Up, Up, and Away
How do you start one of these blogs? I was so excited to paint the walls of this new/old blog and have a place to share ideas and philosophies with folks - maybe meet new people who are on the same journey as me. But I was suddenly struck last night with the overwhelming feeling that I'm a nobody in this world full of facilitators, shakers, and movers. Who am I to be writing about these things...
I was reminded of a point about 9 or so months ago when I encountered my old gym teacher at a teacher's convention where I had an exhibit. I was going to be teaching some workshops on how to integrate team building exercises and cooperative games into school curriculum. We talked briefly about this and she looked up sharply and asked when I had gone out and gotten my Ed. degree. I said that I hadn't but that I had been instructing outdoor education and experiential education at a camp for almost a decade. She laughed, responding - "Who do you think you are...teaching teachers?". I answered by saying that I had found something that was working where I work and that it wasn't up to me to keep it to myself. It had to be shared and something in our education system has to change. Our kids are changing, our culture is changing - and something has to change to prepare our kids for the rest of their lives - not just some group of exams at the end of their high school career. She shook her head and said that I should have just gotten my Ed. degree - then I would have the right to say something about it.
But the more I think about that conversation, the more I have to wonder if that's where growth is partly getting stopped. Our education system is flawed. What once worked for me or for my sister and even parents - is not working for the generation that is coming up through high school now. They're being asked to learn almost three times more than we ever did in less time. Grades are not getting better - and we're manufacturing students who have spent three quarters of their high school years preparing for one set of exams but they're stepping into the rest of their lives with no communication skills, no problem solving skills, no conflict resolution skills - no life skills. I may not have the credentials to back up what I'm saying but I have a voice and these kids need to be given everything that we've got.
I'm going to start with this activity. I don't know if many people out there are facilitators or make a habit of including community building exercises in what they do - but once you start, you will always find that there are staple activities that you will come back too either because you can process them well, can predict the outcome easily depending on the group, or it shows you something new every time you do it. All those things are the Helium Stick for me. I think I've facilitated this one thousands of times. I've done it with PVC tubing, corner molding, tent poles, broom sticks, tree sticks, and doweling. The most recent having probably the most unique experience of them all. But I'll get into that later. If anybody knows who created it - I would love to know so that I can say thank you! This is one of my favourites. Here's the activity:
The Helium Stick
Type of activity: communication, initiative
Props: a broomstick, PVC pipe, doweling (no more than 1"), tent pole, corner moulding - a length that works for the size of your group. I use a 7ft section for 12 people.
Field of Play: You will want to line half of your group facing the other half. Have them hold their hands out in front of them at about waist height. Group participants will only be allowed to use their index finger during the activity so setting them up initially in "finger pointing" position helps. Group members should be standing across from each other so that their hands create a bit of "zipper" look. Explain to the group that their objective is to set the stick on the ground without dropping it. There are a few rules that they must play within:
1. All participants must remain in contact with the stick at all times.
2. Participants cannot "grab" or "hold" the stick with their fingers or thumbs.
3. Participants must keep their hands below the stick - never putting hands on top of the stick (therefore pushing it to the ground).
Set your group up facing each other with their fingers out. I explain the objective and then place the stick across their fingers so that they have a chance to adjust their distance to the stick and make sure that they balance themselves equally across the stick. I also place my hand on top of the stick as I'm explaining the other three rules. There is a tendency for over-eager groups to give upward pressure as you do this. Doing it will in turn - create a very fast reaction when you step back for them to start working on the task. Every once in a while you will get a kid who can see the big picture and will catch on to it - but not very often. You should expect to work on this task as short as 3-4 minutes or upwards of 20 minutes. However long your group needs. The more times they do it - the better at it they get but it is often not without frustration and conflict. Be prepared for that ahead of time.
What I do: I'm not a huge name of game person. Possibly because I don't always front-load my activities. Sometimes it's highly effective with groups and other times - I just want to cut to the chase. I think that's because I would rather just do an activity rather than listen to the big story - I think that's probably the task-oriented part of me coming out. I don't like to tell the name of this activity beforehand simply because I think it might give hints as to what might happen. I like the reaction during this exercise to be raw and pure.
