Tani leading a debrief

The Most Important Part of Every Event, Part 1

/in , /by

Do you run incredible programs, get rave reviews, and make sure everyone has an awesome time? Of course you do. But if you’re looking for your group games, activities, and events to have long-term impact, you NEED to debrief after the event. What is a debrief, why are they so important, and how can you run one in 3 easy steps?

Debriefing

A debrief usually takes the form of a group conversation, led by the group leader, after an event or experience. In camp, we debrief after groupGroup working together

initiatives, big accomplishments like First Fires, Shelter Night, and the Forest Feast, and our hikes, as well as smaller debriefs at the end of each day. Youth group leaders, such as NCSY advisors or City/Regional Directors, can use debriefs after a Shabbaton active learning program, ChaBo/ReBo events, or as a staff after a Regional Shabbaton. Teachers can debrief after experiential education programs or after completing big projects. Parents can debrief vacations, important family milestones, or unusual events. The goal of a debrief is to help process an experience in a way which sticks with the participants. By discussing what happened as a group and pointing out highlights at each stage outlined below, each participant has the opportunity to frame what happened in a positive way and recognize a takeaway for the future.

A debrief has 3 parts: What, So What, and Now What.

Stage 1: What?

In the What stage, the group leader encourages participants to share their perspective on the activity or event. You’re asking, very simply, what happened? You can engage multiple participants by starting from the beginning of the process and going step by step. For example, picture a game where the group tried one solution, failed and began to get frustrated, discovered another method, which led to the solution which ended up working successfully. At each point, you can ask for a new person to get involved in recalling what happened. At each stage, ask them to describe the situation – how they were feeling, what they were thinking, or how they felt the group was doing. This stage is most often skipped in group discussions, because it seems so unnecessary. “We just did this, why do we need to talk about what we just did?!” is a question you will probably hear often. By starting with the What stage, you:

  1. Remind everyone of the steps needed to get to the end goal, rather than only remembering the final solution
  2. Encourage people to contribute to the discussion with easy ‘softball’ questions
  3. Demonstrate that people who contribute receive positive reinforcement from you and the group

Once you start asking the more difficult, nuanced questions in the next two stages, people will be more willing to speak up. You’ve already set the tone of the group discussion as a place where people talk and get good feedback for contributing. Next up, Stage 2: So What?! 

Part 2 can be found here! If you want to make sure you don’t miss it, or generally like our posts and don’t want to miss any, subscribe to our email list-posts will be sent directly to your inbox!

Y-Alumni: Rabbi Netanel Goldstein

/in , /by
Welcome to a new division of Yagilu (and a new feature on the blog): Y-Alumni! Every so often, we’re going to feature alumni who have taken what they gained from Yagilu into whatever they’re working on. 
_____________________________________________________
Who are you?
My name is Netanel Goldstein, originally  from Chicago, IL.
My wife’s name is Sarah, we have two boys- Avi (4) and Gabey (2), and we live in Teaneck, NJ. I am proud to call Menachem, Tzvi, Tuvia and Yigal, also Yagilu alumni, my younger (but taller) brothers. I went to Skokie Yeshiva for high school, Yeshivat Sha’alvim for 2 years and Yeshiva University for undergrad.
I teach at Sinai Schools at TABC, a Special Education school housed within TABC. On Sundays, you can find me in Manhattan directing a Hebrew school on the Upper East Side for 63 students. In the summer, I am a division head at Camp HASC.

L-R: Menachem, Tzvi, and R’ Netanel Goldstein on Yagilu’s 1-Day Hike

What are the big things you’re working on now? How are they impacting the world around you? 

I don’t work on big things. I work on meaningful things.
I am making Hilchos Shabbos and Maseches Sukkah accessible to students who need material to be presented in concrete and hands-on ways. For example, in order to understand what a Melacha is and how the Bnei Yisrael dyed the fabric for the Mishkan, we tie-dyed t-shirts using natural ingredients (turmeric, beets, carrots/onion skins, pomegranates, blueberries, blackberries and spinach). The purpose of this activity was to experience first-hand the time and effort that went into making a colored  fabric in the time of the Mishkan.  Showing the students how to start a fire using a bow drill gave the students a deeper understanding of what life was like back then.
I am also our site’s educational technologist. I assist students with technology, recommend apps to families and students, and train teachers to use new technology to better reach their students. For us, technology is not the goal, it’s the means to the goal.

