I do a low ropes course near the end of the first week.
Before the day, I tell them we will do a challenging team activity. It will be physical and mental. They must wear flat shoes that cover their feet. Sneakers are great. Heavy boots that don't allow them to flex are not good. I refuse to tell them what the task will be.
Safety is first, and you must anticipate what rules are necessary for that in your space (slick floors, carpet that catches, splinters in the wood etc). I emphasize that they must rely on team members for support. I only intervene if there are safety problems, or to answer questions about the rules explained below.
Then on the day they have to use 2 or 3 milk crates, 2 2x4s, and a length of rope to travel over a distance on the stage/room that is just a little longer than the distance spanned by the boards connected by the boxes. The floor is hot lava. The boxes are fire proof and can touch the floor. The boards cannot. They must get all of their teammates and all of the tools from point A to B ( I mark the distance with spike tape) without any bit of a person or board touching the floor. If anyone or thing touches, they must all return and start over. i remind them that they will be more successful if they take the time to listen to everyone, encourage everyone to speak up, and touch each other to give support by holding hands to steady balance, for example. It works best if the teams aren't more than 10 people, so in my large classes we play with 3 random teams. I alter the distance or tools for variety.
For example, the first group often uses the milk crates like boots, and they walk in them across the space, carrying the other tools over. So for the next group, I tell them that the lava is now thicker, and since there are holes in the crates, they can't put their feet in them. Sometimes I change the distance (shorter distances encourage them to build a bridge), take away or add a tool, add a time limit (although not usually, the time pressure is most likely to cause them to work dangerously) to change the task for each group. I have 100" periods and can do this in one period, but with shorter periods in a big class you'll need 2 days.
The groups that aren't acting have to observe and take notes. They can whisper to their teammates, but must NOT talk to the working group. What did they do? What did they say? Did it help them solve the task? At the end we debrief and talk about how the group worked and how they could have worked better. I ask them to explain why they think I had them do this. The conclusions vary, but focus on trust, different styles of communication, and the conditions that best support creativity. I also remind them that they can't blame the result on their teammates or the conditions of the task when they work on any project. That with practice they will become better teammates, and they will all get better at creating work conditions that will lead to creative and interesting results.
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Barb Lachman
Shoreline WA
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Original Message:
Sent: 08-19-2015 01:13
From: Scott Hasbrouck
Subject: First Day Activities
What is your favorite ice breaker for the first day of school? Especially for inner city reluctant actors. Maybe even a whole week of ice-breakers.
Aaaaaaand...go.
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Scott Hasbrouck
Wheat Ridge CO
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