Communication

The next activity entailed using Lego bricks and taught participants a valuable lesson on how to communicate more effectively when something is not working.

As a bystander, it was clear that breaking up the Lego into smaller bits or layers worked effectively and that providing a lot of knowledge at once was more harmful than good. It was also critical to find alternate ways to transmit or explain things, as well as to be patient with one another. We struggled with being impatient, which upset people, and delivering too much information at once.

However, as a builder it was more about blindly following instructions and seeking validitation, than it was about communicating.

During this activity, each member of the class partnered up and turned their backs to each other, one was given the role of the drawer, and the other - the role of the speaker. The speaker had to describe the image to the drawer, who was not allowed to speak or ask any questions. On the right is the image of the outcome of this activity - something as simple as an ice cream had been turned into a monstrosity - henceforth, demonstrating how any simple instruction for one may actually be difficult for the other person. During the second round, everyone switched roles and this time, the drawer was allowed to ask clarifying questions - which as it can be observed, did not do much help either for the poor sailboat.

One of the last activities was the "Pet Peeves" where there was Person A and Person B. Person A was tasked with ranting about a pet peeve for 1 minute, after which Person B had to state what it is that Person A values, believes and holds important to themselves. This specific activity was practicing the skill of recall. As Person B had to recall and remember in order to paint the big picture from this seemingly negative filled rant. It was clear that no matter how negative the rant was, a drop of positivity could still be found and uncovered. A particular humourful moment was when a classmate stated that she couldn't stand people chewing with their mouths open, and a classmate proceeded to chew loudly as to playfully provoke her. She was not pleased.