Redefining Success: Wobbling Towards Excellence

Being a facilitator at Dynamix is a unique privilege.  First of all, it’s my job to play games all day.  It’s hard to beat that.  But my favourite part of facilitating is the lessons that come out of the games.  On the best days, the kids take home something new, and so do I. 

Let me share a story:

It’s about a team of accomplished teenage leaders.  They had cooperated solidly for the majority of our three-day retreat.  Their challenge, with me, was to make the Oreo, a humongous tire attached to yellow ropes, walk forwards.  They discovered a strategy in a matter of minutes.  Most groups had needed several rounds of trial and error.  I was extremely impressed.

But then, something happened.  The students noticed the wobbling of the tire, how it wasn't moving in a straight line, how it tilted slightly. They began to nit-pick, to adjust small things, trying to move the tire perfectly.  Within seconds, the team’s cohesion dissolved.  They criticized each other’s methods, barked orders at one another.  They even yelled at each other for not communicating properly.  I stopped the group. 

“Talk to me,” I said calmly.  “What’s going on?”

They began to list their mistakes:  Not enough listening. Not enough strategy.  Not enough using our resources.  Not enough.

And then, being experienced in the ways of leadership education, they preempted my next question: What do we do differently next time? There was no shortage of ideas for improvements. 

The team was in consensus: The Oreo challenge had been a flop.  But that’s not how it looked to an outside observer, like me.

“What did we do well?” I asked them.  No answers.

“How many of you think that we were successful today?” No hands.

“Does anyone remember what the goal of the challenge was?” Silence. 

Then, one student answered: “To get the Oreo to move.” 

“Exactly,” I said.  “And was the Oreo moving?”

A chorus of yes’s.

“Then were we successful?”

Some tentative nods.

“We did what we set out to do,” I reminded them.  “Can we take a moment to give ourselves a round applause for that?”

The conversation that followed was about the importance of celebrating our successes, however small.  It’s important to work towards excellence, but that doesn’t mean forgetting to acknowledge the fact that we’ve accomplished something.  The road to an optimal solution can be fraught with struggle and setbacks – these are good things, they help us learn.  But they can also be frustrating.  That’s why we have to stop to say, Was the oreo moving? To remind ourselves that, yes, it was.



Dynamix: Team-building for Kids and Teens, since 2002.

Photo taken from Google Images, source: 

Game of the Month Holiday Edition - Solemn and Silent

Game of the Month: Solemn and Silent

Purpose: The purpose of this game is to integrate group members and work on self control skills.

Materials: Just the participants.

Description:

• Members pair back to back. 
• On the count of three, everyone must face their partner, look each other in the eyes, and then try to remain solemn and serious.  No speaking! 
• The first to smile or laugh must sit down.
• All who remain standing then take a new partner and the activity continues until only one person has not smiled or laughed.  (Second round of playing can involve two teams competing to outlast each other.)
• If you get a pair at the end, who are both keeping a straight face, the rest of the group can act as hecklers to disrupt them.

Discussion/Reflection:

Good activity for breaking into activity groups.

At the end of the activity ask the group the following questions

• Why do you think we did this activity?
• What strategy did you have to complete this activity?
• How did you COMMUNICATE with the group?

November Game of the Month: The Machine

Purpose: This activity brings out strong communication and cooperation skills.

Materials: Just a group of participants.

Description:

• The object of this game is to create a machine out of a group of people (i.e. ceiling fan, hot air balloon, watch, etc.). 
• You might want to split your group into two or three smaller groups.  
• Each person is required to be accountable for one noise and one motion of the machine.  The group members should then put their motions and sounds together to create the machine.  
• Give each group about 5 minutes to work together and prepare, and then have the groups present to everyone. 
• Ask the other groups to guess what machine the group is.

Discussion/Reflection:

• At the end of the activity ask groups some of the following questions
• Why do you think we did this activity?
• Why did you choose the machine you did?
• If we were to do this challenge again what if anything would you do differently?

8 Creative Snowmen

With winter coming soon, we thought we would show you several unique snowmen that people have created. These are just some that really show off what thinking outside the box can accomplish.

The Breakdancer

Army of Snowmen

Snow Car

Spongebob

Workout Snowman

Phonecalling Snowman

Homer Simpson

Snowman Bowling

Share with us what you think of these snowmen and show us some photos of snowmen that you've created or seen that are real standouts.

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Why You Should Come To The Unicorn Gala

Come to The Unicorn Gala where Dynamix has donated a FREE birthday party to the silent auction to help them raise money to support the Max and Beatrice Wolfe Children's Centre so please come out and support this wonderful event as well. Here's more about the event:

The Unicorn Gala is taking place on November 6, 2012 at Arcadian Court in downtown Toronto. To date, the Unicorn Gala has raised over $500,000 in support of the Max and Beatrice Wolfe Children’s Centre at Mount Sinai Hospital. 

