Closing Orientation Meeting Facilitation Guide
Materials Needed:
• Students need their cell phones
Overview:
After a week of Orientation, we hope that you and your group have made some great connections and even better memories. To help you and your Babyfalcs wrap up your Orientation experience, we have designed this final group meeting to be a time of reflection. Final group meetings will be held Sunday, September 3rd at 3:15pm and will run until 4:15pm, giving you and your Babyfalcs an hour to go through the activities below before heading over to the Falcon Statue for a group photo and then fun evening programming begins at 8:00pm on the greenspace.
Meeting Agenda:
Below are recommended times that you spend doing each activity. Every group is different, and we recommend that you move through each portion of this meeting organically. Your goal isn’t to fill the full hour, but to complete the items below and spend some quality time with your Baby falcs!
Before your meeting
3:15pm
• Check to see your classroom assignment for your group’s meeting space. Make sure your baby falcs know where you will be meeting.
• Meet with your group at your assigned classroom. Check in with your group and play a short activity if you think you have the time. Some short activities you can do to start off are:
• Rose and Thorn
• Gratitude Share
• One thing I’m excited for is…
3:25pm
3:35pm
3:50
• Start the first activity with your group by having your baby falcs write a letter to their future selves (more information below). This activity should take 5-10 minutes.
• See Activity 2 for details on how to facilitate “Gratitutde Circle”. This activity could take about 15 minutes allocated, so make sure to use your time wisely.
• See Activity 3 for details on how to facilitate “Reach Out and Touch Someone”. This activity could take about the 25-30 minutes allocated, so make sure to use your time wisely
• After finishing all three activities and wrapping up, move with your group outside to the Falcon Statue where a photographer will be there to take pictures of you and your group. Encourage your students to touch the falcon statue for good luck and spend some time with your group before evening programming begins on the lower green space at 8:00pm
Activity 1: Write a letter to your future self
• Each member of your group will be writing a letter to themselves that they will receive their senior year before graduating.
• To start, have each member of your group go to https://www.futureme.org/
• Have your students write their letter to themselves in the text box to the right
• Be sure to give your students some ideas to include in their letter, such as:
o Goals they hope to have achieved
o A memory they have from orientation or high school they want to reminisce in before they graduate
o How they are feeling at present about school and classes
o What they are nervous / excited for now that they are in college.
• Once they have finished, have your students select ‘choose a date’ below, and have them select a date one month before they graduate
• For most students, this will be April of 2027, but can vary
• Students will then enter their email in the ‘your email address’ box, and select ‘send to the future’
• Feel free to write a letter to yourself as well!
Activity 2: Gratitude Circle
In order to get your baby falcs in the right headspace prior to Reach Out and Touch Someone you can gather in a circle and begin to say things that you have been thankful for over the last four days. This could look something like “I am thankful for my parents helping me move in” or “I am thankful for my new friend for getting breakfast with me” . Entering this space will allow for individuals to be open about who made their day over the orientation program. As the orientation leader you can ask for a volunteer to begin or you can start off the group. Give everyone the space to answer at least once but if individuals would like to say a few things that they were grateful for that is even better It might be helpful to sit in a circle with everyone rather than having students sit in desks so individuals feel more comfortable in the space with sharing stories
• Spend about 10-15 minutes doing this activity before entering Reach Out and Touch Someone.
After you are done with the gratitude sticker it is now time to distribute the orientation stickers. Each student shall receive one sticker. This is to represent students’ new journeys here at Bentley. Discuss how over the last four days they have been immersed in the culture at Bentley while meeting faces that will be around them for the next four years. They have the chance to aspire, learn, and grow into the person they want to be here on campus. This
sticker represents a new beginning for them to reflect back on their experience during orientation to see how far they’ve come as their time progresses here at Bentley.
Activity 3: Reach Out And Touch Someone
• In this activity, students will have the opportunity to express their thankfulness and gratitude for other students who may have impacted their orientation experience.
• Have students be seated in a circle If utilizing an interactive classroom, have students move the chairs to be in a circle. If the seats cannot move, the group can either stay where they are, or go to an alternative location (another classroom, outside, hallway, academic building foyers, auditorium, etc).
• Explain how the activity works. Students will close their eyes and put their heads down. The OL in the middle of the circle will tap on ABOUT three students heads. (Depends on how many students there are in the group and how much time you have) These students will open their eyes and come into the middle of the circle. The other students will keep their eyes closed. The OL will then say “Tap on someone who...” filling in the blank each time with a new statement. Examples are below. Each group should get about 5-8 questions. When the statement is complete, students should be tapping on the shoulders of people who they think follow along with that statement. For example, tap on four people who you admire. The three students in the middle should walk around and tap the four people that they admire. When the students have completed the tapping, then the statement changes, continuing until all 5-8 statements are done.
• The students who have their eyes closed will remain this way throughout the activity unless they are in the middle. The objective is not to know who is tapping you, but rather to appreciate and enjoy the feeling of love.
Example statements “Tap someone who ” or “Reach out and touch someone who...”
Can alternate the number of people being tapped by saying “tap people who...”
• Is your new friend
• Makes you laugh
• You would like to get to know more
• Would offer a shoulder to cry on or hand to help
• Made a positive impact
• Is caring
• You admire
• Made your day better during orientation
• You can count on
• You would like to grab lunch with after orientation
• You think will change the world
• You have learned something from
• You would turn to for help
• You want to get to know better this semester
• Has done something that inspired you
• Made you smile
• You would like to thank for something they didn't know they did
• You wish to get to know more
• Is kind
• You believe will be a leader at Bentley
• You are proud of
• Has inspired you
• You know will do great things
• Who you’d like to grab a cup of coffee with
• Showed you a new perspective
• You appreciate