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This document provides an overview of DREAMS, a process used by Project Ki'L to help Alaska Native and American Indian boys envision their goals and dreams. DREAMS stands for "Dreaming, Remembering, Envisioning, Achieving, Motivating, Succeeding." It involves the boy and his support network creating a graphic representation of his strengths, values, and goals for the future. The graphic takes the form of a dreamcatcher, a symbol in Ojibwe culture that filters out bad dreams. It is meant to challenge negative thinking and encourage positive visioning. Facilitating DREAMS allows boys to express their identity and culture while planning steps to achieve their aspirations.
This document provides an overview of DREAMS, a process used by Project Ki'L to help Alaska Native and American Indian boys envision their goals and dreams. DREAMS stands for "Dreaming, Remembering, Envisioning, Achieving, Motivating, Succeeding." It involves the boy and his support network creating a graphic representation of his strengths, values, and goals for the future. The graphic takes the form of a dreamcatcher, a symbol in Ojibwe culture that filters out bad dreams. It is meant to challenge negative thinking and encourage positive visioning. Facilitating DREAMS allows boys to express their identity and culture while planning steps to achieve their aspirations.
This document provides an overview of DREAMS, a process used by Project Ki'L to help Alaska Native and American Indian boys envision their goals and dreams. DREAMS stands for "Dreaming, Remembering, Envisioning, Achieving, Motivating, Succeeding." It involves the boy and his support network creating a graphic representation of his strengths, values, and goals for the future. The graphic takes the form of a dreamcatcher, a symbol in Ojibwe culture that filters out bad dreams. It is meant to challenge negative thinking and encourage positive visioning. Facilitating DREAMS allows boys to express their identity and culture while planning steps to achieve their aspirations.
A Preface....................................................................4 b Overview................................................................8 c Getting Started......................................................14 d DREAMS in Action................................................18 e Legend....................................................................24 f Strengths................................................................28 g Web of Support.....................................................32 h Reality.....................................................................36 i Dream Feathers.....................................................40 j Symbol....................................................................44 k Final Touches.........................................................47 Table of Contents Before there were DREAMS, there were MAPS. Project KiLs DREAMS process is deeply indebted to Inclusion Press MAPS (Making Acton Plans), a type of person-centered planning originally developed for people with disabilites. During the MAPS process, a group of supportve adults come together with an individual to focus on them, and support them and their dreams for their future. MAPS identfes opportunites for the focus person to develop personal relatonships, partcipate in their community, increase control over their own lives, and develop the skills and abilites they need to achieve their goals. Almost as soon as we were introduced to MAPS, we at Project KiL recognized the potental impact of the process for our boys. MAPS complements multple scales of the Devereaux Student Strengths Assessment (DESSA), as well as the Social Emotonal Learning (SEL) quadrants, and principals of culturally responsive teaching and pedagogy. One of the key aspects of MAPS is a recogniton of the social reality of ignorance, prejudice, and discriminaton which keeps many people from taking their rightul place in community life. For MAPS partcipants, this may mean disabled adults, but it also includes Alaska Natve and American Indian male students. Person-centered planning asserts that this reality will only change when people and communites take acton together to change it, and the MAPS process itself is put forward as a challenge to these barriers to partcipaton. It discloses the capacites and gifs of the focus person, refects what is important to them, now and for the future, and insists that they have real opportunites to contribute to the life of their communites (and beneft from their contributons in turn). Preface How DREAMS came to be A page 5 Alaska Natve and American Indian male students currently perform the lowest on stands based assessents out of all gender and ethnic groups in the Anchorage School District. They contnue to face unique challenges that ofen go unrecognized, or are misunderstood by the Western educaton model. These include confictng learning styles, prohibitve socioeconomic factors, damaging prejudices, and persistant legacies of generatonal trauma, which obstruct parents from being strong advocates and deter students from reaching their full potental. We knew that Project KiL boys could unqiuely beneft from a dedicated tme for their families, teachers, and other caring adults to come together and focus on him and his future. Creatng goals gives our boys responsibility for their own learning, and visualizing the steps to reach them teaches that efectve efort leads to achievement. We recognized that utlizing MAPS, or a similar process, could help us begin to turn around the defciency thinking and negatve trends too ofen associated with Alaska Natve and American Indian students, one boy at a tme. From MAPS to DREAMS However, there were key elements that were missing from the MAPS process. MAPS are not targeted toward Alaska Natve