I have often thought about the precarious and tentative first attempts we need to take to build new community contacts. Indeed, the journey toward building a new community is like learning to walk on a slack line; we fall off — a lot!
My co-instructor, Marion Craig, Sgt. ret’d, and I decided to use an actual slack line and “walk” our students through the learning curve of try, fall, fear, try again, doubt … until ultimate success. To help us facilitate this experience, we brought in a slack line instructor to coach our students. Students loved the activity! The following is a summary of the reflections our students made at each step of the slack line process.
Your journey across the slack line.
Reflections: BEFORE, DURING, and AFTER.
- Slack line BEFORE: What qualities do you need in finding supports for your line?
- What are your beliefs or fears about YOUR abilities on the line?
- What are your beliefs about how OTHERS will do on the line?
- What skills do you think are needed to make it across the line?
- Slack line DURING – Write down accurate observations about YOU: your physical experiences, emotions, thoughts.
- Slack Line AFTER: What were YOUR messages to YOURSELF before during and after trying the line?
- What skills are actually needed for you to develop competency in crossing the line?
- What is your plan for learning these skills this term?
- Write: How will you continue deepening your understanding and practicing your competency skills on the concepts covered this week in class?
- What will you read, watch, listen to or do to keep current and asking relevant questions?
Here is a PDF with our slack line instructions: Slack line Reflections