The Disappearance of Neighborhood Games of Kick-the Can, Part Two: Strategies for Helping Participants of All Ages Learn Through Play.

In Monday’s post I mentioned that I had observed a trend of children and adolescents missing out the development of important social & emotional skills because of a lack of time for “free play” without adult intervention.

I believe we can intentionally bring some opportunities for this kind of peer-to-peer learning and conflict resolution practice in our structured settings such as school, camp, and other recreational programs. When I work with people of all ages in experiential team building programs I purposefully create situations/opportunities for participants to practice coming to agreement on the rules of the game, a team name, a team symbol etc. I use methods that involve pairs and then groups making simple choices together and work up to practicing consensus.

Here is one of my favorite simple strategies for helping learners of any age practice these important skills:

Which one? Partner Decision Making Method for Dividing Into Teams: This activity came from my time teaching in Stevens Point, Wisconsin School District’s Experiential Education program. I started getting bored with the old counting off “1-2″ method of dividing students into teams or groups for a project or activity. I discovered through experimenting with this new method that I had found a fun and engaging way to divide into groups or teams for an activity or classroom project while at the same time helping participant’s practice communication, decision- making, consensus, making a compromise with peers.

Directions:

• Have everyone find a partner.  In many situations a student will often pick a buddy you would rather they are separated from. This is fine, even preferable, because they will be splitting up soon. This method of dividing honors their need to partner with a friend because it gives the friends something to do together before they split up.
• Present a hypothetical situation with two choices. For example: “Imagine it is summer and the two of you are near a river. You want to play on the river, but the only boats available are a kayak and a one-person canoe. Which one of you will take the kayak, and which the canoe? Or: You are at an ice cream stand and the freezer has broken down, there is only one cone of chocolate, one of cookie dough. Who gets which? Cookie dough’s become one team, chocolates the other. Other scenarios I have used: cotton candy flavors, roller blades or skateboards, toboggan or saucer sled etc.

Over the year’s I have noticed that kids of all ages have bought into this method of dividing teams without “pre-arranging” themselves the way participants often do with the old 1,2 count off method. I think it could be because they get to have the connection with their friend first- you are honoring their need to pair with who they are comfortable first before sending them apart.

It can be surprising how intense the discussions and negotiations around these imaginary decisions can be!

I have had many teachers report how they have appreciated this simple exercise for helping practice and reinforce conflict resolution, positive decision- making and the idea of compromising-coming to consensus. Adult participants share that they enjoy the sense of connection and humor from sharing and making decisions about these hypothetical scenarios.

Reference: Tips & Tools for the Art of Experiential Group Facilitation. Jennifer Stanchfield, Wood ‘N’ Barnes Publishing 2007

Middleton School District Experiential Education Curriculum; Jennifer Stanchfield, 2001

I started realizing this might be influenced by the fact that many students in today’s society don’t have the opportunity to engage in the unsupervised free play with peers that many of us who are now adults did during our childhood.

Our society is becoming increasingly isolative.  Children aren’t out playing pickup games of kickball or kick the can in their neighborhoods during free time after school, or on summer evenings as they once did. Parents are often fearful about letting kids play and roam the neighborhood on their own.

Children and adolescents participate in a great deal of solo video and computer games. Most often children’s group recreation these days involves team sports, clubs, and after school programs led by adults. There is obviously great value in structured team and after school programs, and a benefit to having excellent adult role models in these programs who positively impact students.

A downside of this shift is that kid’s are not gaining the important skills that are learned from interaction with peer only groups without adult intervention. They miss out on opportunities to practice being flexible and making compromises with each other in order to make a game work and learning that play is not always “getting their way” or winning. In peer only activities kids gain valuable experience in coming to consensus on the rules of play, decision-making, and developing social skills around communication and conflict resolution.

I remember as a kid having many opportunities for unstructured play in our neighborhood; pickup games of all kinds filled our summer days and after-school hours. Arguments about who was “it” or who won inevitably arose, but we figured out ways to work it out ourselves rather than interrupt the game to run home and get an adult to decide for us. It appears that in modern society with less participation in peer-only play, kids are missing out on opportunities to gain conflict resolution, problem solving and group communication skills. We can help students gain these skills by providing opportunities within our adult led structured programs to practice decision making and communication on their own.

After observing this trend in students I work with,  I started intentionally focusing on implementing activities that practice the use of decision-making by consensus. I purposefully create situations and opportunities that allow students to practice coming to agreement on the rules of the game, a team name, a team symbol etc. I use methods that involve pairs and then groups making simple choices together and work up to practicing group consensus. This a valuable practice for groups of all ages.

In the next few days I will post some of my favorite activities and strategies for helping learners practice these important skills. Please share your thoughts about the changes in the patterns of play, the value of “free play” and strategies you have found useful in helping students learn and practice these valuable life skills within structured programs.

Experiential Approaches to Building a Classroom Community: Highlights from Jen Stanchfield’s Winter Workshops for Educators at the Southeast Vermont Learning Collaborative.

This winter SVLC hosted two days of workshops for teachers and school counselors focused on experiential strategies for building a positive classroom environment and active approaches to differentiating instruction.
Thanks to everyone who participated. Your enthusiasm and willingness to share about your experiences as teachers added a great deal to our discussions.