Potential Outcomes: I have sometimes referred to some activities as "predicted outcome" activities. Activities that usually end up going the same regardless of the group. Now - as this is usually the case with the Helium Stick - I would say age groups are more predictable than the activity itself. Grade 4-8s will react one way, grades 9-12 another, young adults are variable depending on how well they know each other, and career adults a completely different way yet. But just because an age group is predictable it doesn't mean that you should ever place all your chips on it. Every group can and likely will surprise you.
One of the most common reactions for children and youth (and any male dominated group - feel free to dig into the psychology of that!) is that the stick will go straight up in the air. Junior High aged youth will have outbursts of surprise, blame, confusion, laughter, and possibly anger. This could happen 2-4 times in a row. Don't panic if initially it takes them longer than you would expect. The Helium Stick is a delicate task that requires patience, listening, and more patience. The more group members try and force the activity through either dropping their hands off because they expect everyone to follow suit or by yelling at fellow group members - the harder the task becomes. Groups will have different methods of success - some will appoint one leader, some groups need to count as one, and I've even seen one person elect themselves out of the physical process to guide the rest of the group members down. I often stop the activity to do a mini-debrief if the group members have experienced the same immediate sky-high reaction to the stick three or so times in a row OR if the group is being particularly blamey or disrespectful to each other. We will go over good communication and bad communication and how people feel when some uses bad communication with them. I will also walk through a game plan (without giving them any pointers...they are capable of coming up with the answers themselves) as to decrease their frustration. Often this "break" helps to give them a breath of air and calms everyone down.
As far as debriefing goes - it's always easy to give group members the 'take-away' points. They might hear it but unless they're coming up with the same take-away on their own - it won't stick as hard. Such is the way of experiential learning. Communication is a very obvious theme in this activity. For me - it's how communication and emotional safety tie together. Using examples of when we use similar methods of communicating in 'normal life' is key. Partnering them up to answer questions is often a lot less intimidating than speaking in front of the entire group if the activity has been an intense one.
I think I'll leave this for now. I have a very interesting experience that happened recently with the Helium Stick. I'll share that later this week. For now - have a great day and I hope that this activity gives you a super duper learning experience!
I was reminded of a point about 9 or so months ago when I encountered my old gym teacher at a teacher's convention where I had an exhibit. I was going to be teaching some workshops on how to integrate team building exercises and cooperative games into school curriculum. We talked briefly about this and she looked up sharply and asked when I had gone out and gotten my Ed. degree. I said that I hadn't but that I had been instructing outdoor education and experiential education at a camp for almost a decade. She laughed, responding - "Who do you think you are...teaching teachers?". I answered by saying that I had found something that was working where I work and that it wasn't up to me to keep it to myself. It had to be shared and something in our education system has to change. Our kids are changing, our culture is changing - and something has to change to prepare our kids for the rest of their lives - not just some group of exams at the end of their high school career. She shook her head and said that I should have just gotten my Ed. degree - then I would have the right to say something about it.
But the more I think about that conversation, the more I have to wonder if that's where growth is partly getting stopped. Our education system is flawed. What once worked for me or for my sister and even parents - is not working for the generation that is coming up through high school now. They're being asked to learn almost three times more than we ever did in less time. Grades are not getting better - and we're manufacturing students who have spent three quarters of their high school years preparing for one set of exams but they're stepping into the rest of their lives with no communication skills, no problem solving skills, no conflict resolution skills - no life skills. I may not have the credentials to back up what I'm saying but I have a voice and these kids need to be given everything that we've got.