boys; they are not clearly culturally responsive, and are not gender specifc, or designed with boys in mind. We knew that with a few tweaks, we could really make the person-centered planning experience life- A A page 6 A Project KiL family afer completng their DREAMS. A changing, and afrming, for Project KiL students.. Our frst step was to create a template for the process. Although the creators of MAPS are adamant they will not create a MAPS template, in our work with elementary-age boys, having a graphic representaton on hand has proven to be an immensely useful tool for both cognitve and artstc organizaton. It helps the boys to visualize the process, as well as guide their goal- setng. The dreamcatcher is a highly symbolic Ojibwe design which complements the intent of the overall DREAMS process (for more informaton, see Overview). We also added traditonal Alaska Natve values as a border to the graphic to remind all present of the boys culture and heritage, and to encourage him to incorporate these ideals into his vision for his future. We have tailored the process itself to be partcularly suited for the actve learning styles of boys, and to fuse with his identty as an Alaska Natve male. So far, Project KiLs team has completed over 400 DREAMS processes with our students, and the feedback from families has been overwhelming. Our own dream is that these pages will encourage you, as a facilitator or parent, to actvate this process with your own student, and equip you with the tools you need to be successful. page 7 Overview An introduction to DREAMS b page 9 What is Project KiL? Project KiL (Denaina Athabascan for boy) is a three-year demonstraton grant (2011-2014) from the Alaska Natve Educaton Equity program. We serve over 500 Alaska Natve and American Indian boys in preschool through 5th grade by providing targeted cultural and social-emotonal learning (SEL) services. In the Anchorage School District, and school districts across the country, Alaska Natve and American Indian (AN/AI) boys score lowest on standardized tests than any other gender or ethnic group, and dropout rates are the highest. The goals of Project Kil are to turn around these negatve trends, narrow the achievement gap, and create more culturally inclusive environments within the Anchorage School District that will equip our boys with the tools and resources they need to excel. We do this by afrming their identty through the celebraton of Natve values and traditons, and by supportng parents, community members, and educators as they strive to meet their unique needs. We accomplish this through several means, including Family Nights, biweekly Club KiL meetngs featuring Alaska Natve and American Indian presenters, and professional development for school staf which encourages culturally responsive educatonal practces and teaching strategies. One of our most popular actvites, however, contnues to be our DREAMS process. What is the purpose of DREAMS? DREAMS are a casual conversaton about a boys hopes, dreams and goals which involve their support network of family, friends, and teachers. It is also an artstc process, helping boys to refect visually on what is important in their life presently, and how they can reach a desired future. By graphically mapping their expectatons for themselves, each boy, and his supporters, enact a constructed and goal-oriented future, helping guide him to informed choices about how he wants to live as a contributng community member. Not only that, but we learn how Project KiL, the Anchorage School District, and the wider community can best assist him on his journey. Why do we draw DREAMS instead of writing them? Recording and sharing images uses more of our brains. When we endeavor to record the images in our words, we create a record that will let us recall some of the rich tapestry of the original experience. When we fnd an image that clicks, it is the hot buton to the full memory, thus our recall improves dramatcally. Research on memory aids has recommended simple image memory hooks for the past 2,500 years. This is especially true for boys, who tend to be more visual-spatal learners than girls. It is important to understand that DREAMS are not about art so much as communicaton. We dont think and dream in words. Our nightmares are not bound by words. Language is at best a very limited representaton of the full color, surround sound images in our minds. The DREAMS graphic As you review the DREAMS template, you will notce that the graphic itself is in the form of a dreamcatcher. Dreamcatchers are a widely-recognized (and some would argue, commercialized) Natve American symbol, but they have a very specifc purpose. b b page 10 b b Dreamcatchers originated with the Ojibwe people. According to Ojibwe legend, Asibikaashi (Spider Woman) took care of the people of the land in the beginning. As people began to spread out, it became more difcult for her to reach all of her children. So mothers and grandmothers began to weave their children supernatural webs, using willow hoops and sinew. These webs would flter out the bad dreams and only allow good dreams and thoughts to enter their minds. This is the essence of our intenton for the DREAMS process. We want to challenge defciency thinking, and encourage boys to develop positve and vibrant goals for their futures. You will also notce there are traditonal Natve values bordering the template. Throughout the DREAMS process, we want boys to be reminded of their family, heritage, and culture, and the ways in which these shape and enhance their vision of themselves and their future. These also page 11 serve as wonderful tools for ignitng a boys verbalizaton of his identty, his strengths, and his narratve trajectory. In additon, we have integrated Project KiLs superhero theme into the template. The Project K superhero incorporates elements from many diferent Alaska Natve cultures, so