For my second group facilitation (the first that I did on my own), I led a life skills group that discussed caring for pets, including the different tasks involved, as well as different perspectives and personal experiences of pet owners.
Introduction: I started out by introducing myself and had everyone else introduce themselves by stating their name as well as their pet's name. We also did an ice breaker which involved a memory chain of stating names and pets' names, so that the person at the end of the line had to state their own name and pet's name, and the previous group member's name and their pet's name all the way back to the beginning. It was a great way to open up the group and I think it gave everyone a good laugh trying to remember all of the names.
Activity: Next, I had the group members brainstorm about what the various tasks are that make up pet care. They ended up naming several more tasks than I had originally thought of; I loved their originality and creativity. The main activity was called "Learning to Expect the Unexpected". This involved pairs of group members each receiving a scenario in which an unexpected circumstance regarding pet care took place. Each pair of members had to brainstorm and come up with a solution to their scenario and act it by role playing or discussing it with the group.
Sharing: Each of the group members shared their personal experience about their own pets and how they got them, what it is like to have their pet and their pets' quirks/personality, or a funny story about their pet.
Processing: I asked the group members if their perspectives on pet care for their own pet changed after they completed the activity. I also asked if they would respond to one of the other group member's scenarios differently, and they gave positive feedback or alternate solutions to the scenarios.
Generalizing: I discussed the many benefits of owning a pet, including stress relief/therapeutic benefits, teaching responsibility, and companionship. I asked the group members to discuss other ways in which responsibilities included in pet care could carry over into other aspects of care taking (i.e. caring for an elderly parent, grandparent, or younger sibling).
Application: Lastly, the group members identified how they could apply the knowledge they learned from the group into their daily lives and other aspects of care taking.
Summary: Thanking the group members for attendance and participation, and closing of the group session.
For me, the most important thing that I learned after facilitating this group was that sometimes I can be my own worst enemy. I had it set in my mind that my group was going to be a flop, it was going to get totally derailed by the other group members, or I would talk so fast because of nerves that my group would not last an appropriate amount of time. Before leading this group, I was terrified that I would stumble over my words, or that the group members would catch on to the fact that I was nervous. I realized at the end of the session that I was probably overthinking it way too much, because several people came up to me afterwards and told me they really liked my group, that it was fun, and it made them laugh. I did the best I could to make the session fun and interactive, and I was so worried that the members wouldn't be engaged because it was at 4:00 in the afternoon, but everyone seemed to enjoy it. Sometimes I get so caught up in judging myself that I forget I am in the same boat as my peers, and we are all just trying to do the best we can. I learned that I am a competent group leader, and even though I was pushed out of my comfort zone, I will be a better practitioner in the long run because I "embraced the gray". :)
After leading this group and hearing from the other members about their pets, I can better relate to the struggles they face on a daily basis with pet care, as we discussed with our scenarios. Sometimes life happens, and the dog may need to go to the vet while you're in the middle of class. Or you come home and find your living room destroyed because they got out of their kennel. Sometimes it might not be possible to go let the dog out on your lunch break because you live an hour away from your school or workplace. The other group members also discussed tasks associated with pet care that I would have never thought of, such as ordering food online instead of picking it up at the store, or changing out cat litter instead of picking up waste with a doggy bag. It also broadened my perspective on different types of pets because I have owned mainly dogs, with the exception of a few cats, in my lifetime. It was very interesting to hear about the experiences of the members that owned a bearded dragon and a hedgehog! As I look to the future for other groups I might lead, I will remember not to be so hard on myself and to just go with the flow, because sometimes my perceptions of myself are not always right. I was very thankful for this learning experience and for going outside of my comfort zone to lead this group, and I hope to continue to build on further improving and fine-tuning my communication skills in the future.
Tuesday, February 20, 2018
Sunday, February 18, 2018
OT 532 Leadership Summitt
For my second group facilitation, I am leading a group on how to take care of your pets. This is a topic that I have a lot of knowledge on, since I grew up with cats, dogs, fish, and even a turtle (just for a day) and I have been raising my dog all on my own for nearly 2 years. I love animals, especially dogs, so I was very interested to hear about other people's pets and what they do to care for them. I will be honest, I had a difficult time coming up with an activity to do for this group. I knew what frames of reference I wanted to use, and what I wanted to talk about, but I couldn't think of a fun, interactive activity that would draw members in. I researched a lot of ideas on Pinterest, but they were more appropriate for Kindergarteners, not graduate students. I received a lot of helpful advice and feedback from the other group leaders on their various topics, and I was able to provide input for other group members as well. It was very interesting to me that I was able to help someone else brainstorm ideas for their topic, which was totally the opposite of what I was doing, and others who had very different topics from myself had lots of great input. It just goes to show that we can always rely on our peers to help us out, and that we should ask questions to our future OT colleagues and colleagues from other disciplines to get a different perspective from our own.
