“We are not here to lecture our students after they’ve been in class all day.”
“I think we need to remember how to just have fun.”
As someone who has worked with residential curriculum across several different universities, one of my greatest frustrations is hearing phrases like these. On one hand, I totally agree with them! I’m not here to give door-to-door lectures about the importance of roommate agreements or dish out pop quizzes on laundry etiquette. I also genuinely want our students to look back on their residential experience as a fun and enjoyable experience.
On the other hand, these types of comments often tell me that we’ve lost sight of what the curricular approach really means. Just because “curriculum” is in the name does not mean that a residential curriculum has to mirror an academic curriculum, and as lifelong learners and educators, we should understand that learning is not an inherently unfun process. If anything, creating a fun learning environment helps reinforce the learning even more! And let’s not forget that our departmental learning outcomes drive the work we do with students. We’re not here to teach them chemistry or differential equations, we’re here to teach them how to thrive in a community and explore their own values.
Combining education and fun is easier said than done, though. It can be hard to conjure ideas out of nowhere if you haven’t had the practice or exposure to good examples. If you’re struggling to find the intersection of fun and education, here are 5 programming ideas that have worked for me:
- Tie Dye-versity
- The Fun: Tie Dying t-shirts is one of those traditions that students just seem to love, no matter how fashionable or unfashionable tie dye is at the current moment.
- The Education: Assign each color of dye with a social identity and ask students to pair and share about their relationship with that identity before they can use that color. Residents will learn about the identities of their community members and explore their own salient identities.
- Local Field Trip
- The Fun: Taking residents somewhere off campus can give them a much needed change of scenery. Depending on your area there may be a local movie theater, a free museum, or other low-cost attraction to take them to.
- The Education: As a facilitator/chaperone, you can facilitate discussions about self care and the local community. How often do they make a point to get off campus and do something for themselves? Are there ways to get involved at local establishments that cater to their interests?
- Obligation Keychains
- The Fun: Arts and crafts activities offer residents a creative outlet while also providing an activity that doesn’t require prior skills or experience. In this activity, students will get to make a personalized beaded keychain.
- The Education: Residents will identify their own obligations and assign them to different bead colors/types. For example, a gold star might represent their obligation to do well academically. When constructing their keychain, residents will be asked to order their beads to represent how they prioritize these obligations. The gold star being at the top of the keychain means that academics come before everything else. This event teaches residents to think intentionally about their obligations and gives them a visual reminder of those obligations.
- Policy Jeopardy
- The Fun: This one is for the residents who love anything and everything competitive. You can use Jeopardy or another trivia format for a fun game night.
- The Education: Substitute the usual trivia categories with categories like academic integrity, prohibited items, drugs and alcohol, and university policy. You can also create categories about campus resources, school spirit, or anything else you feel your residents need to know. Residents can not only learn about policies they might not have been aware of, but can also learn about the “why” behind these policies.
- Campus Partner Program
- The Fun: You can collaborate with a variety of campus partners to bring their services straight to your students. Have a yoga class in your lobby, have a nutritionist give a cooking class in your community kitchen, or invite your sustainability office to work with residents to create a community garden.
- The Learning: This event allows residents to build a connection with a campus resource that supports their holistic journey at your institution.
While traditional programming isn’t the only strategy we should think of within the curricular approach, I also understand that traditional programming is one of the more relatable strategies for both student staff and professional staff. Today’s post has focused on fun and educational traditional programs, but stay tuned for Part 2 next month where we’ll explore how to make other strategies fun too!
