This week, a stunning stimulus that creates questions about working as a team.
Also, are you a UK Head of Year / Phase, or a member of SLT? Scroll down to get your free book on helping students bond. But hurry, only 10 available!
Stimulus
Play the video below from the series The Hunt, from BBC Earth. It should be fine for most ages – the sheer spectacle should distract anyone from being particularly squeamish about the carnage of a mass-sardine-feast.
Use the board to record who did what, and in what order. Here’s a cribsheet for you:
- The Sealions isolate the sardines into smaller shoals
- The Tuna attack from below
- The Shearwaters swoop in with agility
- The Copper Shark arrives fourth, acting largely solo
- The Dolphins seem to do similar
…but I won’t give away the ending – it deserves to be seen!
Questions
Like last week, here’s a short list of questions, in a sequence that we think goes particularly well with this stimulus – but you can encourage your students to make their own.
- Are all the predators part of one big team? Or are some in the team, and some outside it? Or is there no team?
- Can you be “just in it for yourself” and still part of a team?
- To be part of a team, do you need to choose to be in the team?
- Is there any unfairness in this video?
- What can animals teach us about teamwork?
- What makes a team a team?
Free book offer: Table-Top Team Building
You might already be aware that I also run Hidden Leaders – a small but busy team of former-teachers, outdoor educators and actors who run days that help pupils collaborate, think independently and grow in confidence and all without leaving the school grounds. We’re getting a lot of bookings from schools wary of the faff and costs of a residential, when they can get an even better experience on the school site.
We offer days for everyone from Year 6 to Sixth Form, and even staff, that get everyone working in teams on problem-solving, interview-preparation, orienteering, archery, axe-throwing, and more.
We want team building to be a more frequent fixture in education, but we know not all schools are ready to book something with us immediately. So in November, we published the latest in our popular series of A6 minibooks: Table-Top Team Building: A Practical Guide to Collaboration in Your Classroom.
In just 56 pages, it makes the case for teambuilding within the curriculum, and presents seven key principles on:
- How to help everyone lead
- How to banish inhibitions
- How to create instant engagement
- How to unlock deeper thinking
- How to help students learn from every experience
- How to prevent passengers
- How to stretch everyone
…as well as giving you a six week Team Talk Challenge for your class.
It’ll be in our online shop soon, but before it goes live we’re offering a free copy to UK Heads of Year / Phase, or members of SLT. All we ask is you have a phone call with us to decide if you think we might be able to help at your school. But hurry, we’ve just 10 copies available to give away.
To set up a conversation with us and get your copy, just press reply to this email, or contact us via hiddenleaders.com.
What’s on in the Philosoverse?
There’s still time to book onto tonight’s free P4C.com webinar, hosted by us, on how to embed P4C into the curriculum. It’s an hour from 6pm (UK time) and you can book your free place(s) here.
Amongst all of our resource-creation and sessions in school and online, we’re getting ready for our appearance at the Future of Education Show in Manchester on March 5th. See the graphic below to get a free ticket using our code.
Best wishes,
Tom and Jason