Monday, February 5, 2018
OT 532: Co-Facilitation of a Group Session (Using Your Time Wisely)
For the first group co-facilitation, Cameron, Gracie, and I lead a group targeting professionalism, specifically dealing with time management skills.
Introduction: We started out with an icebreaker activity where the group members had to line themselves up from youngest to oldest, without talking. Then we had the group members identify things they do that they consider wasting time, as well as a strategy that they currently use to manage their time wisely.
Activity: Next, we gave the group members $86,400 in "pretend money" that represented the number of seconds in the day, which translated to how much time they spent
Sharing: Each of the group members shared what they could "buy" with their money, such as paying off loans, putting a down payment on a house, or buying a car.
Processing: This translated into how the group members spent their time, and lead to a discussion of what they learned from the activity, and what they learned about how another person spent their money.
Generalizing: The co-facilitators listed specific examples of how time management skills are important to have as OT students, and asked group members to give their own examples.
Application: Lastly, the group identified how they could apply the knowledge they learned from the group into their daily lives.
Summary: Thanking the group members for attendance and participation, and closing of the group session.
For me, the most important thing that I learned after helping to facilitate the group session was that I spend my time in very similar ways as my peers. Before leading this group, I thought I was the only person that spent way too much time watching Netflix, or perusing social media when I should be studying. This might be because I am so worried about myself and what other people think of me, that I don't tend to focus on what other people think of themselves. This is similar to how I view my level of productivity in general, because I feel like I am never doing enough, or that I could be doing more, and that everyone is so much more productive than I am. I learned that everyone struggles to be productive and manage their time in one way or another, and that I am not alone.
After helping co-lead this group and hear from my peers about the same struggles they have with managing time, I can better relate to my peers and realize that I am more similar to my peers than I previously thought. This makes me feel human, because no one is perfect, and we should give grace to every client we work with. Our clients are human too, and they may face many similar, or even radically different struggles than we do as practitioners. Moving forward, it is important to remove biases and judgment from the way we view our clients so we can see our clients through a clearer lens, and we can treat them the way the would like to be treated - just like everyone else.
Introduction: We started out with an icebreaker activity where the group members had to line themselves up from youngest to oldest, without talking. Then we had the group members identify things they do that they consider wasting time, as well as a strategy that they currently use to manage their time wisely.
Activity: Next, we gave the group members $86,400 in "pretend money" that represented the number of seconds in the day, which translated to how much time they spent
Sharing: Each of the group members shared what they could "buy" with their money, such as paying off loans, putting a down payment on a house, or buying a car.
Processing: This translated into how the group members spent their time, and lead to a discussion of what they learned from the activity, and what they learned about how another person spent their money.
Generalizing: The co-facilitators listed specific examples of how time management skills are important to have as OT students, and asked group members to give their own examples.
Application: Lastly, the group identified how they could apply the knowledge they learned from the group into their daily lives.
Summary: Thanking the group members for attendance and participation, and closing of the group session.
For me, the most important thing that I learned after helping to facilitate the group session was that I spend my time in very similar ways as my peers. Before leading this group, I thought I was the only person that spent way too much time watching Netflix, or perusing social media when I should be studying. This might be because I am so worried about myself and what other people think of me, that I don't tend to focus on what other people think of themselves. This is similar to how I view my level of productivity in general, because I feel like I am never doing enough, or that I could be doing more, and that everyone is so much more productive than I am. I learned that everyone struggles to be productive and manage their time in one way or another, and that I am not alone.
After helping co-lead this group and hear from my peers about the same struggles they have with managing time, I can better relate to my peers and realize that I am more similar to my peers than I previously thought. This makes me feel human, because no one is perfect, and we should give grace to every client we work with. Our clients are human too, and they may face many similar, or even radically different struggles than we do as practitioners. Moving forward, it is important to remove biases and judgment from the way we view our clients so we can see our clients through a clearer lens, and we can treat them the way the would like to be treated - just like everyone else.
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