This year the Dean of Students office developed a new orientation program for ninth graders. A big component of the community building orientation occurred on the first Sunday of the school year as all ninth graders and a dozen or so teachers bused up to the University of New Hampshire Browne Center. The Browne Center’s amazing staff put together an outdoor challenge and team-building day that embraced this as a preliminary experience to Harkness classes. Students reported that this made a real difference in learning to actually collaborate, listen, try, fail & recover, etc…
The Browne Center facilitators had the groups make the illustrations above, and amend them as new qualities emerged through different activities. It sounds like a fabulous program and next year I will be sure to attend!
Teaching Around the Oval 