Microaggressions and Creative Solutions (With Bianca L. McGraw)

Microaggressions and Creative Solutions is an interactive workshop that explores the meaning, structure, actions and outcomes of microaggressions.  The workshop will help participants to examine and discuss microaggressions in media, work, social & personal spaces, leadership organizations and residential/on-campus programming.   Humor theory is utilized to help connect and promote dialogue and dissect diverse perceptions while providing a safe atmosphere.  The workshop will also engage participants in an activity and discussion focused on creative problem solving and strategies to encourage proactive advocacy. The workshop will conclude with the creation of a Creative Change Agent Guide designed to address implications of microaggressions.

Building blocks to Cultural understanding

This workshop addresses in a non-confrontational way the issue of the value of others. The program also touches on respect and teamwork. The makeup of today’s society makes this program invaluable to any organization. The exercise uses all of the participants to create groups representing different cultures. The groups utilize the cultural respect training to experience the benefit that other cultures have to offer in completing the groups goal. The cultural diversity experience is reviewed and discussed as a group

 

 

Youth Workshops

Social Skills/Respect/Perception (60 – 90 minutes)

The Social Skills program is the backbone my concepts, and provides the foundation for the rest of the series of programming. It teaches the basics of social interaction and reinforces correct behavior. In addition, the program addresses respect and perception. This program is a must for all ages!

Brief description of what the program entails:

The program defines: social skills, respect, and perception
The Doctor’s skit illustrates perception and how people use it Everyone is shown the skills and the proper way to execute them , and then they are allowed to practice the skills until they can perform them satisfactorily

Peer Pressure (60 – 90 minutes)

The Peer Pressure program is known for the “Maze of Life” exercise that lets participants experience both positive and negative peer pressure first- hand. This program deals with the real issues of the impact those around you can have on your life. Try it and see the impact it has on the future choices the participants make.

Brief description of what the program entails:
Peer Pressure defines a peer, pressure, positive peer pressure, and negative peer pressure
The impact of being caught up in negative peer pressure and the impact it can have on the rest of your life is illustrated by a skit
The highlight of the program is an exercise called the “Maze of Life” that demonstrates with real experience how peer pressure can both help and hurt. Everyone must experience the Maze.

The Importance of Education (60 minutes)

How do you convince students that education is important. We’ve developed a game to do just that. The value of education program puts it plain and simple with an exercise that lets you see exactly what you will get with different levels and opportunities for education.

Brief description of what the program entails:
What is Education?
Includes a highly interactive activity that shows where you end up with no education and the hardships you will have to endure

Communication (60 minutes)

Communication is the key to any relationship, and with teacher/student relationships, communication is either hard to establish or is the first thing to breakdown. The Communication program teaches all of the parts of communication and illustrates how it does and doesn’t work.

Brief description of what the program entails:
All of the elements of communication are defined and explained: communication, transmitter, receiver, 1-way communication, 2-way communication, 3-way communication, non-verbal communication, and verbal communication
Playing either the transmitter or the receiver, everyone experiences trying to accomplish a task with verbal and non-verbal communication, and through 1,2, and 3-way communication.
A skit illustrates how poor communication will cost you

Cultural Awareness (60 Minutes)

This is a very highly interactive workshop that will yield the most obvious answers when it comes to the needs of your Minority populations. We will dive into some of the most well intended mistakes, and even those we aren’t always aware of, while exploring things that isolate minority students in a campus setting and in the community. 

Brief description of what the program entails:
Using Mega blocks, we explore the importance of community, displacement and our natural reaction to it. Although highly interactive, this workshop is focused on open dialogue through a shared experience. The blocks are a metaphor of the importance of culture, diversity, acceptance, and inclusion.