LEARNING TO PLAY & PLAYING TO TEACH: TOBACCO PREVENTION CESAR NAVARRO, B.A. VETERANS PROGRAM SPECIALIST

WORKSHOP GOALS Provide ideas, activities and resources to build your “Tobacco Prevention” Tool Box. How to apply tobacco prevention information into alternative activities to strengthen learning. Experiential Learning: Cycle of Processing activities A.P.P.L.E. Facilitation Model for Experiential Learning Activities

TOBACCO ALTERNATIVE ACTIVITY Activities under this strategy are designed to assist participants in mastering new skills and promote a sense of belonging, bonding and leadership with peers, family, and community. This strategy includes activities that focus specifically on tobacco prevention and provides participants the opportunity to take part in educational, leadership, cultural, recreational and work oriented tobacco-free prevention activities.

Experiential Learning- What is it? “We don’t receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us” ----Marcel Proust “Experiential Learning is learning through doing. It is a process through which individuals construct knowledge, acquire skills, and enhance values from direct experience” (Association of Experiential Education, 1995)

Experiential Learning Cycle 4 Phases of the Experiential Learning Cycle: Experiencing Reflecting Generalizing Applying

Experiential Learning Cycle Experiencing: is the stage in which individuals participate in a specific structured activity. “Data Generating part of an experience” If the process stops after this stage, all learning is left to chance and facilitator did not fulfill their responsibility

Experiential Learning Cycle Reflecting: is the stage where people have experienced an activity and need time to look back and examine what they saw, felt, and thought about during the event. The learner integrates the new experience with past experiences

Experiential Learning Cycle Generalizing: to make inferences from the structured experience to everyday life. Patterns of emotions, thoughts, behaviors or observations are undertaken “So What?” is the key question at this stage. Generalizations are to be made about “what tends to happen”.

Experiential Learning Cycle Applying: this is the procedure of focusing attention from the structured experience to actual situations and settings in individuals’ daily lives. - The key question of this stage is “Now What?”

Experiential Learning Cycle Experiencing Applying Reflecting Generalizing

“Everything that happens to you is your teacher “Everything that happens to you is your teacher. The secret is to learn to sit at the feet of your own life and be taught by it.” Polly B. Berends

APPLICATION OF TOBACCO PREVENTION INFORMATION IN ALTERNATIVE ACTIVITIES Know your information. Focus your briefing of activity and relate it to tobacco information to set expectations of learning. Draw on the thoughts and emotions of the “experience” to guide discussion and information about Tobacco education.” Look for teachable moments to guide discussion and deliver your information. Remember that activities are fun “opportunities” to discuss tobacco information in safe and healthy ways.

A.P.P.L.E. Facilitation Model ASSESS PLAN PREPARE LEAD EVALUATE

A.P.P.L.E. Facilitation Model ASSESS Who are they? Identify goals Logistics: time, location, number of leaders, number of participants

A.P.P.L.E. Facilitation Model PLAN What will work? What will be fun Does it meet the goals? Sequence of activities: what do I start with, how much time for “icebreakers”, how much time per activity,how does it wrap-up

A.P.P.L.E. Facilitation Model PREPARE Gather props and materials Pre co-leaders Have a back-up plan Check the location

A.P.P.L.E. Facilitation Model LEAD Invite Set a tone: build trust, make people feel comfortable, model appropriate behaviors Style: clear and simple, be enthusiastic, use humor and fantasy Provide appropriate challenges Be creative Be prepared to change your plan Observe and listen Have Fun

A.P.P.L.E. Facilitation Model EVALUATE During the program: Monitor the group and adjust activity selection accordingly Debrief when appropriate: what is group ready for, is it safe to discuss, focus on 1-2 topics, ask “What/ So What/ Now What” React-adapt to what happens with the group After the program: What worked?, What would have worked better?, What would you do differently next time?

Categories of Activities Ice Breakers: Warm-Ups: Disinhibitors: Games: Initiatives: Trust: Closing:

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!!!!!!!!!!! Be Open! Allow Creative Juices to Flow! Let Go and Play!! Think about how you can improve, adjust, modify, adapt or implement activities to fit your facilitation style and participants. Have Fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CONTACT INFORMATION Cesar Navarro, Veterans Program Specialist 7500 US Hwy 90 W. Suite100 San Antonio,Tx. 78227 cnavarro@sacada.org 210.225.4741 getfireduptraining@hotmail.com cell:210.296.8683

REFERENCES John L. Luckner & Reldan S. Nadler. Processing The Experience: Strategies to Enhance and Generalize Learning-Second Edition. Karl Rohnke. Silver Bullets: A Guide To Initiative Problems, Adventure Games And Trust Activities. Karl Rohnke. Cowstails And Cobras II: A Guide to Games, Initiatives, Ropes Courses, & Adventure Curriculum. Sam Sikes.Feeding the Zircon Gorilla and other team building activities. Jim Cain & Barry Jolliff.Team Work & Team Play.