Ysette

This was intense for everyone in the room

Image

Credit: Lindsay Adamski

The second retreat workshop, “Bank Robbery,” came wholesale from MacGregor’s book. It’s an activity designed to lay bare the communication styles of a group by requiring it to solve a crime. Everyone got two or three unique clues, which they had to share orally, without writing anything down or moving around. YAB, in other words, had to talk this one through. And they had 25 minutes to do so.

I had no idea if they were going to be able to figure out the mystery in time, though I informed them that the process would be illuminating either way. YAB spent the first ten minutes trying to arrive at a reasonable method for sharing their clues. They tried going around in a circle, then they attempted to jump around the group by linking seemingly related clues, and then they argued about whose clues were the most important. Lindsay, Amy, and I kept eyeing each other. I don’t think any of us were optimistic about YAB coming to a solution.

But then something happened about halfway through the process. (more…)

By Ysette, ago

What Do You Bring to the Table?

The neurotic lesson planner in me always arrives to classes or workshops with a surplus of material because as a young teacher one of my biggest nightmares was to run out of things to do and—heaven forfend—have to wing it in the classroom. I went into the YAB retreat hoping to get through three team building activities. All of them were brand new, so I was a little nervous about inaugurating them and seeing how they would come together in practice. In the end we had to cut the 15-minute communication skills activity I’d planned and run a bit into the post-workshop hour. But Amy, Lindsay, and I were all expecting this retreat to be as much a learning experience for us as it would be for YAB, and we ended up being extremely pleased with the results of the team building activities.

We kicked the weekend off with “What Do You Bring to the Table,” a workshop idea I adapted from Mariam MacGregor’s Teambuilding with Teens. I designed this activity as a way for everyone to focus on their fellow YAB members’ strengths and also to learn why they are valued by their peers. Here is how we went about it:  (more…)

By Ysette, ago

Love letters to YAB (and a confession)

I think I can come clean about a couple of things now that this retreat has come and gone: First is that I’ve wanted to go on a retreat with this group since I first started talking to Amy Chou about working with them last summer, so this past weekend was quite literally a dream come true. Second is that when Amy asked me if helping youth organizations draft mission statements and constitutions was part of the work I did, I kinda’ fibbed when I said yes. The truth was more along the lines of yes, it’s work I would like to do, but no, it’s not work I’ve ever done before. When she engaged my services I remember hanging up the phone and wondering what I had just gotten myself into.

Here I am, about a year later, so very lucky to have spent two days in Jersey with this lovely bunch:

IMG_3200

In the order that they appear in my photo stream, I’d like to say a few words about each of these fine folks. (more…)

By Ysette, ago