that each of our boys are able to recognize a part of their own heritage in him. Our superhero imagery also encourages boys to see themselves in superhero verbiage: as strong, bold, and capable of efectng positve change in their communites. You will see four quadrants inside the hoop, or web, of the dreamcatcher. These four quadrants each have a specifc purpose, encouraging the boy to refect on his personal history, identty, strengths and weaknesses, obstacles in his life and how to overcome them, and most importantly, how he can enact his dreams for the future. We will look at these quadrants separately. The dreams themselves are enumerated using the feathers at the botom of the graphic, with steps to ataining them illustrated along the strings which atach them. It is important for you to move through the DREAMS process in order. Legend: This is about the boy and his story. Strengths: These are the things the boy is really good at. All adults present should share what they believe are the boys skills and positve characteristcs. Dreams: This is where the boy begins thinking about his future. For example, what he wants to be when he grows up, places he wants to visit, and how he wants to be as a man. Reaching Your Dreams: These are the actons that the boy needs to take in order to realize his dreams and goals. page 12 An example of a completed DREAM. Web of Support: These are the people the boy can ask for help. Reality: This is where the boy thinks about things that may keep him from reaching his deams; things he may want to avoid. Symbol: A picture that represents the boy and his identty. Your role as a DREAMS facilitator There are two kinds of facilitators who are involved in the DREAMS process: The Process Facilitator engages students and partcipants, and looks afer tme and pace while assistng the boy through the steps and questons. The Illustrator captures the boys words and images on paper and ofers them occasional summaries of the work, helping them to identfy emergent themes that unify the process. During the DREAMS process, both facilitators will constantly listen underneath what the boy is saying, and probe for images of his ideal future. Your job is to transport him out of the present and into the dream of his future. Situatons or experiences recalled during the DREAMS process may generate high emoton, and each boy needs a guide they can trust, and who can deal constructvely with feelings of pain, fear, and anger. These feelings are not the goal, but as a facilitator, you must be able to encourage them to face these feelings and learn from them rather than fee from them. As a facilitator, your job is to: Build a capacity view and a rich vision for the childs future Challenge defciency thinking Raise expectatons Gather people who care and can act Listen respectully to understand the whole child Search for possibilites by describing history and current realites Create and share vivid and powerful images of desirable futures page 13 Getting Started Preparing for a DREAMS Process c page 15 Participation First, DREAMS must be voluntary for each boy. Forcing him to partcipate is contrary to the purpose. The process should bring together a number of caring adults in the boys life, including parents, family members, teachers, or community members who play a signifcant role for him. As a facilitator, you will probably already know the child well enough to understand who you should invite, but if not, ask the boy about adults he respects, or with whom he spends signifcant tme. Try to limit the number of people you invite to three or four. Any more and the process may become too complicated. Supplies to have on hand DREAMS do not require any special equipment to complete, and Project KiL will provide you with the DREAMS template. However, there are a few things to have on hand that will make the process easier. If you need assistance in acquiring these supplies, please contact Project KiL. We would be happy to help! Water soluble colored markers (in case someone gets marker on their hands or clothes) Crayons - you can use these to shade afer you have fnished your work with markers. Masking tape to hold the DREAMS graphic on the wall (other kinds of tape may take part of the wall with them when you decide to take the graphic down). Remember to hang two layers of paper to avoid bleeding. Setting the Tone DREAMS should always be completed in a relaxed and informal atmosphere. The goal is to make everyone involved, and especially the boy, feel comfortable and safe expressing themselves. Here a few things you can do to encourage this: Minimize interruptons by asking everyone to turn of their cell phones. Make sure cofee, tea, water, juice, and/or light snacks are available. Atach the DREAMS template to open wall space where all involved can comfortably see it sitng in a semicircle. Supply comfortable seatng arrangements and ensure the space is large enough for all partcipants. Set a clear tme commitment of two hours, without adults running in and out of the room for phone calls or other maters. It is important for the boy to understand how much this tme is valued. General Guidelines Finally, some guidelines to keep in mind before you embark on your frst DREAMS facilitaton: Try to complete a DREAMS process yourself before you facilitate one with a student. This will give you a clearer understanding of the process, as well as a clearer vision of your own future. Keepin mind that DREAMS are a graphic record. Graphics are not just add-ons, but an essental page 16 c c c c component. Although labeling is allowed, do not give in to the temptaton to simply write things out. Address each secton of the template in order. The experience will not be a true DREAMS process if the facilitators skip over essental components or juggle the order. The steps can have fair, zing, and be personalized, but the steps must be followed.
