More Unitarian Universalist Cards

Sample Card for UU Game Deck, by Ralph Yeager Roberts

U.U. Cards: Generation II

I have used the cards for so many different activities and lessons with adults, teens, and older children.  If you are not familiar the cards I am referring to are printed on a white or off white card stock and each features the photograph or illustration of an historic Unitarian, Universalist, or Unitarian Universalist along with a short biographical overview of their contribution to the wider culture and or to the history and development of Unitarian Universalism.  There is an initial or starter deck and then at least one expansion deck I know of though there may be others.

 A recent addition to my extensive collection of works in progress is a new set of  U.U. cards.  For now I’m calling it “U.U. Cards: Generation II”, or “gen II cards” for short.  They are quite different though and would not really replace the cards with which folks are familiar, and it should be clear that these are in major concept phase.  In fact for that reason I wanted to post something to gather any feedback or hear from anyone with ideas or interest in working together on this idea.

UU Card Game Deck sample card by Ralph Yeager Roberts

Rather than featuring individual biographies of our U, U, and UU ancestors these cards will focus more on the works of art, social change, inventions, discoveries, pioneering accomplishments, and published works that our religious ancestors have given to our ongoing community of faith and often the wider culture.  Eventually the cards will have colored backgrounds and symbols printed in a special bar at the top of the card.  The different colors used for the card background as well as the symbols will classify the card according to some (still to be determined) taxonomy. 

So perhaps green backgrounds will denote social movements and red contributions to the arts, while yellow would designate that the card is featuring a contribution to science and technology.  Also by way of example the top bar and symbols might identify if the card highlights the contribution of notable women or some event that had significance for women’s rights, another might note that the card represents contributions by person’s of color or that have helped extend justice and opportunity to people of color.

UU Card Game Deck sample by Ralph Yeager Roberts

Once complete my hope would be to have a set of cards that could be used for several different types of game play.  They should allow for a memory type game or a matching one like Old maid or Go Fish.  There would also be instructions for a more complex game like Rummy as well as some sort of game that involved meld.  I envision at least one being a game that has each player pursue some individual quest to win.  So you might have a card that explains that to win this player needs to collect four cards dealing with women’s rights, be able to lay down six works of literature or art by women, and achieve ordination of women to ministry by having a card featuring a woman in ministry and another card featuring one of the historic UU theological schools.

The examples you see show some illustrations I have done for the cards.  The images help represent the World Wide Web, the incandescent light bulb, mother’s day, and women’s suffrage each of which ties to the pioneering work of one or more of our Unitarian Universalists ancestors.  The illustrations are shown on the same card prototype.  The cards would eventually have specific text to go with each card and the background colors and symbols would correspond meaningfully to the card’s focus according to the final taxonomy of relationships and attributes as described earlier.

UU Card Game Deck sample, Ralph Yeager Roberts

One advantage is that young and older people alike are often familiar with social movements great works of art and important scientific discoveries much more than they are with the individuals who were behind these developments.  A picture of a lightbulb lets you know that UU’s have some part to play in the introduction of electric lights where as a picture of Thomas Edison and Lewis Lattimer will not be recognized by most people so that only after they read the textual information included will they make the connect between UU history, the images, and familiar turning points in human history.  And even after that connection is made how many will hold onto it.  Also by gleaning things from a number of existing games and using the wealth of publishing tools available today that where not economically practical or commonly available twenty or thirty years ago it should be possible to create cards that lend well to some very playable games.  And as I am lately ever aware of the digital reality of the world today the graphics and various recommended game play options with the cards could be easily converted into a digital game for a single player as well as expanded in ways the cards do not easily support.

UU Card Game Deck sample by, Ralph Yeager Roberts

So please let me know what you think.  I am eager for recommendations about game play, categories and card design.  Also do not hesitate if you have some similar idea or a better one and would like to collaborate or have help with the card design for your more excellent vision for some card game that supports and promotes UU identity e-mail, post something here, just get in touch however best suits you because I am eager to have some other thoughts and takes as I muddle about on this idea.  I am not a big game player myself so always eager for imput from those who are more passionate and experienced gamers weather video, card, board, or other.

Needing to take a poll, do a study, or conduct research- but have $0.00 as your budget – Let me recomend . . .

I want to conduct a modest study and do so using digital tech methods that cut down on time and the chance of error.  So I was investigating to see what options there where that would offer the most without running too far over budget which is currently a whopping $0.000.

