Look at the list of experiential elements that should be a part of most or all experiential activities. Find a way to categorize these elements in 4 to 8 categories that could be put on a rubric to talk about an activity. (Think of this as funneling 20 elements into 4 - 8 natural categories)
(click image to enlarge)
After
coming up with these categories, I organized the class into groups of
three and each group was tasked with sharing their categories and then
agreeing upon 4 - 8 categories that best represented the list. These
groups then combined with another group of three and did the same thing.
This left two groups that then met, shared the categories that their
groups had refined, and produced one final group of categories. The
master group of categories that the class selected were: To Be, To Have,
and Fun. Elements were sorted into these categories as follows:
We then did an activity in which the class had to fit everyone on a tarp and then flip the tarp over. In this activity, one side of the tarp was labeled "Traditional English" and the other was labeled "Experiential English." When we debriefed the activity we talked about what worked well, what was challenging, and how the tarp flip from the "Traditional English" side to the "Experiential English" side could represent our experience in attempting to make the same transition in our class.
In the last few minutes we talked about using the "To Be," "To Have," and "Fun" rubric to assess how well this activity went. This assessment would include both the activity and the debrief. Everyone should write this debrief for homework and we will talk about these discussions next class.
Homework:
Evaluate how well you feel today's activity went (including the debrief). Discuss the activity and debrief in terms of the "To Be," "To Have," and "Fun" categories that we created today in class.
Read from your free choice book.