page 17 DREAMS in Action How to realize your first DREAMS d page 19 First Steps Afer everyone has arrived and is comfortably seated, begin by going over the agreements. Emphasize that that this area is a safe space, and everyone shouold feel comfortable expressing themselves. Explain that you are here for the boy in queston, and all adults must commit to two hours without interrupton. Then you can ask everyone to introduce themselves. Begin by asking Who is here? How does each person relate to [boys name]? Demonstrate by introducing yourself frst. If you dont know peoples names, and/or if the partcipants dont know each other, ask each person to make a colorful, readable name tag for someone else in the group. Embarking on a DREAM Next, orient everyone to the idea that DREAMS is a process which begins with this meetng, and briefy explain the quadrants. It may be helpful to physically move people out of their seats. Ask people to close their eyes and envision their hopes and dreams for the boy present. Invite people to touch parts of the paper that represent the diferent topics. As you begin to move through the quadrants and ask questons, listen for key images (theirs, not yours) in the boys story. Do not leap to draw too quickly. If it is a key image, it is likely worth checking with the boy before you commit your idea to paper. Dont get in the way - the graphic is the key component, but it should help move things along and not be a distracton. Begin to listen in colors. Diferent moods, emotons, statements can be expressed as much even beter in colors than in words. For example, red and black in combinaton are full of energy, but are ofen foreboding, dark, and angry. Greens and browns will tend to be warmer, homier, down to earth, and nature. It is a very good idea to ask the boy what colors he likes - and the color of specifc images when you are recording for him. Strike a balance of checking key images. If you have no idea what the image looks like, ask. This is not getng in the way, it demonstrates you are listening. If you are unsure, ask if its okay to draw your image idea and see what works for him. Ofen when you present an idea, it is rejected, but it sparks them to be clearer. Get their input. Remember to involve the boy in the process and in their graphic. Give them ownership. It is for them, not for you. Encourage him to choose key colors. Beter yet, get him to draw some of the key images - if he chooses. The more colorful, bright, personal, and mult- dimensional a DREAM is, the beter! Add texture to the graphic. Add objects, photographs, graft, cut pictures from magazines, pastels, oils - there are no limits to page 20 d d A Project KiL boy illustratng his DREAM. d d making the graphic passionate, alive, and full of energy. For DREAMS to be a catalyst, they must be bold and beautful in their process and graphic facilitaton. Thoughtful questions for process facilitators Efectve facilitaton creates shared meaning. Thoughtul use of questons can help the boy and his supporters grow more clear about what they mean by important words and deepen their appreciaton of what they want to create together. Asking these questons usually slows things down, allowing the group to gather and focus energy around a central issue. These questons represent diferent phrasings of What does that look like?. To build involvement and accuracy, ask questons like: What color do you want that to be? What does that look like? Where (point or circle a space on the paper) do you want that image? What does that go next to? You want to see _______________. Would that be _______________, _______________, or _______________, or how would that be? For example, You see people in a circle. Are they close together, or holding hands, or how would they be? Is there any detail we could add that would make the image come alive for you? In response to a story or the expression of a key idea or value, ask questons like: What is at the heart of that for you? What is especially important to you about that? What images arise from the story? How do we turn those words into a picture? What could capture that in pictures? How could we depict that so you will be able to remember all that it means for you? If you closed your eyes and imagined looking at a TV screen that could show you this happening, what would you see? page 21 To test connectons with earlier contributons and images, ask queston like: What does that connect to? Should we draw the connecton with an arrow by putng a circle around them by shading them the same color Who else might be there with you? We heard you menton _______________ several tmes, do you want to menton _______________ there too? _______________ were important to you over here (point), does that show up here in any way? For example, Being able to see and hear the waves was really important here. Should there be anything about waves here? To test and see if it is tme to make a transiton to the next step, ask questons like: If you could have one more image, what would it be? Look at what weve put here, does it capture what you mean? Lets translate the images back into a summary in words. Does that say what you mean? To bridge between a descripton of a desired future and a strategy for getng there, ask questons like: What happened to change that? What was your part