Living in Community
March 2015
Can you believe we are half way through the Spring 2015 semester? Can you believe we only have two more Community Group Meetings left? Here are some quick thoughts as we return to action:
Strategic Conversation
Spring Break can be a very strategic topic for conversation. The right questions and discussion could reveal much about a person. Starting the discussion with "Where did you go for spring break?" or "What did you do for spring break?" may allow you to delve into places you haven't gone yet. The key to diving deeper is the follow-up questions that look for reasoning and explanation. These questions seek to understand "Why...?" or "How...?"
Imagine what you can learn from a student when you ask "Where did you go?" or "What did you do?" If he/she travelled for athletics ask questions about his/her involvement. If you find out that a student didn't go home for break you may want to ask "Why, do you not get along with your family?" Maybe you find out that a student worked over their entire break which leads you to ask "Are you doing ok financially?"
What Do You Think?
As you know, we have been working diligently to make Community Groups as successful as possible. We have been rearranging meeting locations and have provided gift cards to either get groups off campus or to help offset costs for hosting in your homes. We are not done tweaking and would love to hear your thoughts about where we are and what we could continue to do. Please share your thoughts with us at jparis@bbc.edu.
Organization for Maximum Efficiency
There are two additional ways in which you could help us with administration and organization:
1. Please let us know if you plan to go off-site for any given meeting. This helps us especially if we are supplying gift cards to a particular establishment. We don't want to overwhelm D&D with more groups than they can handle.
2. If you are going to be absent from your Community Group at the last minute because of a change of plans or illness, please DO NOT cancel your group for that week, just let us know and we'll have arrangements made to meet with them. This is especially important since attendance is being taken.
A Large Gap
There is going to be a large gap between this Community Group meeting and the last on April 24. The time in between would be ideal to connect with your students either by email, a note, facebook message, organized group activity or lunch in the cafeteria (now that it's FREE!).
Spring 2015 Schedule
Friday, March 20
Friday, April 24