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When tasked with this assignment, my immediate concern was who I was going to get to participate. I thought maybe a youthful perspective might be insightful- so I called in a favor from my 17-year-old son. He asked two of his most intellectual and interesting friends to come to our house. At first, the mood was quiet and very respectful, especially after I mentioned that I would be using the answers for my college class. About one question into the council I chose to record the audio so that I could be fully present in listening instead of taking notes. I decided to use all the suggested council themes as questions. I explained the project to the participants (my son,…
I recently had a situation with a student that was struggling and took the opportunity to have a feather council with her. Although in 4th grade, she often cries when her mother drops her off in the morning. On this day in particular there was a hiccup in drop off, her mother offered to drop another little girl back home when she had shown up early for Pod Cast club, the little girl is her neighbor. My student was not able to say goodbye in the regular way and so this caused some anxiety. She was inconsolable no matter how I tired to distract her, this often works to get her mind off missing her mother, but it was not…
My “Lay Down The Feather”. It was one that happened at a time in my life that I needed more than anything.In my own desires, that I felt I was desperate for. I attended my first Overeaters Anonymous meeting.
To be clear, this was not something I was aware existed previous to the assignment. Overeaters Anonymous has a variety of different reviews and reactions but to explain it shortly it is set up similarly to AA (Alcoholics Anonymous). It is set up for people of all different disordered eating patterns, but mainly for compulsive eaters. The same way an alcoholic may drink excessively to release anxiety or stress about something in their life, is the…
I held a Feather Council with my aftercare group outside on the playground. It was a nice day out, so we sat in a big circle on the grass. I wasn’t able to take any pictures since personal phones aren’t allowed during aftercare, and I also can’t photograph the students but, there were around ten kids from grades 2–5. We have a mix of familiar faces and a few newer ones who’ve only recently joined our program. I brought out a small plastic feather we used as our talking piece. Before we started, I explained that a Feather Council is a time to speak from the heart while everyone else listens fully. I told them that whoever held the feather…
My Feather Council was with my high school students in my classroom. We did this at the start of class in place of our usual bell ringer. I have about 13 students in the class which ended up working well. My students come from many different backgrounds, and one is even a foreign exchange student. My students are used to have deeper discussions with me and the class, so they were excited to participate in this. We used the suggested prompt of “Values for the Future.” I thought this would be very fitting and allow more insight into where this generation is coming from. I think students were able to see how similar their values are and encouraged them to…
When tasked with this assignment, my immediate concern was who I was going to get to participate. I thought maybe a youthful perspective might be insightful- so I called in a favor from my 17-year-old son. He asked two of his most intellectual and interesting friends to come to our house. At first, the mood was quiet and very respectful, especially after I mentioned that I would be using the answers for my college class. About one question into the council I chose to record the audio so that I could be fully present in listening instead of taking notes. I decided to use all the suggested council themes as questions. I explained the project to the participants (my son,…
I recently had a situation with a student that was struggling and took the opportunity to have a feather council with her. Although in 4th grade, she often cries when her mother drops her off in the morning. On this day in particular there was a hiccup in drop off, her mother offered to drop another little girl back home when she had shown up early for Pod Cast club, the little girl is her neighbor. My student was not able to say goodbye in the regular way and so this caused some anxiety. She was inconsolable no matter how I tired to distract her, this often works to get her mind off missing her mother, but it was not…
TRIGGER WARNING : Disordered Eating
My “Lay Down The Feather”. It was one that happened at a time in my life that I needed more than anything.In my own desires, that I felt I was desperate for. I attended my first Overeaters Anonymous meeting.
To be clear, this was not something I was aware existed previous to the assignment. Overeaters Anonymous has a variety of different reviews and reactions but to explain it shortly it is set up similarly to AA (Alcoholics Anonymous). It is set up for people of all different disordered eating patterns, but mainly for compulsive eaters. The same way an alcoholic may drink excessively to release anxiety or stress about something in their life, is the…
I held a Feather Council with my aftercare group outside on the playground. It was a nice day out, so we sat in a big circle on the grass. I wasn’t able to take any pictures since personal phones aren’t allowed during aftercare, and I also can’t photograph the students but, there were around ten kids from grades 2–5. We have a mix of familiar faces and a few newer ones who’ve only recently joined our program. I brought out a small plastic feather we used as our talking piece. Before we started, I explained that a Feather Council is a time to speak from the heart while everyone else listens fully. I told them that whoever held the feather…
My Feather Council was with my high school students in my classroom. We did this at the start of class in place of our usual bell ringer. I have about 13 students in the class which ended up working well. My students come from many different backgrounds, and one is even a foreign exchange student. My students are used to have deeper discussions with me and the class, so they were excited to participate in this. We used the suggested prompt of “Values for the Future.” I thought this would be very fitting and allow more insight into where this generation is coming from. I think students were able to see how similar their values are and encouraged them to…