Lightening the Load
Erika M., Chicago IL - High School Teacher and Adviser
I have a few initial thoughts and also some questions that would help me get a better sense of your group. My first thought is that it is a very stressful time of year. The middle of November is generally a difficult time for students. The excitement that comes with the beginning of the school year is over, the holiday season is right around the corner, and that brings with it its own stress that can derail even the most close-knit and functional groups. You mentioned college applications -- am I right to assume that these are high school seniors? If that is the case, then it is not only the stress of applying to college; it is the stress of years of being told how important college is all coming down to the wire. Not to mention that they are wrestling with the fact that the era of their lives defined by K-12 schooling is coming to an end and they are terrified of what comes next, especially because they don't yet know what that will be. I say all of this not because I think you don't know it, nor to overwhelm you, but because it is important for us as educators to step back and look at the world from our students' perspective.
School is stressful, holidays are stressful, college and college applications are stressful. As we get more stressed we lose our ability to think clearly, we (as you have noticed) pull away, not because we don't want help but because we feel like we can't be helped, like there is too much going on, like it is too much to explain. We feel that if we wait it out, the stress will go away.
From your email, It seems that you guys are on the right track. The best thing you can do for the group is to try to get them out of their heads. Whether you do it through physical activities, group bonding exercises or even board games, the important thing is to create a space that is a haven from all of the stress. I don't know your group, so I cannot say what activity will work best for them. But I can say that the goal should be to get them laughing. Laughter is the perfect remedy for stress. It is disarming. It is hopeful. It reminds us that things are not as bad as they feel. Most importantly laughter opens us up so that we can think. Once you get the group laughing and relaxed, you will then be able to address all of the things that are causing the stress.
As for how to get them laughing, the human knot is a great activity but if the group is not ready it can backfire and create more stress. I would start with something simpler. Have the group sit in a circle. In the middle of the circle there is a chocolate bar on a plate, a knife and fork, a hat, sunglasses, a bathrobe, two mittens and a belt (you can use any clothing you like, but the mittens are important because it is really funny to watch someone try to eat with a knife and fork while wearing mittens). Pass a die around the circle. Each participant rolls the die one time and then passes it to the person on their right. If someone rolls a "6" they go into the middle, put on the clothes and have to try to eat the chocolate bar with the knife and fork (no eating with your hands). All the while the die is being passed around. As soon as the next "6" is rolled, the person in the middle must stop no matter how much (if any) chocolate they have been able to get to. This is a great game because it is simple, funny, and you get to eat chocolate. But most importantly it takes students' minds away from all of the stress. You just want to make sure that when you end the game you have enough chocolate to go around, because the best way to get them right back into their heads is to have someone complain about fairness.
There are tons of other games like this that you could play. A great resource is Augusto Boal's "Games for Actors and Non-Actors." You just want the games to be interactive and get them engaged and laughing with each other. The only other thing is to make sure that you and the other facilitators don't believe the stress. The truth is that the students want to be there, they like you, and they like each other. As long as you remember that, keep it light, and don't take their stress personally (i.e. don't feel rejected when they are negative), you will see progress in the group.
Please write back to let me know how it goes or if you have any other questions.
I hope my thoughts were helpful.
Good Luck!
And keep the questions coming,
Jonah
- I'd rather know some of the questions than have all of the answers.
Posted in DemEd in Real LifeTeaching on Nov 25, 2009 - 10:03 AM
I am a high school teacher and adviser and lately the students seem to be pulling away, into smaller groups or individually. Many of them are pretty stressed with college applications and some realities setting in. Some of them are also bringing a lot of negativity into our meetings. We want to get everyone back together, and more bonded together as a group, so that we can bring each other up and support each other more than spreading negativity. We tried the human knot activity at our last meeting for an hour and weren't able to get it done. I am open to any and all suggestions that you have.Erika M., Chicago IL - High School Teacher and Adviser
I have a few initial thoughts and also some questions that would help me get a better sense of your group. My first thought is that it is a very stressful time of year. The middle of November is generally a difficult time for students. The excitement that comes with the beginning of the school year is over, the holiday season is right around the corner, and that brings with it its own stress that can derail even the most close-knit and functional groups. You mentioned college applications -- am I right to assume that these are high school seniors? If that is the case, then it is not only the stress of applying to college; it is the stress of years of being told how important college is all coming down to the wire. Not to mention that they are wrestling with the fact that the era of their lives defined by K-12 schooling is coming to an end and they are terrified of what comes next, especially because they don't yet know what that will be. I say all of this not because I think you don't know it, nor to overwhelm you, but because it is important for us as educators to step back and look at the world from our students' perspective.
School is stressful, holidays are stressful, college and college applications are stressful. As we get more stressed we lose our ability to think clearly, we (as you have noticed) pull away, not because we don't want help but because we feel like we can't be helped, like there is too much going on, like it is too much to explain. We feel that if we wait it out, the stress will go away.
From your email, It seems that you guys are on the right track. The best thing you can do for the group is to try to get them out of their heads. Whether you do it through physical activities, group bonding exercises or even board games, the important thing is to create a space that is a haven from all of the stress. I don't know your group, so I cannot say what activity will work best for them. But I can say that the goal should be to get them laughing. Laughter is the perfect remedy for stress. It is disarming. It is hopeful. It reminds us that things are not as bad as they feel. Most importantly laughter opens us up so that we can think. Once you get the group laughing and relaxed, you will then be able to address all of the things that are causing the stress.
As for how to get them laughing, the human knot is a great activity but if the group is not ready it can backfire and create more stress. I would start with something simpler. Have the group sit in a circle. In the middle of the circle there is a chocolate bar on a plate, a knife and fork, a hat, sunglasses, a bathrobe, two mittens and a belt (you can use any clothing you like, but the mittens are important because it is really funny to watch someone try to eat with a knife and fork while wearing mittens). Pass a die around the circle. Each participant rolls the die one time and then passes it to the person on their right. If someone rolls a "6" they go into the middle, put on the clothes and have to try to eat the chocolate bar with the knife and fork (no eating with your hands). All the while the die is being passed around. As soon as the next "6" is rolled, the person in the middle must stop no matter how much (if any) chocolate they have been able to get to. This is a great game because it is simple, funny, and you get to eat chocolate. But most importantly it takes students' minds away from all of the stress. You just want to make sure that when you end the game you have enough chocolate to go around, because the best way to get them right back into their heads is to have someone complain about fairness.
There are tons of other games like this that you could play. A great resource is Augusto Boal's "Games for Actors and Non-Actors." You just want the games to be interactive and get them engaged and laughing with each other. The only other thing is to make sure that you and the other facilitators don't believe the stress. The truth is that the students want to be there, they like you, and they like each other. As long as you remember that, keep it light, and don't take their stress personally (i.e. don't feel rejected when they are negative), you will see progress in the group.
Please write back to let me know how it goes or if you have any other questions.
I hope my thoughts were helpful.
Good Luck!
And keep the questions coming,
Jonah
- I'd rather know some of the questions than have all of the answers.
Tags for this entry:
k-12 education,
higher education,
games,
youth-adult relationships,
stress,
college applications,
team-building,
augusto boal,
laughter
comments
