9 Things I Learned From My Life Of Crime

      When I was only seven, I committed my first crime. My parents had gone out to run errands, leaving my two older brothers in charge. Ensconced in front of the weekly football game on TV, they paid no attention to their little sister. Bored with football, I decided that I had the perfect opportunity to explore my parents’ bedroom. My parents, continually harassed by four children, considered their bedroom an oasis, off-limits to us unless by special invitation. Thus, the temptation. I opened the top drawer to my father’s walnut dresser and, standing on tiptoes, peered inside to see what treasures it might hold. Tucked into one corner was an uncovered box, filled with shiny coins that he removed from his trouser pockets each night. I quickly snatched a nickel and dropped it into the front pocket of my skirt. Glancing over my shoulder guiltily, I found that the world had not changed one bit, so I continued exploring.

      Wedged into the back of the drawer, under some graying, fraying hankies, there was a tube-shaped object, kind of brassy in color. My fingers reached for it, closing around the cool metal and pulling it forward. As I examined it more closely, I found that one end was narrow, with a circle of glass over it, while the other end was wider with a fuzzy bit of glass covering it. I put the narrow end up to my eye to look inside and squealed in delight at the storm of colors that rained down. This of course brought my brothers running. My life of crime was over, but my lifelong love of kaleidoscopes had just begun.
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      Kaleidoscopes represent the beauty of diversity to me – all the ways we can create a mix of people that come together in wonderful new configurations. As a facilitator of adult learning, it is invaluable to have numerous strategies for grouping and regrouping learners so that they share their talents and ideas in new ways. There are times when it is best to intentionally assign specific individuals to work together, while there are other times when random regrouping leads to wonderful collaboration. My love of kaleidoscopes reminds me of the importance of mixing things up. And, I have learned that I don't like being in trouble! That's why, whenever I run a training class,  I always have a cheat sheet with me that lists 9 ways to quickly develop new groups. I can mix participants up on the spur of the moment - in response to lagging energy, a chatty table or the need for new ideas. Here are 9 of my "go-to's."
 

1. Partners – Ask everyone to stand and find someone wearing a similar color of clothing.
2. Partners – Ask everyone to stand and find someone with a similar hairstyle.
3. Partners – Ask everyone to stand and find someone wearing similar shoes.
4. Partners – Ask everyone to number off – 1, 2, 1, 2…. Have partner 1 shares first, partner 2 listens and paraphrases. Then switch.
5. Small Groups – Post the numbers 1-12 Ask everyone to stand and go to their birth month. Tip – if a birth month has just one person, ask them to combine with the neighboring month.
6. Small Groups – Place a different type of candy on each table. Ask everyone to pick up a piece of candy. Have participants form a new group in which no one has the same type of candy.
7. Small Groups – Give everyone a playing card and have them form new groups by suits (or mixed suits.)
8. Small Groups – Obtain four different colors of sticky dots. Place a dot on everyone’s nametag before they arrive. Ask participants to regroup by colors (mixed or same.)
9. Small or Large Groups – Post A,B,C,D signs in the four corners of the room. Project a multiple choice, opinion-based question on the screen. The question might be content related or a way for participants to get to know each other better -Which season do you like best? Which vacation destination would you choose? Then ask participants to go to the corner that best represents their answer.

 
 Looking for more ideas that keep you out of trouble? Check out "Caffeinated Learning: How to Design and Conduct Rich, Robust Professional Training"

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