The CCCP Board of Directors would love to Thank You for making THE 2008 CCCP ANNUAL CONFERENCE SUCH A GREAT DAY!!

It is encouraging and inspiring to see so many facilitators for every nook and cranny in the state come out to help us celebrate our 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!! With attendance of over 80 participants the CCCP is growing stronger every year!!!

Special thanks to all those who attended and participated in the day!!

Thank you to the founders of the CCCP who had the amazing idea 11 ½ years ago to create this wonderful organization and pushed through 1 ½ years of planning to make this work. Also, thank you to all of you who have carried the CCCP torch over the past decade!!!

Thank you to the board members, past and present, for all their hard work and to Sue and Bruce for the great lunch.

And finally a huge thank you to Sam Sikes and Jen Stanchfield for being with us for the day. If you don’t know them, you should!

CCCP Annual Conference Activities
March 8, 2008
(In the order of the day)

Connecticut Line-up – Ice Breaker (Rick Bosch)
Start in a big circle, connected by a palm press. Group has to morph into the shape of the state of Connecticut. Once there, drop hands. When your birth month is called you enter the state and stand wherever you reside or work. Take turns saying your name and the town it is you are standing in. Return to the edge for other months. Once all have introduced themselves, everyone re-enters and mingles for two minutes to make “geographic connections.”

Commonalities – Ice Breaker (Sam Sikes)
Group yourselves by the first letter of your first name. Introduce yourself and have a short conversation about your expectations for the day. Next, group yourselves by the last letter of your first name. Discuss a strength you bring to your work. In either of these commonalities, if you are the only person in the group, move up or down one letter of the alphabet until you find a group that you can join.

Concentric Circles – Ice Breaker, Transition or Reflection Activity (Jen Stanchfield)
Find a partner. Give them a High 5. Pretend that you are going out to play for a fun filled day in the snow. When you arrive at the mountain, there is only one snowboard and one set of skis left to rent. Decide with your partner which of you will ski and which will snowboard. Once that decision has been made, the group forms two concentric circles. The inside circle is made up of all the skiers. They are facing outward. The outer circle, the snowboarders, is facing inward, towards their partner. Have everyone shake hands to make sure nobody is left out. If there is some confusion, ask anyone without a partner to raise their hand so you can match them up.

Next high 5 your original partner again and say good bye, because the outer circle is going to move three spaces to the right around the circle, ending up with a brand new partner. As the outer circle moves, make sure they quickly shake hands with the people they pass, introduce themselves, and say hello. Facing your new partner, play “Finger Gotcha”. Place your open left hand, palm up, towards your partner at waist height. Gently place the tip of your right finger in your partner’s hand. When the leader says “Gotcha”, you try to grab the finger of your partner, while simultaneously lifting your finger, so it won’t get grabbed. After a few rounds, have a discussion about a leader in your life that you admire.

Then, the inner circle rotates four spaces to their right on the inside of the circle. Introduce yourself as you go. With your new partner, do a “Tiny Teachings”. You and your partner each have two minutes to teach each other a new skill. It could be physical, a mind game, how to cook your favorite recipe, etc. Whatever you are good at.

Have the outer circle rotate to the right again a few spaces. This time you and your new partner are going to do a “Partner Shoe Tie”. Untie one of the four shoes you are wearing. Working together, you need to retie the shoe. Each partner can only use one hand. Talk about what challenges you in your work.

Western Expansion – Large Group Organization and Formations – (Sam)This theme allows large groups the chance to practice getting into the various groupings they will need during the course of the workshop. “Wagon Wheel” means the group should stand in a large circle, shoulder to shoulder. “Elbow Room” means the group is in a circle, with enough room between people so that they can stand with their hands on the hips and not quite touch their neighbors. “Urban Sprawl” is an even bigger circle with neighbors touching palms of extended arms. “Free Range” means participants can stand any place where they can rotate right and left with outstretched arms and not hit anyone else. You can also attach a number to any of the commands to indicate how many people you would like in each formation. For example “Wagon Wheel 6” would indicate a group of 6, standing shoulder to shoulder.

Progressive Hoop Toss Relay – Large Group Initiative Game – (Sam)
Have all groups get in a single file line of 5 or 6 players each. All lines should gather at one end of a field or gym. The first person in each line starts with a hula hoop. At “Go”, they turn and pass the hoop to player #2. Player #1 then walks forward. When player #2 says stop, player #1 turns and faces the line, raising their arms up and placing their palms together over their heads. Player #2 tries to ring toss player #1. If unsuccessful, the hoop is returned and they try again. If a ring toss is made, the line moves to the hoop, player #1 picks up the hoop, returns it to player #2, then goes to the end of the line. Player #2 then falls into the roll of player #1. They hand the hoop to the player behind them (originally #3), who now becomes #2. The game continues across the field or gym and back. When teams complete the course, they need to cheer for the remaining teams on the field. Tip: Demonstrate the game with one of the groups.

