Professional Development Day

So, yesterday, Adaptive Arts had our first Professional Development/training day and we are still reeling over the massive amount of courage and creativity our participants brought. So much so that a full update will have to wait. BUT, we wanted to post our plans for the day. As we made our way through the training lessons got adjusted, exercises got added, some got cut, we (because it's hard to avoid this pun) adapted the lessons as we went along. However, we thought it might be interesting to post what we wanted to focus on going into the day, what we intended to teach.

so here goes:

Session one: Ensemble building/Welcome (11:00- 11:30am)

- Introductory games and hellos
o “Cross the room”
 Description: Participants will form two lines. Facilitator will provide side coaching in the form of introductory questions. If the question applies to the student, they will cross the room, switching lines.
 Rationale: This will give participants an opportunity to learn a little about their peers. They will be able to quickly notice similarities and differences among the group and bond in new ways.

o “move v. action”
 Description: Participants will form one large circle in the space. The facilitator will model this first and then the participants will follow in a clockwise motion along the circle. The facilitator will describe an action (ex. “I am climbing a rope”) and perform an action that does not correlate (ex. performing a jumping jack). The student next to them will then have to describe the action their neighbor actually performed while performing a different, new action (ex. they will say “I am doing a jumping jack” while miming that they are sweeping the floor).
 Rationale: This is a game that tests the participants’ level of attention. They will be forced to attend to and listen to their peers. This also builds on the
 participants level of false belief (or theory of mind) which is a skill lacking in those individuals on the spectrum.


Session two: Information on population (11:30am-12:15pm)

- Using brain-blasts, we will acknowledge deficits in knowledge on autism and explore basic terminology within the community
o Description: Around the room will be posters asking questions about autism. Participants will be asked to walk about the room and respond to the questions. We will then briefly go over the participants’ answers to the questions and the correct answers from the field.
o Rationale: This will build a core knowledge within the group on autism and inspire them to learn more, leading to our next activity.

- “two men in a boat”
 Description: Participants will walk about the room. Facilitator will yell out “two men in a boat” and when he/she does, participants must find a partner for their boat. Sometimes this game is played where the participants must hug their boat buddies, but as this population is sometimes uncomfortable with physical contact, participants will be given the option of simply standing next to their buddy. After they find a partner, they will be told to return to walking. Facilitator will then yell out another number of people in a boat and they must find the corresponding number of boat buddies. After a few rounds, they will be told “five people in a boat.” These five people will become their group for the next session.
 Rationale: As a transition tool into the next activity, this will get the participants moving around the space and mingling with new people. This will also help randomize the groups for the next session.

- Using living newspaper practices we will learn a bit about autism and the arts
o Description: In four small groups, participants will be assigned to one of four articles. They will then be asked to quickly read them and discuss how to dramatize them. They will then be sharing short improved scenes for the other groups incorporating three facts from their article.
 Articles include: “Make School Make Sense for Me,” “My Son is not a Monster,” “A Case for Teaching Functional Skills,” and “Autism Worksheet.”
o Rationale: This will be an interactive way to share some knowledge between groups. It will also be an introduction for our artists to a new type of theater technique.


Lunch Break (12:15-12:45pm)

- When we return from lunch, each participant will be asked to find an index card around the room. They will each have one of four colors on it. The colors they chose will decide their groups for the next exercise.


Session three: focusing on our senses (12:45- 1:15pm, each group will have 10 minutes for each activation)
- Because this is a sensory driven population, we will play games that invoke/use our senses.
o Group 1: Touch/sound/sight: Boal Obstacle Game
 Description: One student will volunteer to be the pilot, one as the airplane, and the other three will serve as obstacles. The airplane will be blindfolded and put on one side of the room. The obstacles will place themselves between the airplane and the pilot. The pilot’s job will be to safely lead the airplane around the obstacles and to him/her using only his/her voice. The airplane will have to trust the pilot and rely on his/her senses besides sight. After this is completed, participants will switch roles.
 Rationale: This will let the participants begin to focus on their senses and the importance they play in everyday jobs like successfully crossing the room.

o Group 2: Puppets: Make your own from newspaper!
 Description: Participants will be given sections of newspaper and asked to create their own puppets. They can do this in groups or individually.
• Materials needed: newspaper, tape
 Rationale: This will give participants a look into the many everyday objects that can be used in low budget, quick ways to inspire participants to activate their imaginations using puppets.

o Group 3: Masks/emotions
 Description: Using images from magazines as masks, we will explore their emotive power. Participants will be asked to choose the mask they are drawn too and move about the space interacting with other masked participants. Once they feel comfortable with the masks, they will be asked to exhibit specific emotions using their bodies.
 Rationale: Participants can begin to explore how taking on a different characters/emotions affects their body and movements.

Session four: Introducing Alice (1:15- 2:15pm)
- Using the knowledge we’ve developed so far, participants will be split into small groups. Each small group will read through a short scene from the play we are producing (Alice sit by the Fire) and brainstorm things within it that might be “points of entry” for participants; this can be as basic as something like “what is a costume?” to something a bit more in depth like character or theme
- Groups will then have an opportunity to “test out these ideas” or activate them, acting as participants for each other.

Session five: Regroup and reflect (2:15pm)

- Large group discussion of experience of the day
- I will also pass out basic response sheets/surveys for participants to fill out regarding the experience.