Resources and Professional Development
Topics of “changemaking” professional development for educators:
All sessions can be adjusted for time allowances between 45 minutes to 3 hours+ (unless otherwise noted). Some of the topics work best when delivered across multiple days, as noted below.
Classroom Culture Reset – Are classroom dynamics bringing you down? If there are challenging behaviors or relationships in your classroom/s, this workshop will provide Changemaking-based activities you can use with students (or co-facilitate with/for a colleague) to re-break the ice, restore empathy, and set collaborative norms going forward.
• UWYV staff are available to join classes as guest facilitators for Changemaking activities, allowing the teacher to participate fully
• Offered as a two-part workshop that combines dialogue and train-the-trainer formats with opportunity for reflection and feedback (at least two weeks should span the sessions)
Sparking Ownership for Learning – Educators take on enormous responsibility for cultivating learning for their students, but what responsibility do your students have in this equation? This workshop will provide the opportunity to reflect on how the beliefs and habits of students in classrooms—yours and others’—over time can result in disengaged learners. Learn some simple techniques to reframe your thinking to empower students and kick complacency to the curb!
• One-part workshop
Classroom Activities that Build Connection and Belonging – This train-the-trainer style session provides 3-4 proven group activities that learners of all ages can enjoy (with minimal groaning!) while learning about themselves and others. We will practice the activities and discuss best practices and options for facilitating with conditions in mind including group composition, ages, and duration.
• Two-part workshop, each at least one hour long
Creative Collaboratives: Design Dynamic Lessons and Units with a Friend (pairs/teams should attend together) – Need a work-related excuse to partner up with a pal? Mash-ups of like and unlike things often result in entirely new and exciting creations! In this planning session, you and your fellow teacher/colleague, will create a fun lesson plan or unit that combines your interests, expertise, and/or curriculum requirements. No need to come with an idea already in mind as we’ll meet you where you are at, either helping to jumpstart your creative process or providing planning support to design a learning experience that will wow students, while filling your cup.
• One-part workshop, at least 90 minutes long; Optional second part to share back results with original group
Real World Learning from Real World People – Students crave learning that they believe serves tangible future purpose—what better way to demonstrate real world applicability than to have a local speaker join your classroom? Whether inviting a community member to share about their career and the pathways that got them there, bringing in a practitioner of a specific industry to bring lessons to life, or offering students the opportunity to share their perspectives with outside adults, interacting with members of the community during short classroom visits are easy to plan and yield tremendous value. This workshop covers tips for successfully matching your classrooms need with community resources, brainstorming possible guests, and guidance for setting expectations to ensure a positive result.
• One-part workshop
Youth Venture 101: Using the Action Planning Model in the Classroom – Looking to give students choice and voice in your classroom, but need an efficient and effective way to manage diverging ideas? The 20-year old successful UWYV program simplifies any youth-driven project with the Action Planning tool, which can easily be broken into smaller assignments and lessons, ultimately resulting in consistently high quality student-led projects. While having choice and voice in their project areas, students will also learn key skills including goal setting, root cause analysis, research, budgeting, civics/advocacy, teamwork, and self-reflection. This workshop provides training to use the Action Plan tool and numerous accompanying resources including access to recorded mini-lesson and examples of projects created by students in grades 2-12.
• One-part workshop
• Optional in-classroom support, as guest facilitator, further training, and/or lesson planning
Club Advisor Training: How to Stay in your “Advisor” Lane – Do you dread the idea of the work involved in supervising a student-led club? Perhaps you love being a club advisor though you somehow always seem responsible for the burden of follow-through? Clubs are a great way for you to share a personal interest and/or build meaningful connections with students on topics that don’t fit into the school day. This two-part training offers guidance to help you give ownership for club activities, decisions, and implementation to students. Group discussion will support creation of trust-based norms within your club that allow you to confidently let go of control, turn the keys over to students, and kick your feet up on the dash.
• One- or two-part workshop depending on support/coaching needs
Designing for Wellbeing: Mapping a Personal Plan for When Times Get Tough – Recent events have reinforced that though circumstances may be out of our control, some advanced planning is better than no planning. Organizations engage in contingency planning to consider possible future scenarios and prepare for tough circumstances; families often have emergency plans or savings—so why don’t we do the same for our personal well-being? This reflective session will guide individuals through a personal mapping exercise to identify key values-aligned resources you can leverage for support in challenging times. Stress doesn’t result in our best thinking, so preparing now with a plan for how you will leverage your personal inventory of the people, tools, and solutions that work for you will make those tough moments more manageable. The process also takes into account proactive measures that prioritize your well-being.
• One-part workshop, at least 60 minutes
Connecting the Dots Between Learning Objectives and the Real World – How many times have your students asked, why do we need to know this? Though the answer to this question may not be straightforward or easy, and might even take away time from planned activities, many would make a case that facilitating conversation around this essential “Why” is key to sparking student curiosity and ownership. This session will provide the opportunity for collegial discussion about respectful discourse, developing curiosity as a muscle, and how we can encourage students to value today’s lessons in the context of their future selves.
• One-part workshop
Here are some additional resources that provide a glimpse into the philosophy of changemaking:
Click here to view our Changemaker Magazine!
What is this concept of “changemaking” and why is it so important?
Read this article, written by Bill Drayton, founder of Ashoka.
How do we equip students to lead in a rapidly changing world?
We are excited at your interest and look forward to providing more information!
Contact Lauren Mountain at lmountain@mwcc.mass.edu or 978-630-9201