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Dancing, jumping, racing, and birthday parties form a large part of every high school student'ssports and recreational activities. Quicker than a full-on debrief, a check-in is useful if you just want to quickly gauge how folx are feeling and dont need to deep-dive into what they learned (yet). The closing of the retreat is just as important as the opening. The players will call rock paper scissors shoot simultaneously. they use. First and foremost, welcome the students! Start by setting up stations or posters in a few locations around the classroom (like on the walls or on tables). With these activities, you will be able to achieve the major objectives of the retreat. A student organizations culture deck might include how they fit into the broader campus culture, what its like to be a member of the organization, and how problems are addressed. Distance from Univ. 1. Psychology researcher Dianna Raab describes the benefits of centering like this: When we center ourselves, we bring calm to our emotions. Jennifer Gonzalez, Another problem might be that the icebreaker. This activity can help students build on their leadership skills. Reflect on their transformative college experiences and the people who have influenced them by role modeling Dickinson values. To plan a group retreat activity, you would want to first decide on the activities and games that the group will love to engage in. Whether you paint canvases, sculpt clay, or assemble jewelry, engaging with art gets your creative juices flowing. Facilitating this activity is as simple as drawing a matrix on an easel or whiteboard and labeling each of the quadrants with the four categories. Yet, you hopefully also know the power of such activities. Quicker than a full-on debrief, a check-in is useful if you just want to quickly gauge how folx are feeling and dont need to deep-dive into what they learned (yet). There is no cost for attendance, however if your plans change . What staff retreat activities do you adore? You could even exchange the final products as gifts at the end of the retreat, display them in your office, or use them to tell the story of your retreat to other departments. Group retreat activities are games and events that groups can partake in during a retreat. There are literally dozens of in-school activities for college students that can be used in the classroomyou can even ask students to create their own. In the middle, students list negative self-talk they find themselves using. We will provide van transportation for students from the IC Campus Center at 8:45am and return to campus at 5:30pm. The sporting activities help keep your team members fit while developing a strong team spirit. Check out these team-building activities for college students to try in 2021! For instance, if player one beats player two, then player one will proceed to play with player three. Invite campus departments and student-led groups to set up booths or games & activities to help promote their organizations in a fun, lively atmosphere. <>>> Why hold a retreat? Ask students to prepare for a discussion by reviewing a course reading or group of texts and coming up with a few higher-order discussion questions about the text. Youll keep repeating the exercise, giving everyone a chance to do at least one round of tapping, until you run out of unique statements. Some fun themes include: Just every other retreat activity, you should plan properly for the event. Other leaders blindfold all the youth and tell them that one at a time they are going to be lifted on the board, which will be about 3 feet off the ground, and see if they can walk across the board from one side to the other. Scattered throughout the list, you'll find entertainment-related suggestions: things like bands, singer-songwriters . Consider volunteering with an organization that youd like to establish a long-lasting partnership with or one that directly benefits students and their needs. You could also chow down on a mid-hike picnic. When students are feeling anxious about an upcoming paper or test, taking deep breaths will help them calm down so they can focus on the task at hand. Spring 2023 Fall 2023 . Winners can get bonus points for their grade on this activity or their in-class participation grade at the end of the school year. This is a great activity for mild or warmer fall and spring weather and is a great way to get students to exercise or to introduce new students to the entire campus. 20 Unique Activities to Mix Up Your Next Staff Retreat, 75 Fantastic Program Ideas for First-Year Students, 22 In-Person Activities Students Can Enjoy While Maintaining a Social Distance, 12 Ways for Urban Institutions to Engage Students on Campus and Beyond, How You Can Help Student Orgs Thrive Under Social Distancing Measures, Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, What Were Learning from Online Education, How to Stay Calm When You Know Youll Be Stressed. Becoming centered is a way to find peace within the chaos that might be surrounding us.. Take that further by showing students how to make. Pose a question to the whole group and have pairs discuss their responses with each other. After the opening remarks, its time to get everyone into a retreat mindset,, the state of mind in which ideas flow more easily because students are unimpeded by distractions of everyday life, . Select the player who will start the game first. Play