I'm going to start with this activity. I don't know if many people out there are facilitators or make a habit of including community building exercises in what they do - but once you start, you will always find that there are staple activities that you will come back too either because you can process them well, can predict the outcome easily depending on the group, or it shows you something new every time you do it. All those things are the Helium Stick for me. I think I've facilitated this one thousands of times. I've done it with PVC tubing, corner molding, tent poles, broom sticks, tree sticks, and doweling. The most recent having probably the most unique experience of them all. But I'll get into that later. If anybody knows who created it - I would love to know so that I can say thank you! This is one of my favourites. Here's the activity:
The Helium Stick
Type of activity: communication, initiative
 |
| The Helium Stick |
Field of Play: You will want to line half of your group facing the other half. Have them hold their hands out in front of them at about waist height. Group participants will only be allowed to use their index finger during the activity so setting them up initially in "finger pointing" position helps. Group members should be standing across from each other so that their hands create a bit of "zipper" look. Explain to the group that their objective is to set the stick on the ground without dropping it. There are a few rules that they must play within:
1. All participants must remain in contact with the stick at all times.
2. Participants cannot "grab" or "hold" the stick with their fingers or thumbs.
3. Participants must keep their hands below the stick - never putting hands on top of the stick (therefore pushing it to the ground).
Set your group up facing each other with their fingers out. I explain the objective and then place the stick across their fingers so that they have a chance to adjust their distance to the stick and make sure that they balance themselves equally across the stick. I also place my hand on top of the stick as I'm explaining the other three rules. There is a tendency for over-eager groups to give upward pressure as you do this. Doing it will in turn - create a very fast reaction when you step back for them to start working on the task. Every once in a while you will get a kid who can see the big picture and will catch on to it - but not very often. You should expect to work on this task as short as 3-4 minutes or upwards of 20 minutes. However long your group needs. The more times they do it - the better at it they get but it is often not without frustration and conflict. Be prepared for that ahead of time.
What I do: I'm not a huge name of game person. Possibly because I don't always front-load my activities. Sometimes it's highly effective with groups and other times - I just want to cut to the chase. I think that's because I would rather just do an activity rather than listen to the big story - I think that's probably the task-oriented part of me coming out. I don't like to tell the name of this activity beforehand simply because I think it might give hints as to what might happen. I like the reaction during this exercise to be raw and pure.
Potential Outcomes: I have sometimes referred to some activities as "predicted outcome" activities. Activities that usually end up going the same regardless of the group. Now - as this is usually the case with the Helium Stick - I would say age groups are more predictable than the activity itself. Grade 4-8s will react one way, grades 9-12 another, young adults are variable depending on how well they know each other, and career adults a completely different way yet. But just because an age group is predictable it doesn't mean that you should ever place all your chips on it. Every group can and likely will surprise you.
One of the most common reactions for children and youth (and any male dominated group - feel free to dig into the psychology of that!) is that the stick will go straight up in the air. Junior High aged youth will have outbursts of surprise, blame, confusion, laughter, and possibly anger. This could happen 2-4 times in a row. Don't panic if initially it takes them longer than you would expect. The Helium Stick is a delicate task that requires patience, listening, and more patience. The more group members try and force the activity through either dropping their hands off because they expect everyone to follow suit or by yelling at fellow group members - the harder the task becomes. Groups will have different methods of success - some will appoint one leader, some groups need to count as one, and I've even seen one person elect themselves out of the physical process to guide the rest of the group members down. I often stop the activity to do a mini-debrief if the group members have experienced the same immediate sky-high reaction to the stick three or so times in a row OR if the group is being particularly blamey or disrespectful to each other. We will go over good communication and bad communication and how people feel when some uses bad communication with them. I will also walk through a game plan (without giving them any pointers...they are capable of coming up with the answers themselves) as to decrease their frustration. Often this "break" helps to give them a breath of air and calms everyone down.
As far as debriefing goes - it's always easy to give group members the 'take-away' points. They might hear it but unless they're coming up with the same take-away on their own - it won't stick as hard. Such is the way of experiential learning. Communication is a very obvious theme in this activity. For me - it's how communication and emotional safety tie together. Using examples of when we use similar methods of communicating in 'normal life' is key. Partnering them up to answer questions is often a lot less intimidating than speaking in front of the entire group if the activity has been an intense one.
I think I'll leave this for now. I have a very interesting experience that happened recently with the Helium Stick. I'll share that later this week. For now - have a great day and I hope that this activity gives you a super duper learning experience!
Comments