At the Hebrew school, we are redesigning the Hebrew school experience to make it more individualized and meaningful. Over the last two years, the school has grown by 20%. Do you have coworkers that would like their children to learn about Judaism? Recommend Jewish Youth Connection.

Are there things you learned from Yagilu that you use consistently?

The most important thing that I use personally and teach all the time is to never give up. Whether it’s home improvement projects that I start or projects for school, I always make sure to finish the job and to give it my all. I pass the same on to my students as they overcome daily struggles, large or small.

The graphic attached is a lens through which I feel Yagilu really helped me see the world and my jobs.

River Scene-create a path

What’s the most important thing you learned from Yagilu?

In two words: life lessons. I wasn’t so much into the outdoor stuff, lashing and hiking. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed those things immensely. However, I haven’t gone camping since going on Yam L’Yam in my Shana Alef! I am extremely grateful for the numerous life lessons that Yagilu taught me. To name a few: teamwork, leadership, how to initiate and problem-solve.

L-R: Ephraim Clair, Yosef Krausz, and R’ Netanel

What’s your favorite camp memory/best camp story?

There are numerous stories I remember about camp. One of the unique activities we do in camp is spear fishing. We go out into the woods, find a good branch, and carve, shape, and whittle it into the perfect fishing spear. I put a lot of time into mine and was really excited to try it out. We all went to the camp lake and spread out, trying to draw fish to our spots with white bread as bait. After hours of trying without success, I actually speared a fish! It felt amazing to have created something with my own hands and skills and succeeded at such a difficult challenge.

I’d be happy to speak to anyone interested in reconnecting or looking to learn more about education/special education, educational leadership, technology and HASC – ngoldstein@sinaischools@org.

HALB: Have A Lotta Balloons!

/in , /by

After many years on the job, I can safely say: Balloons make everything better. I’m not talking about birthday parties – I’m talking about teacher development and training.

Teacher Training

One of the core principles of Camp Yagilu is that we make space for the campers to lead the way. We set up a framework for them to work within, and then step back and watch them step up and succeed. Rabbi Adam Englander, Head of School, and Rabbi Yehuda Fogel, Middle School Principal, brought me in to explore that idea with the middle school teachers. I set a goal of helping the teachers find ways to do something similar in a classroom setting.

Before lecturing, though, I wanted to see if we could make it happen ourselves, right there! Thus the balloons. Each group of teachers received straws and a balloon. Using the straws, they had to keep the balloon up in the air. As they quickly discovered, it’s just as fun as it sounds – but a lot more challenging! Slowly, leaders in each group emerged and they coordinated everyone’s efforts, finally resulting in success.

After that experience, everyone was excited to discuss what had prompted leaders to step forward to organize and unite their groups. We then discussed, how can we create similar opportunities to empower our students – every day of the year! Through their own experience, the teachers understood the goal, and its benefits.  We then discussed their many suggestions to implement this dynamic in their own classrooms.

Game Time

Then it was time for the students. I challenged the 6th graders with some of my best games. Long story short, we had an AWESOME time. Reverse Relay Race and Silent Geometry were two big hits. In each, students had to work with each other to come up with out-of-the-box solutions for each game. Each time, different students stepped up and lead their peers, encouraging their friends to share solutions. They then worked together to make those suggestions happen. The girls group devised an amazing system to exchange new ideas without even talking!

School is a place to learn things. In HALB that day, both the students and the teachers weren’t just learning ‘book knowledge,’ studying for their next test. They learned and practiced the skills they ALREADY need to work together and succeed in every area of life. In the end of the day, that’s what we at Yagilu – both the camp and our different workshops throughout the year for schools, families, and organizations – look to teach.