I am back from a 22 day open enrollment course with Outward Bound. It was my first course, and it was an utter education. I was a part of a co-leader trio, and my co's were supremely experienced and supportive. The course had 11 students on it and while the trip was expedition (backpacking) based, we had technical skill blocks for rock climbing and white water canoe as well. I loved the opportunities to push my technical skills in all 3 realms, as well as to face real challenges in the area of student and behavior management. This trip helped to lay a strong base for me as it was just the start of my Outward Bound career. I am having trouble finding further words to accurately explain anything. The fact of the matter is that I'm still processing and even if I had more articulate words, others won't possibly understand. This is common, to not know how to share, and further if someone says "oh how was it!?" you say "it was so amazing I had a great time!" But that one short sentence response contains a robust monthlong of experiences that you couldn't possibly convey in passing so you just keep it to the short "it was great!" So, without any photos, I am struggling to decide how to share how my course instructing at NCOB has been. I've decided that I ought to use the detailed and dedicated journal that I've been keeping, so I am going to share 2 entries that help to convey some of the thoughts and feelings that are hard to articulate. I write in this journal every night, a full page, as I know how important journaling can be to the reflective part of the experiential education process. Plus, I enjoy it. So without further ado, here's a peer in. Anything in bold is something I added for this post for clarity. 6/11/2019 Today was huge. Every day is f****** huge. Layover at Victor's place after 3 days of rain. In the morn, we sent the students on a 3hr solo (alone reflection time) and we did feedback and planned for the day. Desired outcomes for the day were group culture & task initiative. Lessons were Identity Tree (an intro to diversity activity), TMF Cards (TMF stands for training, main, final- the progression we follow on course. The cards help students visualize what they need to work on), and 5 basic needs (an introduction to Choice Theory). Outcomes were achieved. Students really opened up and were engaged with everything. They appreciated the time to decompress and be a bit more heady. TMF Cards was magical, it really made it clear to them what needs to happen for them to achieve a final, and already by the end of the day, evening flow was almost entirely self-sufficient. Hearing the group decision processes and GPT's (a tool for time management, stands for goal, plan, time) evolving had me beaming with pride. Multiple times I legit felt a tear in my eyes, it's so magical. We are 4 days in and I can see how this is helping the students expand their comfort zones and rise to new challenges. I learned as much today as they did. I'm really starting to grasp TMF and I am so moved by everything that's happening on this course so far. My co leaders are AMAZING to work with. I'm learning a f*** ton and having so much fun. Helps that it was sunny and 75 today too. Love my job! 6/26/2019 Full day of final expedition. Up at 9 (glorious) and out of camp at 12:15 (lol). Final expedition is dope cuz the instructors just get to hike 20ft behind the group and chat about the group/ what's going on/ anything else. One of my co's talked a lot about at-risk programs and training and tools you use there and how that can translate to general enrollment courses. We talked a lot about how we may have done things differently on this course, given what we know now. For example, what lines would we have placed and held firm with regarding exclusivity and/ or toxic conversations. I learn so much just from talking through all that with my co leaders. The group walked straight past our campsite for the night at 6:45pm, and after much ado we finally arrived there at 9:25pm LOL gotta love final (on final expedition we do not let the students know when they are wrong, we let them figure it out). I'm tired, but really enjoyed backpacking today. Here is the only photo I took all course. It was taken on our multi pitch day, 2/3 of the way up the side of Table Rock Mountain, from the "lunch ledge". My co leader was beginning to climb the final pitch while I waited at lunch ledge for the last of our students to arrive with their climbing specialist. I decided my spicy leggings needed to be recorded. Not a bad pic. Overall, things are going incredibly well, I am so happy with my work and my lifestyle. My next course is a 9 day course that leaves on July 6th. I am looking forward to tons more learning, fun, and challenge. Comments are closed.
|
Archives
February 2024
Categories |