Page 4 - Play to Learn -- In the New Nursing Home Environment

ActivitiesandGames3
OBSERVER WORKSHEET
Please do not allow anyone else to read this sheet. Please do not allow any one to look over your shoulder as you read it.
Please do not discuss the contents with anyone else.
Please watch the activity and look for the following:
Do participants:
Take the tasks seriously?
Listen to each other’s views?
Express their opinions even when unpopular?
Share the leadership role?
What interesting dynamics did you observe in the group?
List at least four specific behaviors you observed.
You will not be expected to name names or point fingers, but after the activity (or debriefing of participants) you will be asked to share your observations of the exercise.
*Speaking of debriefing, you can always do a learning circle at the end of an activity and ask, “How did it feel to do this activity?” Or, “what did you learn from this activity?”
When the activity is built around sharing experiences or ideas and you want to insure equal participation from everyone (that is talkers listen and quiet folks speak up) you may choose to use the learning circle format. Please see the Learning Circle rules on Page 60.
• “Movers and Stayers” is another format to use for
sharing activities. It can be done at a table, in two lines
of chairs facing each other or in concentric circles fac-
ing each other. The idea is that half the group(the outside circle, one of the lines or every other person at the table) are movers the others are the stayers. Both parties in the pairs can share or after each move either only the mov-
ers or only the stayers share. The facilitator chooses an appropriate time length for each round depending on how much information is being shared and if one or both in the pair are sharing.
So, for example, say the topic is “a story of an elder going through a transformation” in which only one person will share each time. The facilitator begins the activity saying “This time the movers will share.”The movers tell their sto- ries, after two minutes the facilitator calls “switch” and the movers move to the next mover’s spot on their right. The facilitator says, “This time the stayers share.” Again, after the decided amount of time the facilitator calls “switch.”
INTRODUCTION