in making that happen? Who helped you make that happen? What were your very frst steps? Encouragement for illustrators The overwhelming majority of us drew on everything in sight when we were children. If you can put away your learned inhibitons (I cant do this, Ill look silly/childish, etc.) you may even discover this is fun! page 22 Dont worry about what others will think or how youve seen someone elses graphics look. If you do your best, no one can ask for more. Dont worry about perfecton. If you capture peoples ideas and images accurately, the degree of artstc perfecton is almost irrelevant. Detailed imagery can actually get in the way. If your imagery is too detailed, it can overpower peoples memories. What we are looking for is a trigger to their memory. If your picture is too detailed or prety, it can become the centerpiece rather than the memory trigger. You dont need three dimensions, perspectve, or even shadows to draw powerful images that communicate clearly. Most drawing over thousands of years didnt use perspectve (think of pictographs on caves and pyramids - those drawings stll tell powerful stories). You do not need to be fancy to be a clear communicator. For example, ground items and create boundaries with a line or two. Or create a sense of moton or acton with a few litle speed lines. Lines and shapes There are only two kinds of lines - curved and straight. There are only three basic shapes in everything that has ever been drawn: squares, triangles, and circles. All other shapes are combinatons of these basic forms. Some easy-to-draw human forms include: Heart people Ghost people page 23 Boys working together on a DREAM project. Stck fgures Star people: Before you begin, it is helpful to have a wide array of empty formats in your head to help you capture and record the informaton carefully and efciently. These can include: Agendas in a list format Brainstorms using lists or clusters of ideas Timelines or circular and spiral forms for stories
page 24 Legend First quadrant e page 26 What is a Legend? The Legend is the frst quadrant of the dreamcatcher on the DREAMS graphic. The goal of the Legend is to encourage the boy to explore his personal history and identty, and to verbalize his own understanding of who he is. We chose to name this quadrant Legend for two reasons. In popular culture, a legend is a traditonal story that tells of the way things came to be. This is what we want to capture in the Legend quadrant: the story of how the boy came to be who he is. Legend can also refer to an famous or notorious person. We want all of our boys to see themselves as unqiue and full of potental - the potental to be a Legend! Some of the questons may include: What is your story? What are two or three stories from your life that are important to you? What are some things you like to do? What are sports you like to play? Who are the people that are important to you? Where do you like to go? Are there any places that are important or hold a special meaning for you? What food do you like to eat? Who are your friends? What do you do together? Once youve covered the basics, you can go deeper by asking the boy about his culture and heritage, or his familys traditons. Where is your family from? What language(s) does your family speak? Tell me about your heritage and culture. What are some of your family traditons? The Legend builds a foundaton for the rest of the DREAMS process. Family members and other present adults may have lots to contribute to this secton, or be able to prompt the boy with things he hasnt thought of. page 27 e SEL Competencies Social Awareness Social awareness is includes the ability to recognize family, school, and community resources and supports. While completng the Legend quadrant of DREAMS, boys verbalize their story in terms of family, school, and community. Relatonship Skills Relatonship skills include the ability to establish and maintain health and rewarding relatonships with diverse individuals and groups. While completng their legend, students refect on the relatonships they have developed with those around them in their family and community. Alaskas Cultural Standards Incorporatng diferent ways of knowing The DREAMS mapping process incorporates AN/AI cultural values both graphically and verbally during the facilitaton process. DREAMS also acknowledge the traditonal knowledge a student brings with them from their cultural heritage. Apply cultural values and integrate examples and actvites The facilitator invites the student to share their own stories, and is then heard retelling them accurately. e Strengths Second quadrant f page 29 What is the Strengths quadrant? This is the second quadrant of the dreamcatcher. Strengths is an opportunity to enumerate the positve atributes, skills, and abilites of the student. Explain to the boy that the Strengths secton is a space for everyone to say what they think he is good at. You may want to ask him about school subjects, or ways he helps out at home and in his community where he feels partcularly strong. Ask parents and family members where they see their son excelling and making a positve diference in the lives of others. Ask teachers and school staf where they see the boy making a positve contributon to his school and community. Some of the questons may include: What do