent 1) intentionality in the construction of the space, 2) acknowledgment, both in a general sense and in a personalized way that tells them the facilitator hears the participants’ unique way of being/ideas/passions/skills, and 3) relationships and real applications, not passive experiences. What this said to me was that youth were saying that the most important we can do in these spaces is truly “see” them.
In the references below, I include both research articles that informed our team’s initial planning steps and fun resources that colleagues have found along the way. Without digging into those links, the following are the Virtual Learning Community team’s takeaways as a short tip sheet for virtual program development.
These strategies respond directly to the questions:
- What are key Positive Youth Development/tech strategies that support/engage learning?
- What are key PYD/tech strategies to create an engaging space where all participate?
Facilitators should-
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- Intentionally emphasize choices and document them with visuals such as
- Program/calendar descriptions that may also classify opportunities by subject (i.e. culture or STEM)
- Selections for their level of ‘challenge’ (differentiation options or age divisions)
- Variety of possible resources (i.e. guest speakers, videos, articles, games/kahoot, emails, discussion boards, etc) for before, during and after the session
- Create a community building/space structure that emphasize feeling of acceptance for participants
- Apply a uniform participation space for all programs so that when youth show up to any of our virtual spaces they know what to expect. This was mentioned from sessions that were part of a series, but we could coach to make this uniform for all.
- Have more than one adult/facilitator in each session to support both tech and participant engagement
- Use intentional facilitation around acknowledging responses/other acts of participation (feedback)
- Have an awareness and/or capacity to use multiple participation options (chat, annotation, unmute, other platforms)
- Personally ask questions/make sure everyone answers at least once
- Model quality facilitation (support, introduction, setting the tone, account for possible needs (space), guiding with questions when needed)
- Provide alternate forms of participation spaces (i.e. breakout rooms/small groups, a safe space to use if needed from the rest of the group)
- Use intentional facilitation, activities, and nonverbal cues to keep up the ‘energy’
- Intentionally build in ‘next steps’ conversations and options for support
- Share action steps to take after the session and check in on those steps
- Choose activities and questions that make participants feel they are there not just there to receive but to add to the experience
- Recognize/ask about previous leadership experience
- Intentionally emphasize choices and document them with visuals such as
November is a time to appreciate the harvest. I know I gaze with satisfaction at canned and dry goods in my pantry. Still, maybe this time, my shared community work is like parsnips and we will also look forward to harvesting in the spring.
Resources
Below you will find both academic resources and practical virtual tips and tools. Silver lining aside, it is unavoidable that we continue to work through disappointment around what efforts or programming need to look like, feel like, or who they reach in ‘virtual’ world. For that reason, I included a useful set of resources from a 4-H colleague entitled, “CHECK YOUR TECH ATTITUDE.” You might find these videos helpful. New material is added regularly.
While I chose to focus on this particular aspect of virtual learning for November, I cannot omit another area of importance still related to being ‘seen’ for the month of November. November is Native American History month and the first resources listed are related to Native American content. Division of Extension now utilizes Land Acknowledgements at the beginning of programming, another strategy to make sure the unseen are now seen. The resources below provide strong foundations to continue that work.
Native Knowledge 360 https://americanindian.si.edu/nk360 is an educational initiative that provides instructional resources and professional development.
The Allies of Native Nations is a group of Rock County, Wisconsin residents who are interested in creating a platform from which they can help to illuminate issues in the Native community and provide a safe space in which Natives and non-Natives discuss those issues. The Allies of Native Nations will also work with other community organizations to help provide educational opportunities. Allies of Native Nations Resource Guide and a companion zoom can also be found on their website https://www.datrockco.org/allies-of-native-nations-committee/
The work of Cynthia Leitich Smith is one example of the growing number of juvenile fiction and nonfiction books available written by Native American authors. Her website includes teaching resources as well. https://cynthialeitichsmith.com/2020/04/home-classroom-teaching-native-american-childrens-teens-books-resources/
“Tips for Teachers: Developing Instructional Materials about American Indians” that is now available at American Indians in Children’s Literature. It is downloadable as a PDF that can be shared. Here’s the link to the Tips page:
https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2020/10/tips-for-teachers-developing.html
We and Me: There is a link in the video description for some free digital resources. How Are Virtual Meetings Different From Face-To-Face Meetings?
Training Wheels: Michelle Cummings: Team Building from 6 Feet Apart. This is a long one, but has some great ideas for our in-person meetings when we need to maintain physical distance between all of our participants: Team Building From Six Feet Apart This is the recorded Zoom session from June 11, 2020 on Team Building From Six Feet Apart by Michelle Cummings of Training Wheels. Link to download the Handout: https://training-wheels.com/trainings-workshops/staff-training/ All other links and activities mentioned in the video are included in the handout as hyperlinks.
Playmeo: There’s nothing like engaging with folks from Singapore, Germany, Brazil, Spain, and the US all at once to understand the truly global nature of this pandemic! Mark’s got a lot of short videos on his YouTube channel, but if you’ve got the time to watch and learn, you’ll get so much from this webinar (with lots of other facilitation experts like Amy Climer.) Webinar 10+ Tips to Amplify Engagement & Connections for Virtual Audiences – A Collaborative Event
Essential Components for Successful Virtual Communities
https://joe.org/joe/2008august/a1.php Read this article if you are interested in: Community Engagement, Co-lead, Co-learn, Shared passion, Collaboration, Recruitment, Mentorship
5 Key Elements of a Successful Online Community
https://devada.com/5-key-elements-of-a-successful-online-community/ Read this article if you are interested in regularly assessing satisfaction, connection to mission/vision while still encouraging participants to be invested long term in knowledge sharing and connection that they inform the design.
If you are focused on instruction specifically, you might find the following links useful.
https://www.elearninglearning.com/examples/virtual-learning-environment/
https://www.elucidat.com/blog/best-elearning-examples/
https://teachremotely.harvard.edu/best-practices
If you are more focused on learning and belonging versus instruction, try http://www.ascd.org/publications/newsletters/education-update/may20/vol62/num05/Why-We-Need-Differentiation-Now-More-Than-Ever.aspx?utm_source=ascdexpress&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1521-restart
And, of course, 4-H specifically https://joe.org/joe/2020june/comm1.php
