![\"Two](\"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/files\/2019\/09\/CAPs-Adventure.jpg\")
<\/a>- \r\n \t
- The importance of asset-based community development when interacting with organizations. For instance, challenging us (the outsiders) to view a community in terms of its strengths rather than its weaknesses.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n
![\"Community](\"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/files\/2019\/09\/Community-Engaged-Learning.jpg\")
<\/a>Steps to learning and engaging with communities<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n - \r\n \t
- The Derpy Dog exercise! The goal of the activity was to promote a growth mindset, to push past any innate resistance, and essentially draw a derpy dog in 30 seconds. After we finished, we passed our papers to a student to our left and drew another dog. Then, we passed the papers again and drew a human owner. It was a little stressful as the facilitator started counting down and had a timer! I definitely had trouble drawing the body of my dogs but it was fun to make a narrative for the pets and the owner. I named them Boopy, Choopy, and Jimmy respectively. Unfortunately, I don\u2019t have photos as they\u2019re quite shy!<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n
![\"Powerpoint](\"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/files\/2019\/09\/Reciprocal-Model.jpg\")
<\/a>Challenging assumptions, working out a win-win situation for both parties<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n - \r\n \t
- From the reflection portion, this quote from John Dewey really struck me: \u201cWe do not learn from experience, we learn from reflecting on experience.\u201d It prompted me to reflect on the reason I was taking my courses, as well as to think about why I wish to become a writer and musician. Other questions started to come up: how can what I\u2019m doing right now help get me where I want to go? And what skills do I want to learn from this experience and from my extracurriculars?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nMy goals this year\u00a0as a potential volunteer at Story Planet are to become more verbally communicative, practice my artistic abilities, and learn to be more patient. As well, I wish to try facilitating (small!) workshops and engage with drama and playwriting. In essence, I\u2019m really looking forward to my next steps with Story Planet and to future collaborations with the community!","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\n\nLast Friday, I attended the Community Action Projects (CAPs) Orientation for Story Planet, an organization that combines literacy, art, and drama to engage children as well as youth in under-resourced schools. CAPs are opportunities for students to volunteer at and…\n<\/div>
- From the reflection portion, this quote from John Dewey really struck me: \u201cWe do not learn from experience, we learn from reflecting on experience.\u201d It prompted me to reflect on the reason I was taking my courses, as well as to think about why I wish to become a writer and musician. Other questions started to come up: how can what I\u2019m doing right now help get me where I want to go? And what skills do I want to learn from this experience and from my extracurriculars?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nMy goals this year\u00a0as a potential volunteer at Story Planet are to become more verbally communicative, practice my artistic abilities, and learn to be more patient. As well, I wish to try facilitating (small!) workshops and engage with drama and playwriting. In essence, I\u2019m really looking forward to my next steps with Story Planet and to future collaborations with the community!","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
- The Derpy Dog exercise! The goal of the activity was to promote a growth mindset, to push past any innate resistance, and essentially draw a derpy dog in 30 seconds. After we finished, we passed our papers to a student to our left and drew another dog. Then, we passed the papers again and drew a human owner. It was a little stressful as the facilitator started counting down and had a timer! I definitely had trouble drawing the body of my dogs but it was fun to make a narrative for the pets and the owner. I named them Boopy, Choopy, and Jimmy respectively. Unfortunately, I don\u2019t have photos as they\u2019re quite shy!<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n