Tetris requires players to strategically rotate, move, and drop “tetrominoes,” made of four blocks each that fall into a rectangular playing field, at increasing speeds. The goal is to complete horizontal rows of blocks to make room for more tetrominoes to fall before they pile up and reach the top of the field. (See https://tetris.com/about-us). The game creators describe it as one that “embrace(s) our universal desire to create order out of chaos.” In that way, Tetris illustrates some basic truths about teaching externships: (1) Time is always moving forward; (2) You must accept the things you cannot change; and (3) You must plan and be intentional. (See https://phse.net/tetris- analogy).
This workshop will use Tetris on a macro level as an organizing principle and on a micro level when addressing each substantive workshop component. The workshop will start with a creative exercise where participants will draw the four blocks that are essential to their individual externship courses. After that, we will examine the four distinct building blocks essential to effective externship courses and have participants share ideas to build those blocks. These four blocks form the basis of our forthcoming book, Externship Pedagogy and Practice.
The four blocks we will examine are:
1. Anti-Racism and Cultural Humility
2. Resources, Assessment, and ABA Standards
3. Supervisor Training
4. Technology and Remote Externships
We will discuss each block for 20 minutes and use the poll and chat functions to solicit ideas and questions from participants.