Feb. 27 - Training Techniques Lab

6:30-8:30 p.m.
Facilitators:  Laura Flippin, Xu Li, Alison Stolow, Ronggui Su, and Colleen Daley

Location: Europe Room, International House Philadelphia, 3701 Chestnut Street

RSVP by clicking here.

Students currently enrolled in the Experiential Learning Design class at UPenn's Graduate School of Education will be demonstrating 2-3 experiential learning training techniques that other trainers can employ to meet their own goals and objectives. This will be an opportunity for trainers to learn new techniques or brush up on ones they already know. It will also be an opportunity to support young professionals who are new to the field by providing a safe space for them to practice their skills and receive constructive feedback.

Laura has two years of training experience and over ten years of teaching experience.  She is in the first year of a two-year graduate program in Intercultural Communication at UPenn and is a graduate intern at the Penn Greenfield Intercultural Center, where she is involved with workshop design and implementation. 

Xu Li runs and designs workshops for the Chinese Student Support Network at UPenn to increase Chinese international students’ cultural awareness, mental wellness and social networking in intercultural settings. She is a first-year graduate student in Intercultural Communication and has been a staff intern at the UPenn Greenfield Intercultural Center since 2012. 

Alison is in her last semester studying Intercultural Communication UPenn. Alison previously lived and worked in Houston, TX teaching ESL Pre-K as a Teach For America corps member. Through that experience, Alison became passionate about early childhood, learners of second languages, and the field of education in general.

Ronggui has served as the president of a student-run English club, started two study groups focusing on English vocabulary and pronunciation, and helped primary school students improve their English listening and speaking skills by training and sending university students to participate in their school activities.

Colleen is a former Peace Corps volunteer with a passion for social justice, youth, languages, and religious and cross-cultural dialogue. She is about to graduate with a Master’s in Intercultural Communication (ICC) at UPenn, where she has collaborated on   designing a new core course for the ICC program focused on training design and experiential learning.

Using Your Stories to Move People to Action

Wednesday, January 23

6:30-8:30 p.m.
Facilitator:  Rose White

Location: PhilaPOSH, 3001 Walnut Street, 5th Floor (AFSCME Building)

RSVP by clicking here.

Storytelling is a powerful organizing tool to communicate values, victories, and hopes for the future.  This workshop will outline techniques that are effective in using personal stories to communicate and build common ground.  Workshop participants will outline their own story using these techniques, and will practice using their story as a way to invite people to join their campaign.

Rose White has been an organizer and trainer at the Service Employees International Union since 2002.  She started at the union organizing nursing home workers into the union, and since then has worked on the political staff of local unions, worked on leadership development programs, and led member internship programs.  Her favorite part of her work is encouraging healthcare worker union members to understand and harness their collective political power to increase public funding for healthcare, resulting in better quality care for their patients, and also a living wage for themselves.

Gatherings are open to the public and cost $5-10 (sliding scale). No one will be turned away for inability to pay.

Light refreshments are provided.

And mark your calendars for the rest of the PTC Winter Line-up:

PTC Lab - Topic TBD - February 27
Presented by students from the Experiential Learning Design Class for Intercultural Communication at the UPenn Graduate School of Education

David Kolb's Experiential Learning Cycle - A Model for Training Design - March 27

Facilitator:  Sarvelia Peralta-Duran

Location: International House Philadelphia

Nov 28: Building Trust and Engaging Conflict

6:30-8:30 p.m.
Facilitators: Hillary Blecker & Amadee Braxton

Location: Doubletree by Hilton Hotel, 237 S. Broad, 3rd floor (ARIA A), Philadelphia, PA
Presented in conjunction with the National Association for Multicultural Education (NAME) conference: http://nameorg.org/

Please RSVP here

Often in our work as educators and facilitators, we try and avoid topics that could create conflict. Perhaps this means not discussing our social identities – such as our race, gender, class – or our political opinions. But without having conflict, we are never pushed to question our own assumptions or fully express our opinions. This often has the effect of leaving people feeling less trusting of others. During this gathering, we will explore ways to introduce yourself as a facilitator that will build trust and engage differing opinions and potential conflict.

Amadee Braxton is a trainer and facilitator with over 20 years experience in social change work specializing in organizational development, conflict resolution, and fundraising. Amadee’s work in conflict resolution began with her training as a student and family mediator in high school and deepened with her training as a facilitator in Temple University’s Transformational Social Therapy program. She has been Director of Development for Iraq Veterans Against the War since 2004 and is the President of the Leeway Foundation, which funds social change through art.

Hillary Blecker has a decade of experience designing and facilitating health trainings in a variety of community and workplace settings. Hillary is currently the training coordinator at the Philadelphia Area Project on Occupational Safety and Health (PhilaPOSH) and previously worked with unions and day labor centers on safety and health education. Last year, she was trained in Temple's Transformational Social Therapy program, which teaches skills to engage conflict. Hillary is a very proud co-founder of PTC!

Note: There will be no public PTC gathering in December. Look for us again in the new year!