Building a Positive Environment in the Classroom:
On our first day we focused on strategies for building a positive environment in the classroom and school. Our group discussed the importance of taking time to focus on setting a positive tone from the very first day of school. Time spent during those first few days of school building rapport between teacher and student and peer to peer will pay off later in many ways.

For example:

• Research on the brain and learning validates the idea that students learn best when they feel safe and supported in their classroom environment.
• This time spent up front on community building activities helps establish positive behavioral norms and expectations in the classroom, helping teachers with classroom management.
• Starting with community building helps teachers differentiate instruction. By engaging students in activities that practice behaviors such as communication, problem solving, conflict resolution, respect and responsibility teachers can help increase  student’s ability to perform in small groups, stations, group projects and other differentiated approaches to teaching. Attendees later reported that they tried several activities from our workshop in their own classrooms with great success.

Below are two of these favorites:

Handshake Mingle:

This activity is great for introductions, reviewing names, and helping a group become comfortable with each other. It also makes a great active processing/debriefing or kinesthetic academic review activity.

Handshakes could be: high 5 partner, low 5 partner, ankle shake partner, fishing partner etc. Revisit each partner through the sequence. A variation is to combine the handshakes with “get to know you” questions, or later in a classroom group’s experience use this activity with reflection or review questions. It is always helpful to remind students to make sure they know their partner’s name as they rotate through the group. I am always amazed at how participants come out of this activity remembering names of people they have just met.

Directions:

• First, have everyone find a partner;
• Ask the group members to give each other a simple handshake greeting such as a high 5. Then have participants recognize this person now as their high 5 partner. Remind the partners to make sure they know each other’s names.
• Next ask them to find another new partner; for example this could be their low 5 partner (demonstrate). Introduce themselves to this new partner.
• After they greet that partner, have them go and find their High 5 partner, then their low 5 partners, moving around each other amongst the group to find those original partners.
• Then ask them to find a new partner; this is their ankle shake partner. Start the sequence again- find high 5, then low 5, then ankle shake partner.
• Next have students find a brand new partner who becomes their “fishing partner” (one is the reel and one the fish- demonstrate).
• With each of these rotations have students introduce themselves. Remind them to make sure they know their partner’s names.
• We used “dance” partners as well as “pop a wheelie” and demonstrated “lumber jack” and “Sumo” partners
• Have student’s help you come up with new handshakes, or present their own. I have used “rock on” partner, “butterfly” partner and “pop a wheelie” partners.
• Continue this sequence- adding on with new partner activities as appropriate. You will witness laughter, positive interaction and fun.

Participants really will remember each other.
 Later on you can use the partners to form groups, or as a closing at the end of a class activity have them run through this sequence to reflect on their thoughts regarding a class lesson with their partners.

Our group’s notes from this activity:

• Use handshakes that are appropriate for your group- taking into consideration, age, space, social atmosphere, setting, (but don’t be afraid to experiment!). Have students make up their own.
• Even more introverted or “too cool for school” group members “buy in” to this activity- probably because it starts with familiar and simple greetings like High 5 and Low 5, it moves quickly, and everyone is doing the activity at the same time- no one person or pair is in the “spotlight”. Also participants can participate at their own pace or comfort level- if they want to opt out of a handshake or adjust it, they can.
• Teachers noted that I started with simple handshakes that everyone was comfortable and familiar with such as “high 5’s” at first, and then led up to more “challenging” or “silly” handshakes as the group became more comfortable with each other
· This can be used as an active academic review method or reflection activity. The first time you introduce it, it can be community building/ice breaker- later are in a group’s time together you could use it again to reflect on specific questions/ academic content.

Reference: Stanchfield, Tips & Tools for the Art of Experiential Group Facilitation, 2007 Wood ‘N’ Barnes Publishing.

Name Meanings:

When people have more meaningful and interesting information to associate with a person it will help them make a stronger connection and better remember their name.
 In classroom settings where students already know each other’s names this activity helps them learn more about each other, and can lead to a discuss around the importance of honoring a person’s name i.e. pronouncing it correctly, using it appropriately etc.

Directions:

• Simply ask the group to line up silently by the number of letters in their name, or preferred nickname.
• Once the group is successful, have them go around and share their name and what they know about its origin, i.e. whether it was a family name, or what they know about its meaning.

This activity has become a particular favorite. Groups find it interesting and fun, helping them connect and learn more about each other. It even works with large classrooms. I have seen 24 middle school students successfully complete this activity-giving each other their full attention. Students seem interested in listening to and sharing this kind of “personal” information.
”Name Meanings” could stimulate conversation with students and their family members too. It can be tied into a family tree activity. We also talked about how it could support differentiated instruction by helping students get comfortable with “seminar style” classroom sharing.

Reference: I learned this activity from a group of teachers in Laconia, NH. Stanchfield, Tips & Tools for the Art of Experiential Group Facilitation, 2007 Wood ‘N’ Barnes Publishing.

Thanks to everyone who attended the workshops and shared your ideas and insights about teaching. I look forward to seeing you at another workshop sometime soon.

Join me and Marie Paige this summer at the Southeast Vermont Learning Collaborative for our 3 credit summer course July 6th-8th entitled: Experiential Strategies to Differentiate Instruction and Foster a Positive Environment for Learning.