Tangled

Today, I was amused and amazed by the magic of a lesson my students taught me: Learn WHEN TO HOLD ON, and WHEN TO LET GO. :)

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The activity was simple, it's basically the Doctor Quack quack Filipino children of our generation usually played. My students formed a circle holding each others' hands, right hand to right hand, left hand to left hand, and the goal is to untangle themselves. There were two groups with 14 members each. It took time for both groups to finally be untangled. The enthusiasm and excitement was there at the beginning, but towards the end, some were determined to finish it, some wanted to give up. Different personalities were revealed: there was the leader, the impatient, the persistent, the cool ones, the mediocre, and the apathetic, among others. :D You could just imagine how frustrating it was for them to do the activity. After around 20 minutes, both groups were able to form new circles. :) 

But before they reached their 'success', each group had to come up with different decisions: One let go of each other and started all over again, and the other held on and continued untangling their arms. Both, though, succeeded few minutes after making these decisions.

It was supposed to be about group communication, group dynamics, and team work. But the issue of letting go and holding on caught the interest of my students more than anything else. What if group one decided to let go, and do it over again, and group two decided to hold on and continue untangling themselves, would they still succeed? What if the 'leader' of the first group gave in to what some of the members wanted, that is to redo everything? And what if the 'leader' of group 2 did not listen to the other members saying, "Let's just do it again?" 

This, however, was not just a matter of 'destiny', but a matter of choice. Group one had to let go two times and redo everything before finally, they decided that this time, they had to hold on until the end. Group two had to hold on, and believed at first that they should follow the basic rule of the game: no one lets go of his group mate's hands, before they finally decided that it's time to let go and start all over again. And they were untangled.

Perfect timing. :))