Reaction – table top game converted to a large group game – (Sam)
Start with a “Wagon Wheel of 6”. Each group needs a large die, a noodle boffer, and a hoop. With the hoop on the floor, everyone puts one foot inside the hoop, except the person with the die and the noodle boffer. They have both feet outside the hoop, but are standing next to the hoop like the other players. The player with the die and the noodle (hereafter referred to as the “Whacker”), rolls the die into the middle of the hoop. If it comes up a 1 or a 6, then it is the whackers job to hit as many people as they can on the lower leg before those people pull their foot out of the circle and touch the ground outside the hoop. If you get hit before touching the ground you get a point. If a 1 or 6 is rolled, then you can roll again. Five points and you are out of the game. If 2, 3, 4, or 5 is rolled you should not move your inside foot. If you flinch, you gain a point. If there is no 1 or 6 and no flinches, the “whacker” gives the noodle to the person on their left and joins the game.
Variations include: all start on one foot and must hop outside the circle, odds you “whack” and evens you don’t, start out and must go in, two feet in to start, “Whacker gets to name a simple trick you must do (like touch you finger to your nose) if 1 or 6 comes up, have each person assigned a number on the die, related to the “Whacker”. If that number comes up only that person can move or be whacked.

Pocket Processor – Debrief – (Jen)
Using the Pocket Processor cards, pick out some questions that seem to match the action or intent of the activity. Introduce the concept of “yin and yang”, explaining that this theory describes two ends of a continuum, with each end having the seed of the other. A continuum allows for flow between the ends. Describe where the ends of the line are in the space you are using. Ask questions to individuals about their opinions of the activity. Stress that the small groups are not to move together, but according to their individual opinions of the group’s interactions during play. After the questions are asked, place the cards in the middle of the circle and allow anyone to comment on where they ended up along the continuum and their relationship to others.

Group Stretch – Warm-up – (Sam)
Stand in a large circle with feet shoulder width apart. The outside of each foot should be touching your neighbor’s foot. The following sequence can be followed to re-awaken a group:
Raise your left hand and slowly stretch upwards.
With your left hand, slowly bend and touch your right foot. It’s okay to bend your knees.
Straighten up.
Raise your right hand and slowly stretch upwards.
With your right hand, slowly bend and touch your left foot. It’s okay to bend your knees.
Straighten up.
Stretch and reach your right hand to the right foot of the person on your left.
Stretch and reach your left hand to the left foot of the person on your left.
Stretch and reach your left hand to the right foot of the person on your left.
Stretch and reach your right hand to the left foot of the person on your left.
Place your hands in the middle of the back of your neighbors.
Turn your head and look as far to the right as you can.
Turn your head and look as far to the left as you can.
Lean back slightly and look up to the ceiling while supporting your neighbors.

Sharing Facilitation Quotes – Pairs sharing – (Jen)
Gather inspirational quotes around a theme for the day and have them separately printed out on bookmark size paper. As a group enters for the day, ask them to pick out the quote that speaks to them personally and hang onto it for later use. In between activities, ask them to get with a partner and each shares why they picked the quote they did. Allow five minutes for discussions. Regroup as a large wagon wheel and ask if there was a specific theme to any of the discussions. This could lead to a large group debrief surrounding the theme for the day.

Movie Quotes Debrief – Pairs sharing – (Rich Keegan)
This is a similar idea to the quotes above, except you collect famous movie quotes. Students can sometimes relate to these words easier than a quote from past generations, because the movie lines come with a context from their viewing. This might make it a little safer to relate their feelings to the group. They can offer why they picked that movie line to describe what they felt during an activity.

Ping Pong Bounce – Large Group Game – (Sam)
The directions for this activity are in the book, “The More The Merrier” by Sam, Chris Cavert, and Faith Evans. The directions begin on page 326. Have the group gather in an urban sprawl, but then move into a wagon wheel of 4 or 5. Direct the group to make a hand stack. The person with their hands on the bottom just volunteered to come and get the direction sheet and listen to the pre-brief of the activity with the facilitator. Each group needs a score sheet from the book, a pen, a ping pong ball and a timer with a stopwatch. Allow about 15 minutes for this activity. The objective is to obtain as many ping pong bounces as you can in one minute. The rest of the rules are on the direction sheet from the book. Allow the leaders to ask any questions of you, the facilitator. It is up to you to interpret what is meant by a “catch”. After the fifteen minutes are up, flip the direction sheet over and have each group go through the debrief questions as a reflection.

