In Courtney, Shannon's and my elective - Challenge Accepted - we have been teaching the students about leadership and how to be a good follower. We have designed all kinds of challenges for them to tackle, and have encouraged them to think up creative solutions that are within the rules but bend them. Two week's ago, we asked students to create their own challenges, specifically by taking elements of the challenges we have already done, and making something new and improved.
This past week, we di three of the students' challenges. There were three group leaders, each with their own small group to lead. These groups had to design the challenge, troubleshoot, envision how it would run, and help us set it up before elective.
The first challenge went great and turned out to be probably the most successful day we have had in that elective all summer. The leader did a great job of conceptualizing something challenging but simple and easy to understand and execute. Students were put in pairs. One student was blindfolded, the other could not talk. They had to walk to the center of the gym, go around the center circle, and return to the start in under a minute. By the third attempt, the students were crossing the line with some of their fastest times.
The second challenge was pretty much a disaster...at least in practice. The leader actually did a great job of planning, running his group, explaining the challenge, and just generally being enthusiastic about it. However, the challenge he envisioned was so complicated that no one really understood it and we had to stop it halfway through to debrief. It was basically chaos, but we learned an important take home message - sometimes, no matter how thoroughly we plan, things might not go how we hoped they would.
The third challenge...well, I was scared. It was sure to be the most complicated of the three, and after the challenge 2 disaster, I was a little leery. Although the students were a little confused, they dove right in and gave it a whirl. I think it helped that there were dodge balls involved. By the third run through, things were going pretty smooth, and although they did not successfully complete the mission, they seemed to have a lot of fun doing it.
There was one moment during this third challenge - which was to carry two "wounded" soldiers to safety - when one of the students (blue shorts) and one of the volunteers and former Summerbridge students (green shorts) pick up the wounded soldier and straight up sprint her to the other side. I lost it. My loud, booming voice and laugh burst across the audio, which makes me laugh even more when I watch it. I just thought that was the funniest thing. Then, the student gets nailed with a dodge ball when he tries to go back and get the other wounded soldier. Classic.
I just love these kinds of moments. We get to take kids into a gym, give them some dodge balls, some space to run, and some objectives, and they just go to town. Even though this activity might appear silly to an outsider, I really believe that the students learned some important lessons about life. They created the challenge, planned it, set it up, implemented it, and analyzed what worked and didn't work. They shared their ideas about the roles they played, what was frustrating, and what they did well. I don't think there is a substitute for throwing the students into an activity, telling them to use their brains and deal with what they are given, and letting them get their hands dirty. They don't get nearly enough of this kind of learning in their regular schools, which makes me all the more thankful to be a part of a program that sees this activity as a valuable learning experience.
This past week, we di three of the students' challenges. There were three group leaders, each with their own small group to lead. These groups had to design the challenge, troubleshoot, envision how it would run, and help us set it up before elective.
The first challenge went great and turned out to be probably the most successful day we have had in that elective all summer. The leader did a great job of conceptualizing something challenging but simple and easy to understand and execute. Students were put in pairs. One student was blindfolded, the other could not talk. They had to walk to the center of the gym, go around the center circle, and return to the start in under a minute. By the third attempt, the students were crossing the line with some of their fastest times.
The second challenge was pretty much a disaster...at least in practice. The leader actually did a great job of planning, running his group, explaining the challenge, and just generally being enthusiastic about it. However, the challenge he envisioned was so complicated that no one really understood it and we had to stop it halfway through to debrief. It was basically chaos, but we learned an important take home message - sometimes, no matter how thoroughly we plan, things might not go how we hoped they would.
The third challenge...well, I was scared. It was sure to be the most complicated of the three, and after the challenge 2 disaster, I was a little leery. Although the students were a little confused, they dove right in and gave it a whirl. I think it helped that there were dodge balls involved. By the third run through, things were going pretty smooth, and although they did not successfully complete the mission, they seemed to have a lot of fun doing it.
There was one moment during this third challenge - which was to carry two "wounded" soldiers to safety - when one of the students (blue shorts) and one of the volunteers and former Summerbridge students (green shorts) pick up the wounded soldier and straight up sprint her to the other side. I lost it. My loud, booming voice and laugh burst across the audio, which makes me laugh even more when I watch it. I just thought that was the funniest thing. Then, the student gets nailed with a dodge ball when he tries to go back and get the other wounded soldier. Classic.
I just love these kinds of moments. We get to take kids into a gym, give them some dodge balls, some space to run, and some objectives, and they just go to town. Even though this activity might appear silly to an outsider, I really believe that the students learned some important lessons about life. They created the challenge, planned it, set it up, implemented it, and analyzed what worked and didn't work. They shared their ideas about the roles they played, what was frustrating, and what they did well. I don't think there is a substitute for throwing the students into an activity, telling them to use their brains and deal with what they are given, and letting them get their hands dirty. They don't get nearly enough of this kind of learning in their regular schools, which makes me all the more thankful to be a part of a program that sees this activity as a valuable learning experience.
RSS Feed