The Max and Beatrice Wolfe Children’s Centre was established in 2004 to provide home palliative care support to dying children and their families, and to provide a variety of counseling and bereavement programs for children and youth living with the dying and death of a loved one.  The Centre has developed a number of innovative and effective programs, services and academic ventures that have garnered local, national and international interest and recognition. The Centre also provides consultation and education sessions for health professionals, teachers and boards of education. The Max and Bea Centre is the only specialized Centre in Ontario that offers medical and counseling support for dying children and their families in their home. The Centre is funded entirely by donations.    

The theme of the event is GIVING and we are honouring three people – Dr. Larry Librach, Abby Tobias and Dr. Aubrey Green. These three honourees understand the power of giving. They are people who give of their time, skills and compassion in an infinite number of small and large ways, enriching their own lives and hearts in the process.

How Social Media increases bullying

In this New York Times article, Emily Layden tells a story about her sixth grade brother’s friend posting a status on Facebook asking them to “LIKE if you hate” Emily’s brother. Shockingly, 57 people liked the status, confirming their “hatred” for Emily’s brother. Without a doubt, it would be incredibly damaging to a child’s self-esteem and self-worth to learn that 57 kids “hate” him or her.  As an adult, I couldn't imagine how this would affect me today.  Sometimes, it seems like it truly is “social warfare” out there for today’s youth, where social media is one of the strongest weapons in any potential enemy’s arsenal.

Does the boy who started this chain of “hate” for Emily’s brother grasp the extent of the harm he has caused? Do his 57 peers understand what that simple click of the mouse truly means? Could you imagine 57 children lining up at the cafeteria to tell one child they “hate” them? This would never happen, right?  Herein lies the power of social media messages, both positive and negative.  Simply put, it is so easy to spread the word, and as a result, bullying messages are spread at lightning speed.  In the cafeteria or classroom, a responsible adult usually takes notice and steps in. Alas, in the world of social media, it is quite difficult to take notice and step in before the damage is done.

So why are children so readily spreading these hate messages through social media?  Perhaps it’s the anonymity, perhaps it seems less harmful you can’t see the victim’s reaction or maybe it’s the freedom from adult supervision in the cyber world.

The question that has been asked over and over again by parents and educators is what do we do about this?  Should we simply ban the use of social media for our children?  Unfortunately, this is nothing more than a band-aid solution.  When addressing difficult situations like this we need to ask ourselves if  our “solution”  is really designed to teach our children, or does it just  make our  lives easier by making the problem go away. We need to seize every teachable moment we can, and cyberbullying is packed with teachable moments.  Below is a list of some things you can try to both prevent cyberbullying and address if it does occur:

Parents & Educators UNITE!
Note to parents: Cyberbullying is not only the teacher’s problem to deal with
Note to educators: Cyberbullying is not only the parent’s problem to deal with

Students UNITE!
Create connected school communities offline by helping your students get to know each other, unite as a team and foster positive relationships.  Students are less likely to act like a bully when they see each other as friends.  Even more powerful is the fact that other students are less likely to laugh with the bully, participate in the bullying, or stand idly by when they see the ‘victim’ as a friend.

Hold your children accountable for their decisions:
Whether online or offline, choices must be addressed and accompanied by consequences.  Notice here that we say “choices” not necessarily “bad choices”.  A good choice, like treating each other with respect should be accompanied by a good consequence.  Similarly, bad choices, like posting a negative online status a peer, should bring a negative consequence that creates an opportunity for learning.

Fun Fridays: Top 5 Fun Activities to do during the Toronto City Workers Strike!

Written by Adam Kertesz

Now three full work weeks into the strike, there doesn't appear to be an end in sight! I am sure like a lot of us, you are looking for fun things to do with your kids both at home, and at camps and child cares across the city. Well here's my Top 5 things to do that won't be affected by the strike.


5. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention having Dynamix come in to run one of our awesome programs at your home, camp or child care centre! Picture this: eliminate the stress of having to come up with an aleternative program, and now imagine the peace involved in simply having us come in and run a hassle-free, fun and exciting event for your kids!
Phone: 647-477-7615
Website: http://www.getdynamix.com/


4. Canada's Wonderland! Does this even need an explanation. Been waiting for that right time to go? Well what better time than now!?
Phone: (905) 832-8131
Website: http://www.canadaswonderland.com/


3. Toronto Zoo- A lot of people actually think that the stike affects the Zoo, but it doesn't! So this summer would be a great opportunity to go see all the elephants, the monkeys, and the lions and tigers and bears (oh my..).
Phone: 416-392-5929
Website: http://www.torontozoo.com/


2. Ontario Place- Another venue that a lot of people think is affected by the strike but it's not! It is a slightly cheaper and perhaps more conveniently located theme park than Wonderland. And they have a lot more rides than people realize. Great for all ages!
Phone: 416-314-9900
Website: http://www.ontarioplace.com/


1. Be creative! Here are some great ideas: Pretend you're a tourist and take the kdis around the city's great sights for a day! Plan a fun scavenger hunt for your kids or the local kids of your neighbourhood. And finally, who needs a city pool when you can get a Slip n Slide!?