Name That Dog! – Keeping Busy – (Sam)
While one team member is busy with the facilitator getting instructions the remainder of the team keeps busy by trying to list as many famous dogs as they can. (Snoopy, Goofy, Scooby Doo, Lassie, etc)

Hoopdom – Large Group Initiative Game – (Sam)
This is from Sam’s Book “Raptor”. Form the large group into smaller groups of 6. Arrange them so they form a circle of small groups. Each small group gets 6 hula hoops. A hoopdom is a geodesic structure that is built with the hoops. One hoop is used for each the top and the bottom. The remaining four form the sides of the structure. Demonstrate how these are made. Have the teams practice building these and explain that there will be a contest to see which group can build one the quickest. Allow 5 minutes to practice.
For the competition, All hoops must start on the floor, horizontally. After the build, nobody can be touching them and they must be freestanding for 5 seconds. Do a number of repetitions. After every couple, give the groups a minute to plan some more.

Hoopdom Soccer – Large Group Initiative Game – (Sam)
Keep the circle of hoopdoms from the previous activity. Place a number of gator skin soccer balls in the middle of the floor. It should be more than half the number of hoopdoms, but less than the total. For 70 people, we used 6 balls. Soccer rules are in effect while the balls are in play. The object is for the teams to kick the balls into the hoopdoms, and have it come to rest inside, without the “doms” falling over. You can score in any goal. After a score, remove the ball and throw it backwards over your head with two hands, returning it to play. If you knock over a hoopdom in the course of play, you have to rebuild it before you can continue. After, share the strategies your team used and if they were successful or not.

High Hoopdom – Initiative – (Sam)
Have groups collaborate to see how many levels of hoopdoms they can build on top of each other. Four was our best for the day. A suggestion was made to try this activity out with someone on a “Flying Squirrel” belay to get up higher.

Three Card Debrief – Debrief – (Jen)
Pass out decks of debriefing tools to each smaller group. They could be Chiji cards, postcards or other debriefing decks you create. Ask each group to pick out the three cards that best describes the story of their hoop experience, or whatever they were playing. Have the small groups share with the large.

Laser Pointer Tag – Large Group Initiative – (Sam)
Divide into smaller groups of 4 or 5. Each member gets an old CD to use as a mirror. Each group gets a laser pointer. Warn about the hazards of lasers pointing into eyes. The object is to bounce the laser beam off of each person’s CD and then “tag” a predetermined fixed point. This could be an object or another person.

Sons of Job – Initiative – (Sam)
Introduce the call and response tool of “Oh Well” and “Oh Yeah”. When the facilitator says “Oh Well” the group responds with “Oh Yeah”. Pass out a small object (size of a quarter – we used wrapped candy) to each participant. They should hold this in their extended right open palm. Using their left hand, the object is to pass it to the palm of the person on their left, on the correct beat of the song you have taught them. The song lyrics go something like this:

“The sons of Job were playing pass the rock”
“Take it or leave it, take it again”
“Nitty Naughty, Nitty Naughty, Nitty Naughty, Nib”
“Nitty Naughty, Nitty Naughty, Nitty Naughty, Nib”

The object is to be passed on the 2 and 4 beats, which means on “sons”, “Job”, “playing” and “rock”. Then “take”, “leave”, “take” and “again”. During the Nitty Naughty’s, you actually hang onto the object while still motioning as if you are passing it to your neighbor. You actually pass it along on the “nib” of each line. As you teach, use the “oh well” call and response “oh, yeah” as a signal to stop and regroup.

Pick an item for the day, meaningful to you– Closing – (Jen)

Vortex with a Twist – Closing – (Sam)
This is a great metaphorical closing for the large group. Have all join hands in a large circle. As facilitator, you drop hands with one of your neighbors. You become the beginning of the line. Walking slowly, you lead the line and spiral inside the remainder of the circle, saying hi to each person as you go. Once the whole circle has spiraled in, re-grasp the hand of the neighbor you had dropped originally, forming a complete circle, with everyone facing outward. Remind the group to take what they have learned here today and use them outside of this group. Next, instruct the group to raise their arms, twist under them, and face the middle of the circle, arms crossed, without losing their grasp. To do this, they will have to cooperate so that nobody hurts any shoulders. They will also have to come closer, physically, as a group. At this point, as the facilitator remind them “see how close we’ve gotten as a group”

The end of a great day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT OF THE CCCP

Sincerly,
Your 2008-2009 Board of Directors