an Icebreaker Game. Another twist is to not inform of every one of this activity beforehand. Everyone loves compliments, right? Then, as the leader, gently tap a few random participants on the back or shoulder. You can download a card online with prompts that suit the groups choice, print out the cards and distribute them to the players. Do things. These retreat topics will work for a summer retreat, winter retreat, and more! Facilitating this activity is as simple as drawing a matrix on an easel or whiteboard and labeling each of the quadrants with the four categories. Consider having a licensed professional counselor available for the weekend for times of listening and encouragement. Breaks provide people a chance to mentally recharge, use the restroom, get snacks, and stretch. Ask students to repeat this process for several rounds to help familiarize themselves with a variety of standpoints. Here are answers to questions about group retreat activities. For instance, you can invite a motivational speaker for positive thinking and some form of encouragement. Then plan the menu and other activities to entertain the attendees. Is restorative anyones top strength? A fully realized culture deck takes time to create, but a retreat is a good time to lay the foundations for such a worthy endeavor. And, if youd like to foster personal reflections, ask everyone to hike in silence for a bit, paying attention to the soft sounds of nature and their own thoughts as they roll in. Cooking together can help your team recognize leadership dynamics, prompt you to discuss beloved cultural traditions related to food, and challenge you to problem-solve together. Your institution may already have a learning outcome framework that you can align the activities with. And theyre essential during staff retreats, which typically aim for all these benefits. The most important thing is to plan the exercises well. 3. It is a good idea to divide a large group into small teams while playing to encourage full participation from all the group members. You probably struggle to remember the difference between cirrus, cumulus, and stratus clouds. You can add to the partys fun by giving participants fun titles like the best singer, the worst singer, the seat warmer, and the best duet. To play this, you need to prepare a Bingo card. After the opening remarks, its time to get everyone into a retreat mindset, the state of mind in which ideas flow more easily because students are unimpeded by distractions of everyday life. 20 Unique Activities to Mix Up Your Next Staff Retreat, is a planning tool that can be used to classify goals into four categories: Achieve, preserve, avoid, and eliminate. Grit is living life like its a marathon, not a sprint., Rita Pierson Every Kid Needs a Champion, Every child deserves a champion an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection, and insists that they become the best that they can possibly be., Daphne Koller What Were Learning from Online Education, Maybe we should spend less time at universities filling our students minds with content by lecturing at them, and more time igniting their creativity, their imagination, and their problem-solving skills by actually talking with them., Daniel Levitin How to Stay Calm When You Know Youll Be Stressed, We all are going to fail now and then. Your student retreat can be custom tailored to meet the needs of student groups of any grade from kindergarten through college. The paper is passed around until each team member has added to the original solution. You can decide on the number of categories they must fit the object into or let each team decide. A simple yet fun activity you can do on a group retreat is to share a lunch. Or hold a sumo wrestling night, using pillows and cushions to create the suits and fighting area. Team Word Builder - Using a stack of index cards, break the family into teams and give each member the same number of cards (minimum of five). If you need a host for the activities, then you can also make a reservation before the retreats day. Learn how we can help get your students involved. I, like many others, was forced to move a face-to-face college class to virtual synchronous meetings in Zoom. When it comes to stimulating breakout session ideas, lightning talks are among the most versatile. If your students are online, breakout rooms on Zoom or Microsoft Teams allow you to replicate this experience with virtual team-building. These projects empower our students to effect change through awareness, advocacy, activism, and aid. For inspiration, here is a collection of icebreaker jokes. Open-ended questions. Its a lot of work to put together a transformative retreat experience, but its all worth it in the end when the student leaders achieve their organizations goals and thrive within the campus community. This helps to promote problem-solving, communication and great teamwork. 