Props should go to Poll Daddy.  Poll Daddy and WordPress have a relationship that works out great for word press users so even those using free WP hosting (as this blog does) you can create and post a simple poll that will appear on your web page or blog.  You can set it up so that it keeps track of those who have already answered before and also to give the results to people as soon as they submit their response.  I know in online courses this sort of poll that gives instant results when the students answer the question is frequently used not just for the information gathered through the poll but also and more so because it is a great and simple way to add an interactive feature to the course that functions in a way that results in helping to diminish the feeling of isolation which is frequently experienced by those taking online courses especially asynchronously (everyone does the work according to their own schedule some time over the next few days like University of Phoenix and most online degree programs offered through the for profit institutions).

I want something a bit more involved or to use the buz word so popular in IT these days I need a more robust tool.  Poll Daddy has the ability to do much more than a basic 1 question survey or poll but you would need to have a pro or business WordPress account or pay some fee and as stated the current outside numbers I am working with to pay for my study are $0.00.  So I had to look beyond Poll Daddy.

The company that got the winning grade in my book was Qualtrics.  Qualtrics offers an enormous range of features that enable you to develop just about any survey you could imagine complete with real-time customizations that tailor each survey to the person who is currently completing it based on information you have about them already or are learning as they fill it out and actions that are triggered depending on what responses someone enters.  So you could set up a survey that asks a set of extra questions only to people who entered a certain combination of answers on the standard survey and then set it up so if on those special extra questions someone answers yes to one item they are sent a particular e-mail or if they answer no to the question they get a different e-mail sent to them. 

Of course the more you can customize what you are making using some software package the more difficult it is to work with.  That at least seems to be true.  Go too far in what you want the freedom to do and you get all the way down to binary coding.  Yet I found the interface for creating a survey using Qualtrics to be very comprehensible even for someone with minimal computing or statistical research training and experience.  Furthermore if you are stumped or need help knowing how to have it make the sort of instrument based on your vision there are lots of ways to access additional help and information.  You have access to a complete manual for using the software that you can access as you go based on need or download and read in any order you like.  Another helpful resource is Qualtrics University which is the name they give to their library of online video tutorials the basic ones being free to anyone who wants to watch it and some that require you to have a commercial account with Qualtrics.  But what if you are needing to know something that only a person will be able to answer?  Or what if you can’t follow what the manual and tutorial are explaining?  No worries even as a FREE – NO CHARGE – account holder paying them - ZIP - ZERO – ZILCH, they had personal who were more than willing to set up a time to walk me through what I needed help figuring out, they where also accommodating when I had to reschedule, and they where even helpful in assessing what would be the best approach based on my laymen’s explanation of what I was wanting to do and figure out from my study.

Now to have access to every single tutorial, reporting feature, and access to every sort of personalized staff support they offer you will need to pay for a commercial licence which is going to be something in the $5,000.00 range from what I understand.  But even with a free account you can build as many surveys as you want and even send and collect info from up to 250 respondents and generate reports using just about all of the filtering and analytic features they offer without being charged a thing and whether you have a professional licence or work using the free account licence you own and will be able to download all the actual information that you create and generate and use it as you choose if you need to do that. 

 Also if you need to do more than a 250 panel survey but are still not working with anything that you can pay thousands to do contact one of the sales people with Qualtrics.  They made no promises of course but encouraged me saying that it was always possible to explain your needs and offer a price since the company will at times work to accommodate those who are dealing with more modest budgets and with projects the scope of which is humble compared to their more ginormous corporate clients.  Obviously they offer this level of access and support so that some of those free account users who have connections to the big business clients that Qualtrics often deals with you will put in a good word for them and who can fault or begrudge them hoping you will do that in exchange and appreciation for the sort of access, functionality, and support I have described?  Exactly!

Cool Record Keeping Tools to use with Spirit Play

Images from Montessori Compass

The teacher in a Montessori classroom spends a significant amount of time observing the way the children interact with each other and the room including all its materials.  A scientist conducting experimental trials is a good analogy for the sort of observation expected of the teacher.   She sits in one spot for much of a given session taking occasional notes trying to go unnoticed by the children lest (as often happens) the child now aware of the teacher’s special notice will abandon the activity or change how they are working with the materials in a drastic way.  From what she observes she will make changes to the arrangement of the room, plan to give a private lesson on an area of needed clarification to some children, or determine if additional materials and lessons should be introduced to the room.

When I led Spirit Play classes, I loved this reflective practice and am sad that I did not prioritize it more or think about the ways I might use those observations not only in modifying or tweaking Spirit Play as a whole program but in thinking creatively about the spiritual work of that particular set of young people.  I think many times our storytellers in their understandable focus on perfecting their presentations of lessons sadly overlook what is a vital aspect of their role, namely the purposeful observation as already described. 