you think you are good at? What are sports or classes where you feel you perform well? What do your parents and family members say you are good at? What do your friends tell you you are good at? In what subjects do your teachers praise you ofen? It is important to also focus on aspects of the students culture where he partcularly excels. Try to incorporate Natve values as much as possible when completng the Strengths secton of the graphic. Make sure everyone partcipatng in the process is able to share what they believe are some of the boys best qualites. page 30 SEL Competencies Self-awareness Self-awareness includes the ability to accurately assess ones strengths and limitatons while possessing a well-grounded sense of confdence and optmism. While commpletng the Strengths quadrant, the boy enumerates his own positve atributes, including academic achievements, cultural heritage, and indigenous values he exemplifes. Alaskas Cultural Standards Recognizing the full potental of each student Once the stakeholders in the mapping process recognize where the student is strong, they are able to challenge them to make the most of their talents and skills. f f f Web of Support Third quadrant g page 32 What is a Web of Support? The Web of Support quadrant allows boys and their supporters to verbalize where they can go for support. It is imperatve that the boy understands there are people in his life who care about him, and are ready and able to help them in their pursuit of their dreams. While completng this quadrant, the boy should be reminded that it is normal to ask for help, even as he matures. Family, friends, school staf are usually listed here, but community members and organizatons may also be included. Some of the questons may include: Who are people you trust and can ask for help? What has to be in place for the people here to support your dream? Who are people that support you and want you to do your best? Because we want our boys to dream big, we also need them to know that there is a network of people who can help him achieve his goals for himself. Even as adults our dreams can sometmes be overwhelming or scary if what we want to achieve is out of our comfort zone. g g SEL Competencies Social Awareness Social awareness is includes the ability to recognize family, school, and community resources and supports. The Web of Support quadrant helps boys visualize where they can go for support, including supportve adults in their family, school, and community. Relatonship Skills Relatonship skills include the ability to establish and maintain health and rewarding relatonships with diverse individuals and groups. While completng their Web of Supprt, students refect on the relatonships they have developed with those around them in their family and community. page 33 Reality Fourth quadrant h page 35 What is Reality? The fourth quadrant is the boys Reality. This is where you will encourage him to think about the things that could potentally keep him from reaching his dream. Depending on the boys age and self-awareness level, this quadrant is ofen the hardest for students to process, so refer to a students dreams for themselves and the ways they are going to reach those dreams. Some of the questons may include: What are some things that could get in the way of you (being a soldier, traveling to Africa, designing a skyscraper, etc.)? What are the things that might be bad for your mind or body, that would make it harder for you to reach your dreams? What are some unhealthy habits that might get in the way of your dreams? Dont just focus on stumbling blocks, however. The goal of the DREAMS process is to challenge defciency thinking, not reinforce it! The Reality quadrant can also a space to highlight some of the boys opportunites for growth and development. These can be both general and specifc. For example, I will watch less TV, or I will study harder in math. Encourage the boy to refect and verbalize his own goals. SEL Competencies Relatonship Skills Relatonship skills include the ability to establish and maintain health and rewarding relatonships with diverse individuals and groups. While completng the Reality quadrant students learn to resist inappropriate social pressure, a prevalent stumbling block for students in the Project KiL age range. Responsible Decision-making Responsible decision-making is the ability to make constructve and respectul choices about personal behavior and social interactons based on consideraton of ethical standards, safety concerns, social norms, the realistc evaulaton of consequences of various actons, and the well-being of self and others. While completng the Reality quadrant, boys examine obstacles in their life and strategize ways to overcome them, making constructve choices about their personal behavior and social interactons page 36 h h h h Dream Feathers Dream big! i page 38 What are Dream Feathers? Dream Feathers are where the boy begins to think about his future, major goals like what he wants to be when he grows up, places he wants to visit, things he wants to achieve as a man. The boy may choose a dream to be represented by each feather. Ideally, he should be guided towards goals which result in high school graduaton, college, a career or trade. Some of the questons may include: What do you want to be when you grow up?
