Lasallian Formation Online
Purpose:
The online formation program is an effort to be intentional about the development of Lasallian culture. But even more than that, we consider our schools and spirituality centers ministries. That means, for us, that we engage the whole child: academically, socially, psychologically, emotionally, and spiritually. It is difficult to ask students to take a journey into their intellect and their heart if the adult guides have not done that for themselves. The online formation program, then, is a reaching out to all of us adults who work with students be they children, adolescents, young adults, or adults, and inviting us to take a journey into our own minds and hearts - to the central core of our own purpose in life. Too often, we don’t take time in our busy lives to give ourselves that gift.
When anyone begins work with an institutional or corporate structure, one of the primary expectations is that the person (employee or board member) have training or formation to gain insight about the nature of the institution, its culture and its purpose. Every institution and corporation has a culture into which its employees are initiated. Amazon, Catholic Charities, Exxon, Lutheran Social Ministries and every other institutional structure does the same. Each person becomes the face of that institution and represents it through their work.
The Lasallian world of education is like that too. Lasallian Schools exist in nearly 80 different countries and when you walk into a Lasallian School you can feel it in your bones, see it in the students, on the walls, and especially in the relationships that exist among faculty and staff and between adults and students.
How is culture developed? We believe it happens intentionally. Formation is the tool we use to generate the culture we expect to be embedded in the structures of the school, spirituality center, or any other institution that claims the name Lasallian. If the development of a culture is not intentional, one will grow and develop and not necessarily one we wanted.
HOPES:
Our hope is that this invitation takes each person where he or she is and gives them the space - and the prompts - to reflect more both personally on his or her own and then corporately in communal activity or dialogue about significant markers in our lives. The model is the life of John Baptist de La Salle from whom Lasallian Schools get their name as well as the philosophy and spiritual approach that was characteristic of his own journey.
THEMES: The themes of the program reflect significant pauses in his journey:
One theme for one year - 6 years total. Three to five hours every 3 - 5 months is the commitment.
Our hope is that the invitation to participation will be inclusive. That is, no matter what our faith or our doubt, this material will encourage us to reflect within our own context and stimulate a desire to go deeper into our own purpose.
PROGRAM STRUCTURE: To do this, the program is composed of (A) Source Material. It is composed of readings from De La Salle, readings about De La Salle, videos, poetry, interviews, or anything else that might stimulate some thought. Following the Source Material is (B) Reflection - pausing to engage the source in a personal way. It asks for a personal response in writing, photography, music, art, poetry - or anything that captures our response to the source material. And then, (C) is Communal Action or Dialogue. It asks for a professional development in which the entire educational community gathers to share about the material contained in the module.
Our hope is that all of the ministries in the midwest region - elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, spirituality centers, and universities will move through the program together. If we are studying the same material, we can build a stronger network based on a unified brand. We will be talking the same language, marketing the same philosophy, living our spiritual roots, and building an alumni base that has deep understanding of our shared mission.
Life is a journey. Looking at our own purpose and how we live it into the world is important. We are inviting all of us to be serious and intentional about that journey. Children’s lives are at stake.
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STEP 1
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Lasalle 101: The Beginning
The purpose of the mini-module is to put everyone on the same page, so to speak. For those of you who are just joining us on this Lasallian journey, it will be new. For those of you who have been in ministry for many years, this will serve as a review. It is a unifying point on our common journey from which we can grow in our association.
This module will also introduce you to the portal and the technologies that will be used in the modules. For some of you, this is old hat, for others it is terrifying. But we walk together. We will help each other. DON'T WORRY, we will not use every technology every time. Remember, we are introducing them to you in this module. Take a breath, say a prayer and let's go!
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Introduce
Submit a short video introduction on Flipgrid. Never heard of it? Flipgrid is a video discussion platform that will help us communicate between ministries. Go to the Flip grid section below to record your introduction. You can use iOS, Android or your computer. There is a Youtube video if you need instructions, Or if you want to just wing it, that's ok, too. Our password is Lasallian, of course! Go to Flipgrid.
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STEP 2
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Source
Read the document Beginnings. This will explain the process of on-line formation and the various themes in the context of the life of Saint John Baptist de La Salle.
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STEP 3
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Reflection
As we further develop online formation, we realize the necessity of providing more security for our users, Therefore, we are using forums in Moodle. Forums block unregistered users or guests from seeing any activity, which includes forums. But for this module we will continue our use of Padlet, which is found below.
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STEP 4
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Documenting the Journey
Every journey has landmarks. We take photos and share them on social media. We "like" when people know where we have been. This journey is no different. That is where Certificates comes in. After completing each part of a module you will for most activities just check a box. The exception is an activity like a forum, which will mark the activity complete after you have completed the requirements. After all of the activities for a module are completed, you will automatically be issued a certificate..
Congratulations...that's all there is to it.
STEP 6
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Discussion and Dialogue
During the development of Lasallian Formation Online, one feature in particular was requested in our focus groups. That was the ability to interact between ministries.
Moodle has its own forum feature, which is more private than the service we were previously using. We hope that you will both post and respond.
Another piece of software that we will employ is ZOOM, a video conferencing tool. Using ZOOM will allow for any group, such a boards, coaches, Young Lasallians, Companions, or any group to have moderated discussions at any time. Miss the discussion at your ministry or want to continue the discussion...ZOOM is for you!
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STEP 5
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Flipgrid
How to submit your video
MACs, PCs, and CHROMEBOOKS:
CLICK on the Grid URL, In this case https://flipgrid.com/d99fa0 to access the grid through a browser. There is no need to download anything. Just follow the screen prompts. Depending on your browser, you may need to give permission to use camera and microphone.
iPADS, iPHONES and ANDROIDS
You will be instructed to download the free Flipgrid app for iOS or Android. Access the grid through the code: d99fa0. Mobile devices must us the App.
Start recording
*Once the video is published you can hide it if you have submitted an email address. The video can be deleted if you contact one of the online formation administrators.
Click here to go to Flip grid and record your video.
To meet more people in Lasallian ministry in the Midwest district in full brower mode, open Flipgrid following this link: Full Browser. The grid password will remain the same. Your ministry animator knows the password if you don't remember.
To add your post, double click anywhere on the Padlet below. You don't even have to leave this page! You can also just click the + button at the lower right hand corner. Once you have done that, you have choices:
You can post from here!
Just click the below
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Forum posting
The default content of Subject is usually 'Re: <the name of the 'parent' post>'. You can change it, though.
Adding images, sound and video
When an image is "attached" as a file to a forum message, it is immediately displayed full size after the message (i.e. no need to click on an attachment). This is an excellent way of sharing images without having to go through the process of uploading them as files and linking them from within web pages.
Images may be dragged and dropped into the box as well as uploading via the "add" link and the File picker.
If multimedia filters are enabled, a sound file (mp3) or accepted video file can be attached, and it will be embedded into the forum post in an appropriate player.
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