HOME TOWN PRIDE EDITION
Building a Future on Long Island - One Piece at a Time
L.I. LESSON PLAN
L.I. LESSON PLAN
GOAL: To Build four Counties, thirteen Towns of Long Island by means of hands-on collaboration with young people working cooperatively and making a difference.
Mapzzles® are map puzzles comprised of local places and regional spaces where interactive exchange between individuals and resources result in many different kinds of positive outcomes. These are some of the possibilities:
~ Modeling successful cooperation
~ Acquiring useful team building skills
~ Facilitating sharing and risk taking behavior
~ Providing emotional distance from personal issues
~ Addressing issues of scarcity re/perceptions of insufficiency
~ Building self confidence by means of self motivated discovery
~ Achieving enhanced performance through collaborative time on task
~ Identifying practical limits while also exploring municipal boundaries
~ Gaining essential familiarity with local and regional geographic areas
~ Demonstrating mind mapping methods of negotiation and conflict resolution
Seven Step Process
1. Display a picture of the completed GOAL (optional)
2. Assign GOAL (Step 1 and 3 may be reversed)
3. Distribute all 108 pieces among the participants
4. Designate a clear flat work surface area larger than 18"x 24" and provide easy access from all sides
5. Three Rules (optional):
1. No talking or signaling to others
2. No hitting, pushing or taking pieces from others
3. Give when the piece/s you have fit the need
6. Encourage following the Rules. Signal to begin.
7. Time activity or set realistic time limits (20 minutes - optional)
Process Comments / Observation Questions: Follow-Up (20 minutes)
1. Who initiated the activity?
2. Who were the leaders?
3. How were limits of 'the problem' defined?
4. Who provided 'the last piece'?
5. Did the border and corner pieces appear right away or later?
6. Was the task completed inside-out or outside-in?
7. Was the 'Legend' finished before geographic areas were finished?
8. Was anyone unable to contribute?
9. Did you observe any conflicts resolved? Which ones? How?
10. What was the pattern of cooperation you observed?
11. How could the whole process be improved upon the next time?
12. What other lessons might be learned from this activity?
Ten Other Ways
1. Assemble corners, top down or bottom up, using edge pieces first
2. Start with a color focus and assemble outward in all directions
3. Give more pieces to some people and less to others
4. Complete the big picture within or without time limits
5. Ask "right handers" to use only their left hands and vice versa
6. Have everyone cover one eye - and allow no peeking
7. Invite half the class to volunteer to be blindfolded for the activity
8. Invite teams of 3 to select their pieces before beginning the activity
9. Assemble one County, Town or geographic region at a time
10. Complete GOAL with the picture side face down (without a vision)
The Power of a MAP Metaphor (Means of Aerial Perspective)
Metaphors are methods of perception that help us see the world in different ways. More than one definition exists for most nouns. Maps are puzzles. Maps are games. Map puzzles challenge people whether or not the GOAL is expressed or defined. A map puzzle is an educational manipulative heightening awareness of spatial relationships. They are icebreakers and team builders and more than the sum of their parts.
Invite your members to share their thoughts as they were putting Long Island together. Think of your class as a jigsaw metaphor and each piece (student) important as part and parcel in the completion of your Big Picture. Each piece may be different but each one has a specific space to fill. The class and Big Picture remains unfinished till each student makes their contribution of those pieces of themselves they wish to share in order to build the project, literally, at hand.
Nothing's missing and nothing's extra. We have all that we need to succeed - in the present. Success is what happens when people work together toward achieving a common GOAL.
A CITY OF NEIGHBORHOODS
New York Community Districts - 'Piece-Full' Resolutions
LESSON PLAN
LESSON PLAN
GOAL:
Assemble a panorama of New York City Community Districts by collaborative means while engaging in non-verbal activity.
Mapzzles® used with people, places and geographic spaces to initiate positive exchange where the specific objectives are to:
~ Build self-esteem
~ Encourage self-confidence
~ Model successful cooperation
~ Teach useful team-building skills
~ Facilitate risk-taking and a reason to share
~ Provide emotional distance from personal issues
~ Address issues of scarcity and/or perceptions of insufficiency
~ Identify limits and/or explore issues related to boundaries
~ Achieve your mission by means of collaboration and time on task
~ Demonstrate mind mapping methods of negotiation and conflict resolution
Seven Step Process
1. Assign the GOAL (Step 1 and 3 may be reversed)
2. Display a picture of the goal completed; give its actual size (18x24) (optional)
3. Distribute pieces among the participants any way you choose (108 pieces)
4. Designate a clear flat work surface area larger than 18"x 24" and provide easy access from all sides
5. Three Rules (optional):1. No talking or signaling to others
2. No hitting, pushing or taking pieces from others
3. Give when you see what you have is needed
6. Begin. Encourage participants to follow the RULES.
7. Time the activity or set realistic time limits (20 minutes - optional)
Process Comments / Observation Questions: Follow-Up Activity (approx. 20 minutes)
1. Who initiated the activity?
2. Who were the leaders?
3. How were boundaries defined?
4. Who provided 'the last piece'?
5. Did the border and corner pieces appear right away or later?
6. Was the task completed inside-out or outside-in?
7. Were areas of text finished before local areas were completed?
8. Was anyone unable to contribute?
9. Did you observe any conflicts being re-solved? Which ones? How?
10. What was the pattern of cooperation you observed?
11. How could the whole process be improved upon the next time?
12. What other lessons might be learned from this activity?
Ten Other Ways
1. Complete picture-side down without clear vision or a mission
2. Assemble corners top-down or placing edge pieces first
3. Start with a color -- red or purple, etc. -- and assemble outward
4. Give more pieces to some participants, less to others
5. Do it with or without time limits
6. Ask 'right-handers' to use only their left hands and vice versa
7. Have everybody cover one eye, no peeking allowed
8. Blindfold half the group during the activity
9. Invite teams of 3 to connect their pieces before tabling them
10. Assemble one Borough at a time -- green, white, yellow etc.
The Power of a MAP Metaphor (Means of Aerial Perspective)
Metaphors are methods of perception that help us see the world in different ways as being one thing or another. There are multiple definitions for anything. Mapzzles® are maps that are puzzles. Mapzzles® are games too. Mapzzles® are virtual problems needing to be solved whether the mission is virtual or visual or vaguely undefined. Mapzzles® are icebreakers as well as team builders.
Mapzzles™ are Meta-Fours© - More than the sum of their parts. And so are you! How do I know? How do any of us know what we know? Only four ways. We believe. We think. We feel. We do. We carry that FIRE (spirit) of place within us and wherever we are and wherever we go we hold the FIRE within - Faith, Intuition, Reason and Experience teach us all we know - and we are lifelong learners all.
But what kind of learner are you and how do you know that?
Are you:a sponge? a funnel? a strainer? a sieve?
Bring this to your group and invite a discussion of the meaning of each preceding metaphor.