Some students may fnd it difcult to envision a future this far in advance. As a frst step, it may be easier to encourage the boy to think about the jobs his family or community members hold and he may be interested in. What places would you like to visit? If this is a difcult queston, ask the boy to refect on a place theyve seen on TV, or studied in a class that has piqued their interest. The space around each of the feathers (the string leading from the feathers to the rest of the dreamcatcher) is used to document specifc steps that the student can go through to reach his i i dream. Begin with the frst dream the student identfed. Ask him about the things he would need to do in order to reach this specifc dream, or what needs to be in place for his dream to come true. For example, you may prompt him about who will pay for the trip they want to take. This would in turn lead to the step of fnding a job and earning enough money. Or ask what they need to achieve before they can enroll in college (e.g., graduate from high school). Contnue with the second and third dreams in the same manner. page 39 SEL Competencies Self-management Self-management is the ability to regulate ones emotons, thoughts, and behaviors efectvely in diferent situatons. This includes managing stress, controlling impulses, motvatng oneself, and setng and working toward achieving personal and academic goals. The feathers of the DREAMS graphic represent dreams or goals which the boy has for himself, and the tes leading from the dreamcatcher to the feathers represent a space for the boy to visualize how he will achieve them. Alaskas Cultural Standards Recognizing the full potental of each student Encouraging students to verbalize their dreams for themselves and helping them to think constructvely about the steps needed to achieve them not only recognizes the full potental of each student, but challenges them to achieve that potental. Work closely with parents to achieve complementary educatonal expectatons While this describes the entre DREAMS process, Dream Feathers in partcular are a wonderful opportunity to align educator and family expectatons for the boy and his future goals Symbol Dream big! j page 41 What are Dream Feathers? The Symbol is an opportunity for the boy to refect on his best characteristc. It may be helpful to explain the symbol using the imagery of Superhero logos. Drawing from the Strengths quadrant of the graphic, ask the boy to think about his favorite color, shape, animal, or actvity. When he thinks about himself, what comes to mind? Younger students may have a difcult tme conceptualizing this. You can use the Project KiL logo at the botom of the DREAMS graphic to help guide them to the understanding that symbols can represent an organizaton, business, or person. Explain to the boy that the symbol represents them in such a way that if we were to see the symbol somewhere outside, we would immediately know it was referring to them. Some of the questons may include: If you could be a superhero, what symbol or picture would you have on the front of your costume? (E.g., spider for Spiderman, bat for Batman). What symbol or picture best describes you? Try to focus the symbol on something representatve of the boys personality trait. For example, a bear for courage, or an eagle for leadership. j j page 42 j j Final Touches Making DREAMS Come True k page 44 When the DREAMS process is complete... Once the exploraton phase fnishes and promising directons emerge, raising the queston of acton raises the odds that something good will happen. These questons are all variatons of, So, what are you going to do next? Some of the questons you may ask the boy include: When will you do that for the frst tme? Whats the very frst step? Who is going to help you do that? When are you going to ask them for help? What words are you going to say to ask for help? Will you have to stop doing anything in order to make that happen? Some of the questons you may ask the group include: What could you to tomorrow? What actons or agreements can we make? Who will agree to do that, by when in order to strengthen the childs dream? What is the next step? What will we do within 24 hours? o p q r s t u v w x y z 1 2