calgary

busy week! i wasn't originally supposed to be teaching the leadership classes again this year, but i asked if i could, so i am. it's been fun. we've gone through the qualities of a leader, introducing yourself and others, and then tonight we started on goal setting and working in teams.

tonight they had to do a couple of team building tasks. in the first, 10 kids stood on a blue tarp and had to flip it completely upside down without touching the floor. lots of kids get frustrated when the team doesn't listen to their ideas so they just shut down. it's up to the group to include them and find a way to make sure everyone is heard.

my personal favorite task is having them retrieve a marker on the other side of the dining hall. they have to move as 'one body' (stay connected). their idea was to move in a big chain.. one kid would lie down on the ground and put their legs on the shoulder of the kid behind them. then they would chant '1, 2, 3, UGHH' and the whole chain would scoot forward 8 inches each time. it took 20 of them to reach the other side of the room. it just looked so awkward. their faces were less than a foot away from the next person's butt. we did have one tooting incident that left us all in tears laughing.

other than that.. they did ropes and we went to the lake. not a bad wednesday.