Certainly there is a limited time and frequency in which Spirit Play takes place and the rotation of multiple lead teachers throughout the year all make this discipline a bit more challenging not so much in actually making the observations but in reflecting in a diagnostic and informed way to individualize and customize the space and planned lessons to introduce to particular individuals in the class. 

However these obstacles can be overcome to some degree by recording teacher observations throughout the year with entrys by various teachers.  If done using a record keeping tool with a range of functionality and ease of access to the particular information sought in a given instance then a proper disciplined observational practice would both enrich the experience and reward of those serving as storytellers and the ongoing ministry of education with that particular group of young people and through possible insights about programmatic improvements that are called for in how all of us work with Spirit Play.

I have been reviewing the various record keeping tools for teachers available and in particular those designed expressly for use by Montessori teachers.  Of the three leading web-based digital services on the market I have am inclined toward Montessori Compass.  This web-based software has the most user-friendly interface which incorporates rich visual features to support swift input of information as it is observed.  All of the services include many more features than would be needed for a Spirit Play program but I found the customisability features in Montessori Compass to be simple to learn and well suited to the sort of tweaking that would be most helpful if preparing to use the software to record observations and lessen sequencing etc. throughout a year of Spirit Play.  It is worth looking over and since they offer a free three-week trial you can really get a good sense for how well the software would fit your specific needs and goals.  After the initial three weeks the cost is really not very steep especially given the value to be had through data that can better guide our future work in religious education and lifespan faith development than the anecdotally based hunches upon which we so often rely in this important work.

New Spirit Play Materials Still In R&D

In my previous post I suggested browsing an online educational resource store to get inspiration for R.E. materials, especially for use in a Spirit Play program.  In my inspiration shopping I have been looking for ideas that would suggest a broader range of presentation and materials types to work with.  As triangles are a way of representing a promise what other uses of shape would work to represent abstraction related to our religious and spiritual questions and impulses?  Instead of a standard lesson for each and every figure in our history we want to introduce maybe there is some other way these figure could be brought into the learning environment but each and person who is U or U or UU and has achieved some degree of fame would not have to be presented in the way we would present Jesus, or the Buddha.  And I am anxious to have more materials designed to use in  Spirit Play as extension lessons that may not always need to be introduced for the child to find ways to work with the materials that is engaging, offers opportunities to learn and grow, and is still completely on topic with the content and focus of religious education.  The design I have posted here to share hardly represent all the things I said I have wanted to bring to Spirit Play.  This is both a particular material set to introduce a mosque.  You can easily imagine the additional sets that I have to introduce worship spaces used by other faith traditions and communities.    Also the  way the materials are presented on the slatted base or even the expanded base with a background board complete with slots to slide labels or small picture cards could lend itself to a number of new lessons.  The base creates a practical style or manner of presenting a lesson.  Next the goal is to observe and reflect to find any ways in which a slatted base and backboard lesson presentation offers a concretization of some relevent conceptual structures and if these structures have importance for what it is we purpose to be doing in our educational ministries.

Inspiration for New Spirit Play Materials

Let’s hear it again for the religious education resources from the UK.  TTS offers educational supplies that can be ordered online for use in a wide range of subjects from science and math to physical education.  Their religious education items are  listed by religious group, mode of education, type of materials and so on.  The prices are steep even before doing the exchange rate to figure out what things cost in US dollars.  However even if you aren’t likely to purchase anything from TTS I still recommend you check it out for some inspiration.  Especially for those who work with Spirit Play some of the items you will find at TTS would be great for Spirit Play and creating your own material based on a TTS find may not be terribly difficult to fabricate with a change or tweak here and there. 

Some of my favorites where the boxes each filled with items from a different religious tradition.  The items might include cards and booklets with images and information, special clothing worn by practitioners, objects used in religious ceremonies, and decorations for celebrating a holiday or religious festival.  Obviously these are something people can make since the TTS boxes give ideas but there is no need to limit your items to what comes in these commercial products.  They also had both plush and wood (or plastic) worship spaces play sets.  The church opens to reveal the baptismal font and communion table, while inside the mosque there is a Koran on its stand and stairs the imam climbs to give the sermon, and in the synagogue you see an arc for storing the Torah and a hanging lamp for the eternal flame.

The Magic of Reality: Stunning, interactive, digital book for all ages by Richard Dawkins

I have not had a chance to explore this book myself but just look at this preview.  Wow.  I would have never anticipated Richard Dawkins coming out with what some are describing as an interactive book for kids.