Beth Cougler Blom

I'm reading Lynda Barry's Syllabus book right now and I'm LOVING it. Every page is an adventure. Nancy, the Drawing Monsters that we co-facilitated together in 2017 as part of the immersion came from that book too, right? So Spiral Journal and Drawing Monsters are not part of the "set of 33" Liberating Structures but emerging as ones in development/punctuations. (Note: Not sure how to exact define what a "punctuation" is other than to say that it's a small process in between two big processes!) Someone else could add on here if you can explain more.

Hi Reynaldo,

Great to see you here! I think it was Faith that you were posting to, about her experience with First Nations cultures. Although I look forward to pursuing conversations with you too!

Beth

Asif I really like how you've phrased this. So the bigger question might be to ask ourselves not necessarily, "How might we engage participants/people more in our meetings and learning experiences?" but "How might we be more comfortable with sharing control over process and outcomes in our meetings and learning experiences?" Well, really, both are good questions to ponder!

Hi all,

Wow, what a great start yesterday! I really appreciated seeing all the connections forming in the Open Forum as you posted and replied to each other's posts. You found linkages with each other about using Liberating Structures online, wondering about how and why they work, what frameworks they are built on, and more! I'm sure those conversations will keep deepening today as you return to support each other and share your experiences and questions.

Today we do Step 2, which is starting to think about designing an activity using Liberating Structures for a particular purpose that you might have coming up. The Activity Packet has the details, of course, and you'll likely be also referencing the Tips & Resources page. (And yes, you can use this opportunity to plan to use an LS structure or string in face-to-face, online or even blended environments.)

Use the Open Forum to post any questions you have as they are coming up for you. But rest assured that our next activity, starting tomorrow, will give you an opportunity to really dig in and receive advice from others about your plan. So no need to figure it all out today.

On that note, please look forward into Step 3 in the Activity Packet and sign up for a triad by late tonight in the Google Doc linked there. Early tomorrow morning I'll set up the groups in the course for triad work to begin tomorrow in the (currently hidden) Sharing & Feedback forum. (This will be our Steps 3 and 4.)

Lastly, have you seen side comments start to appear in the forums and are wondering what they are all about? I've done a short (2 1/2 min) screencast for you about the Marginalia annotation plugin and how to use it. (Note: The video is set to unlisted, in case you're wondering, so only those of us who access this course can see it.)

Any questions? Just ask!

Beth and Leva

Hi Asif and Jane,

Great questions you have!

You might find it useful to look at the MicroStructures & Design Elements page on the LS website and the LS Principles page there too would also be a great read. Both of these links are now in our Tips & Resources page.

They might help you start to sort out what makes Liberating Structures different from conventional structures...