• Not feeling listened to

• Doing physical things against your will "everyone get up and do..."

• Witnessing someone be scolded/ humiliated by a teacher after being asked to share something authentic/raw

• Non-inclusive questions that not everyone can answer (where is your favorite place to ski?)

• Facilitator not keeping track of time

Good

• Asset-based leadership, emphasizing strength

• Unofficial starts can be really helpful

• Name tags are set on tables upon entering

• Finding an abstract image that resonates with you

• Talking about specific aspects that are "welcome here" (your childhood stories, your sexual orientation, your gender, your history etc)

• Perform a song and a dance that symbolizes what your life is like right now as a school counsellor

• Adopt a pose and optionally share one word that reflects you felt when you entered the program, and then how do you feel now, and how you hope to feel at the end of the school year.

• What season is your life in now vs what season would you like your life to be in?

Energizers Activities

Connecting Activities

• Dance of connection: Two lines facing each other. People are allowed to move closer, move back, invite the other to move closer, invite the other to move back, ask the other to not get closer, and hug. People were not allowed to dance, hug and shake. People had to maintain eye contact.

• Sun in the centre: One person stands in the centre and everyone goes around giving them a compliment.

• Reveal your projections and then own them

• "I share common ground with people who..."

• Rock, Paper Sisor Tournament

• Reverse Charades (Sources of Strength)

• This or That

• Music Competition

• Lego Sculpture

• Commonality Scavenger Hunt

• Group Calculator/ Group Share

• Squiggle Bird

• How many ways can you use a paperclip?

• What do you see in the squiggle?

Dialogue Based

• Culture box

• Hopes and Fears

• Slide Presentation

--Draw a castle in increasingly diminished increments. --> discussions of how we communicate an idea; we can still communicate a concept outside of our comfort zones.

-- Common Ground (Same as "The Sunshine Zone", but with the phrase, "I share common ground with those who...")

Check-ins:

-- What concerns / pain points do you have about ______?

-- What general experience do you have with ____ ?

-- Image slide: This or that. Or which of the following best describes the day you're having?

Creating the Learning Space:

Opening activity:

--1. Students record the following on a card: Name, pronouns, 3 connections questions (e.g. something that gives you joy) 2. A partner takes this card and introduces classmate.