Oct. 24: Perception Trumps Intention: Communication and Presence Skills to Engage and Connect

6:30-8:30 p.m.
Facilitator: Bobbi Block

Location: PhilaPosh, 3001 Walnut St., 5th Floor (AFSCME DC 33 building)

Please RSVP here

Participants will heighten their awareness of body language, vocal variety, facial expression and mental focus (being 'present') in order to authentically connect with audiences of one or one hundred. Participants will discover how trusting relationships are built by learning how to match the content of the training with the delivery. Participants will explore ways to emote signals of confidence and credibility during a training.  A highly experiential session, participants will learn and apply skills, and receive peer feedback.

Bobbi Block is an experiential Coach and Facilitator with a unique background in both training and the performing arts (specifically Improvisational Theater). She specializes in Leadership, Collaboration, Listening, Creativity, and Presentation Skills development. Bobbi teaches and performs Improvisational Theatre in Philadelphia and is an Adjunct Professor in the Theatre Department at Drexel University and Temple University. Through interactive, creative learning approaches, Bobbi fosters personal and professional transformation in her participants.

The next gathering in November will follow up on some of the themes from this October gathering.

Building Trust and Engaging Conflict

Wednesday, November 28th, 6:30-8:30pm
Facilitators: Amadee Braxton and Hillary Blecker

First Gathering of 2012-2013: Icebreaker Potluck

We are excited to announce our first fall gathering of 2012!  See all the way below for information about other trainings happening around town too.

Date &Time:  Wednesday, October 3^th, 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Location: PhilaPOSH, AFSCME DC 33 Building, 3001 Walnut Street, 5th floor

Like a food potluck, this is a time to bring and share icebreakers with others.  Not to worry, we have the actual refreshments covered! 

Do you want to learn creative ways for people to get to know each other or to start off a meeting or workshop?  Would you like to have a variety of icebreakers or short activities for different audiences or subject matters?  Join us for our annual icebreaker potluck to learn some new icebreakers, share your favorites, and discuss ways to use them in different settings. 

We encourage you to bring your favorite icebreaker to the potluck. To help us prepare, please e-mail us if you would like to share an icebreaker.

To RSVP, please click here:

http://tinyurl.com/Oct3-Ice

Monthly gatherings are open to the public. Light refreshments are provided. Cost (for non-members):  $5-10 sliding scale.  No one will be turned away for inability to pay.

Building Towards Role Plays and Drama-Based Learning

Wednesday, June 27th
6:30-8:30 p.m.
Facilitator: Jessica Levy
Location: PhilaPosh, 3001 Walnut St., 5th Floor (AFSCME DC 33 building)

Please RSVP here: http://tinyurl.com/PTCjun27

Love it or hate it, role plays seem to pop up all over the place as an educational tool. What can they achieve? What is the potential for using theater- and drama-based activities in educational settings? And how do you prepare people who might resist such techniques (lots of us, right?) for giving them a shot? In this gathering, we’ll experiment with a progression of activities that build toward doing drama-based work, and then discuss objectives and strategies for using drama-based techniques in training settings. Whether you’ve facilitated role plays, played person A or person B, or are looking for strategies for designing interactive sessions, your experiences and ideas will be welcome!

Jessica Levy comes to the meeting place of theater, education, and civic engagement from a background as a community educator, organizer, facilitator, and event coordinator. She has designed and implemented civic participation initiatives for younger adults, arts-based cultural awareness programs for teens, and a variety of education, service, and advocacy events. She holds an M.A. in Applied Theater from CUNY and an M.A. in Adult Education and Community Development from the University of Toronto.

Incorporating Restorative Principles Into Our Work With Youth

Wednesday, May 23rd
6:30-8:30 p.m.
Facilitator: Wanda Moore
Location: PhilaPosh, 3001 Walnut St., 5th Floor (AFSCME DC 33 building)

Follow this link to RSVP: http://tinyurl.com/May23PTC
Restorative principles are not only relevant to the justice system; they are the underpinning of any fair and just cultural climate. Youth often have their own cultural norms which can have destructive elements, and the adult response is more often than not punitive. This has led to harsh consequences for youth which have the potential to foster their disconnection and cause more destruction in their future. Creating youth serving environments that offer care and compassion along with rules and expectations have shown promising results. This workshop will share some basic principles and tools of restorative justice and give participants time to reflect on how to work restoratively with youth in their setting.

Wanda R. Moore, MSS/MLSP, currently provides clinical intervention and research coordination for Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia on their violence prevention interventions in Philadelphia elementary schools and community centers. For several years she directed youth programs in peace leadership and life skills for truant and disconnected youth. She has trained on popular education methods with United for a Fair Economy in Boston, Training for Change and the Alternatives to Violence Project in Philadelphia and holds a dual Masters in Social Service and Law and Social Policy from the Bryn Mawr Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research.

Gatherings are open to the public and cost $5-10 (sliding scale). No one will be turned away for inability to pay. Light refreshments are provided.