Teach Workshops

Yesterday was my second workshop on Facilitation, this one focused on Preparation & Planning. It was a great opportunity to go over my instructor Tree Bressen’s material again, and while there was limited attendance, those who came gave very positive feedback. I only wish there had been more time to cover the material – 2 hours is just enough to scratch the surface, and didn’t leave much time for experiential, hands-on exercises.

I had a great time prepping & giving a 2 hour workshop in facilitating consensus meetings to about 12 people. It went quite well, and while there are lots of improvements I would make, I felt like I managed to keep it flowing fairly well, and we only went over by 10 minutes.

So: We were down at the Seattle FolkLife festival this past weekend (which completely kicked butt), and I was excited for a Poi workshop we’d signed up for.

As it happened the instructor didn’t show up, but while most folks departed, those of us who had Poi with us hung around and spun a bit. By the end it was me teaching 3 or 4 folks how to do a few things, and getting a few nice complements on my teaching skills. This was all particularly amusing as I am NOT GOOD at Poi. I wouldn’t dare do it with flaming ones (at this stage), and only know how to do a few things, but I guess I’m alright at teaching the few things I do know. It was a fun opportunity, and were there not all manner of festival awesomeness going on, I could have done it for quite some time.

As of today, we finished teaching our 9 part workshop series based on the material for our book. It has been an incredible, thought provoking process, and I have certainly learned a tremendous amount through teaching it.

Next step: review the videos of each session, and annotate them for our edification. Then make notes on how we would change it if we taught it again.

I’m close to the start of co-facilitating a series of 9 workshops based on the book that Susan and I am co-authoring. It’s been great fun putting them together, and the interest level seems fairly high. It’s a nice synergy: It lets me work on my speaking skills, gets me started in leading workshops, and allows us to hone the material for the book.

If we end up getting into the Cohousing project we’re looking at, they have great workshop space, and sounds like there are plenty of folks who would be interested in the sort of things I might facilitate. Exciting!

I was thinking about this yesterday – somehow my parents raised a bunch of teachers.

My sister is teaching high school now after several years in Junior High, she is teaching History, which has been her life-long dream since she had an incredible high school history teacher – if I remember correctly his name was Dr. Voskian… that’s right, a PhD teaching at Glen Ridge High School in Glen Ridge, NJ… not only known for being the alma mater of Tom Cruise.

My brother is a second career teacher – he was a lawyer. Very successful yet unfulfilled. I suppose he always had a hidden calling to teach, so now – at 50, he is embarking his new career as a High School English teacher. He did so well as a substitute that when he started student teaching, they said, “Wait, can we pay you to teach a couple sections of this class?” so he is.

And for me, always unconventional – I teach outside the spectrum of public schools. I appreciate their work, but my heart is teaching adults in the areas of Creativity, Personal Growth and Performance – and all with a Spiritual Bent… mostly because I personally can’t create any other way. 

I teach workshops in person at times, but mostly I teach them over the telephone… which might sound odd, but it fits for me.. a busy Mom plus entrepreneur. Doing this allows me to have students that span the globe while teaching right from home… and I don’t even have to get dressed up if I want.

I joke sometimes that I teach my seminars and workshops while in bed!

One of my former students called me this week and said, “What you did with us, Julie… well, it was pure magic.”

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh. And people wonder why I do what I do?

I found this quote from Patanjali yesterday – it was in one of my voluminous quote files… and I am going to be meditating on it throughout December and perhaps all of 2007.

I am in a unique time right now, I feel like there is something being born within me… a different version of myself.. is that the great project, the birthing of this ever evolving me? I don’t know… but I do know the feeling is incredible and this quote calls to it…

“When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary
project, all your thoughts break their bonds: Your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great, and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and your discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be.”

As part of my desire to be able to live a project based lifestyle, and to try to share my sense of wonder and promote curious, positive outlooks on life, I want to teach workshops. There are more topics than I’ll try to mention here, but getting into “modular” education would be an amazing thing to have in my life. To be able to dedicate a few months to digging deeply into some area or other of my interests and to share it with people would be fantastic!

• Come up with a topic to do workshops in
• Publically announce the workshops
• Do a series of workshops in a topic of interest.