If you have ever attended an International Budget Partnership (IBP) in-person training, chances are you scribbled some thoughts on tiny sticky notes and stuck them on flip charts around the room. We at IBP love our flip charts, color markers and sticky notes. We haul...
10 Tips for Closing a Learning Event
Closing a learning event is as important as opening it! This is the moment when learners are invited to envision how the new learning will show up in their daily lives. Closing activities are essential to solidify and transfer the learning that took place during the...
Anybody Out There: What’s the Deal with Webcams, Anyway?
Have you ever set up a breakout room and only half the people went there? They didn’t ‘move’ because they were no longer at their desk. But how could you know: their webcam was OFF! Have you ever found yourself begging, even pleading, for individuals in a Zoom meeting...
A Chance to Be Your Truest Self
I have learned a lot about connection recently. Previous to the last couple of months, I was afraid of it. In a way, I’d imagine we all were. As a shared humanity, it seems as though in the last year we’ve never been farther apart. Amidst wars and division in many...
Using Open Questions to Deepen My Learning about Bears
I had the privilege of participating in a life-changing wildlife educational experience about black bears. When I got home after the first year, I felt I hadn't made the most of this incredible opportunity. A guided learning journal I created for year two helped me...
Where Restorative Practice and Dialogue Education Meet
“Remember that your authority over other human beings is an artificial construct.” [1] I’ve been asking people about their core values and characteristics when they are at their best for over 20 years. I was introduced to this practice through the field of...
Zoom Breakouts: Love ’em or Leave ’em?
As we reviewed the assessments coming in after the pilot of a newly developed training course, two words stood out: breakout rooms. Half of our team expected the feedback on these virtual discussion groups to be negative, the other wondered why almost every...
Universal Design for Learning – Acknowledging All Learners
Neurodiversity acknowledges that all learners interact with and perceive the world differently. This means that there is no right way to learn, which provides validation and support for establishing equitable learning environments. As I reflect on my time in higher...
Bringing a Visual to Life
How do you turn a concept into a useful visual to teach and reinforce that concept over time?How do you take that visual off the page so that people can interact and learn from it? Here's a story to illustrate how you might do just that. We hope it inspires you with...
Teaching in Closed Societies
I work in a closed society. My colleagues do as well. In fact, we are all from the country in which we work and are passionate about what we do.
What to Do When Life Happens: A Facilitator’s Challenge
I intentionally design to maximize learning. I conduct a needs assessment, asking select questions of participants and stakeholders, studying websites and key documents, and observing events and meetings of the client and small groups. I check my assumptions and work...
Embodied Design and Facilitation
Have you participated in a meeting or event lately where, instead of starting with an overview of the agenda, you started by taking breaths together? If you haven’t yet, you might soon.