2. as a way to introduce the framework for the retreat. This is not a comprehensive list of retreat locations. Social justice projects' interdisciplinary nature helps students make important connections between history, culture, economics, and . There are several variations on this, such as building a pyramid with paper cups, but the idea is to promote communication and collaboration in a leadership exerciseand provide a little incentive as well. endobj Have your group members set up a fire pit. The First-Year Retreat and Experience (FYRE) program aims to provide first-generation, low-income, and underrepresented (FGLI/U) students with the resources and community to feel supported, celebrated, confident, and ready to take ownership of your college experience, knowing that you have a special community of friends and advisers to mentor you throughout your first-year at Harvard. Help your college students connect and collaborate. An Advent Calendar for the Entire Group. A leader places a 4-foot 2-by-4 on the ground. Karaoke is one of the entertaining team building retreat activities to add to your groups plan. Examples might include, "I can't do this," "I'm not smart/cool/funny enough," or, "I'm just too shy/boring/bad at school.". SQ[ws*W Also, add refreshments, including cocktails and non-alcoholic beverages for attendees who do not take alcohol. Neil Fiore, a psychologist who specializes in productivity, recommends this one-minute breathing exercise that transitions people from fretting about the past or future to focusing on the present. One great presentation method to consider is a gallery walk. Ask any first-year experience or orientation office, and theyll surely vouch for the fact that teaching skills to students early improves retention and development outcomes. Have each person contribute ideas. To play One-word story, have the players sit around in a circle. Now we're ready to talk about our 13 favorite team-building retreat activities! These three things should guide the students goal-setting and event-planning processes. Bingo makes an excellent choice of retreat games for large groups. 6:00 PM SESSION 3 - Bring Bible/Notebook (Meeting Room) Human Tic Tac Toe, Message, and Small Group Breakout. While the theme varies, the message is always the same: "In Jesus Christ, the son of God made man, who died and rose from the dead, salvation is offered to all, as a . No Smiling Challenge: One group member says things or acts to make other members laugh. Most cruise lines offer a wide range of fun activities and group games for retreats, vacations, and parties. Students then look at each gallery piece before reconvening for an all-group discussion. The importance of crafting an intentional opening for the retreat cannot be overstated. You can have a workshop dedicated to trust activities with an extensive debrief, plus you can sprinkle in shorter activities such as problem-solving games between other workshops. Finally, Jennifer says that silly rules that are supposed to make icebreakers fun can take the focus away from learning. Another problem might be that the icebreaker doesnt facilitate familiarity. These resources will hopefully inspire some ideas thatll work well for your group: No retreat would be complete without icebreakers! Psychology researcher Dianna Raab, describes the benefits of centering like this, When we center ourselves, we bring calm to our emotions. 1. Many cruise lines offer corporate rates and retreat packages, so be sure to inquire about these options when booking. When their time is up, a spokesperson can present their ultimate solution to the rest of the group or to the class. I recommend doing it toward the end of your retreat in order to finish on a celebratory, optimistic note. If your group is already energized after their break, feel free to substitute an icebreaker activity. When everyone is physically and mentally back from the break, you could use an energizer to prepare everyone to get back to work. When not writing curriculum or working with students, youll find him enjoying a book, hiking or baking. The culminating event is a scenic 5K and 10K race on Saturday morning! We've put together this list of 18 awesome campus activities ideas to help you get started with your planning for this semester (or next semester). Or, to really mix things up, one team can represent student affairs staff and the other can be academic staff, who all shock the system by working together to score the most total points. You dont need to be a budding Andy Warhol or Frida Kahlo to enjoy it. In a normal year, the weekend before the spring semester starts is marked with a collection of the sophomore class getting together with deans from the Division of Student Affairs and heading up to the mountains for some bonding activities (for an idea of what that looks like, here's a blog post from . Find purpose throughout your life and create meaning through self-reflection and intentional discussions. Students certainly learn a lot of career-readiness skills on the job while leading their organizations, but hosting skill-building workshops during the retreat ensures that they have a foundation to build off of. If you're having a one-day retreat, this game could take place first thing in the morning. You may decide to have a fancy lunch outdoors in a buffet style. Helping them to warm up to the idea by breaking the ice can help build confidence. . I suggest one of my favorites, used by Presence to great success: OKRs. Check the weather forecast to be adequately prepared for the weather condition. Other early April events include: April 2: International Children's Book DayCelebrate ICBD 500 by calling attention to children's books. This retreat gives participants an opportunity to enjoy the results of news and developments in every academic department, as well as a sense of the state of sabbaticals, and a view of the college future as presented by the faculty and the dean. 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