Nails in the Boards

Nails in the Boards

-(Laugh and Wisdom Story for Educators)-

This is a story that being told to me many times. First, I read it in my high school magazine - and then in a book written by Anthony de Mello. I really love this story and told to my daughter many times...

A kid named Imam is so naughty... he likes to mock his friends, fighting with other kids and makes older people get angry with his behaviour. Her parents try to tell her that he must behave better, and it makes other people sad when he keeps doing it.

"Imam, we have nails and hammer here. And we have some boards too. Every time you make other people angry, or when you feel angry, you can nail in these boards."

Imam didn't know its meaning but he likes to do this job because he still has believed his parents care for him. 

In the first day, Imam hammered 15 nails. Her father said: "well, we can make a fence too while doing it."

In second day, Imam hammered 18 nails, but it then getting slower because he realize that sometimes he got injury while doing it. It easier to be more patient rather doing this job everyday.

Then there was a day when he hammered no nail. His father told her: "Well done Imam. You hammered nothing this day. From now, you can pull nails every time you can hold your anger, and say or do something nice to people you hurt before."

Imam sometimes still hammered the nails to the board but he is more often pulling the nails. And there was a day when all the nails in the boards are gone. Imam feel very happy when he knows that it means that now he becomes a more patient kid, and have doing all good things to his friends. He talks to her father, "Look father, no more nails in the boards. I become more patient now."

His father answered," Congratulation Imam, well done. I see that you become stronger and wiser now. I really grateful as your father. But come closer can you see the boards?

"Yes father." He answered politely.

"Do you see the holes? You can see that people heart is like a board. When we hurt people, we make a hole in their heart. We can ask for apologize many times, doing many good things for them, but the holes are still left in their heart. Just like a board, we can patch the hole with cement or putty, but the hole is still remain. Be wiser when you are doing something...  people heart is fragile, more than a board."

Picture taken from www.flickr.com

Hello Again

Hello Again

-(Personal Notes)-

Hello guyz, thank you for coming to this site although I rarely do update :( . This year (2012) I will try to make at least one new update every one month. Well, I hope I can make it like a diesel engine - slow buat sure and than can accelerate myself better.

Many things happened since my last post: I did some training for REDD (Reducing Emmisions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) issues in Jambi Province in Indonesia. I am following an English language training so I can write better (with some absent in  my class). In January, with some friends from Universitas Indonesia and University of Washington, we did some village visit in Halimun Salak National Park.

Well, I like to share more but I think you will be interested more for the modules. Ok then ... let start the modules... :)  - Happy reading...
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Self Portraits

Self Portraits

-(Ice Breaker, Encourage Children)-

Facilitating process: an ice breaker is needed

This is an introduction game that I've already used with several modification. You can choose or modified this game by yourself, to fit your activity.

Objectives
- To introduce participants with each other
- To create a better, relaxing atmosphere among participants

Needs
Paper and pen (crayon or colour pencil, spidol are better). A thing to be thrown (example: ball).

Step by Step
- Ask participants to draw a self portrait on a piece of paper. They can choose whatever they like: abstract, cartoon, artistic, symbol, etc.
- Ask them to write 3 stepping stones  (important events) that lead them to this workshop.
- If there is time, participants can introduce themselves (with name, acticity, school, favorite food, musician, etc) and tell everybody about their stepping stones. After one participants introduce her/himself, they must choose random participants to continue the activity by throw something like ball.  It will be interesting to know each other randomly, and everybody will get their tense.
- If you have no time, just collect portraits and display it on the wall.

Modifications
- If those in the group already know each other, you can give order not to write their names on portraits (portraits must contain special characters from each participants). Then display it on the wall. Every participants then writing down their guesses on a sheet, which is then scored).
-  Every participant also write down 3 negative and positive characters about themselves. Then they also describe their characters.
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Puzzle and History Card

Puzzle and History Card
-(Language Game, More ESD Activities, Improve Listening and Observation)-

This is a simple game that can be used to tell about history (village, town, people history, etc). As an alternative, this method can also be use to learn English or local language. A group of participant, or single participant can play this game in approximately 5 to 20 minutes (it depends with difficulty level)

Objectives:
Participants are invited to understand more deeply about history and how history may affects the current conditions in the area
 
Time allocation: approximately 5-20 minutes
Tools and materials: some history cards (with picture and naration)

Step by Step:

• Write a history, divide it into 10-20 paragraph and put each paragraph in one card. You also can draw pictures in the card to make it cool. All of these cards, we call it "Puzzle and History Card Package".
• Facilitator gives participants a card package which has been scrambled.
• Facilitator tells participants to work together to arrange the pieces of card over the past five minutes into right sequence.
• After five minutes the facilitator asks participants to present their cards (to tell story based on card sequence). Facilitator may asks their opinion.
• After they expressed opinion, facilitator set the cards into right sequence, and re-tell the whole story again.

Facilitation Tips:

• Make story and translate it into 3 different language (example, I divide it into Indonesian, English and Sundanese (Indonesian local language) in one package of card. So participants will need more time to ask somebody (friend) who fluent in other language - and because of that they will learn other language or culture from different people.
•  Facilitators are expected not only re-read cards, but add the story outside the story cards so that participants get more informations.
• Don't forget to remember correct sequence before scramble the cards :) 

To see puzzle and history cards example, you can download  here

Deepest Part of the Ocean

Deepest Part of the Ocean

-(Shocking Nature News)-

http://geology.com/records/deepest-part-of-the-ocean.shtml

Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench is the deepest point in Earth's oceans. The bottom there is 10,924 meters (35,840 feet) below sea level. If Mount Everest, the highest mountain on Earth, were placed at this location it would be covered by over one mile of water. The Challenger Deep is named after the British survey ship Challenger II, which discovered this deepest location in 1951. 

The Challenger Deep was first explored by Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh in the Trieste bathyscaphe in 1960. They reached a depth of 10,916 meters (35,814 feet). In 2009 researchers from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution completed the deepest dive by an unmanned robotic vehicle in the Challenger Deep. Their Nereus robotic vehicle reached a depth of 10,902 meters.

Why is the ocean so deep here?

The Mariana Trench is located at a convergent plate boundary. Here two converging lithospheric plates collide with one another. At this collision point, one of the plates descends into the mantle. At the line of contact between the two plates the downward flexure forms a trough known as an ocean trench. An example of an ocean trench is shown in the diagram below. 

Devil Number Game

Devil Number Game

-(Improve Listening and Observation, Math Game, Ice Breaker)

Whooaaa... I am writing again. This time I will give you a simple game (I got it from Mr Agus Mulyana when he manage our strategic plan before).

To play this game, at least we need about 20 people. Make a circle, and start counting, so everybody get their number. After that, tell people to remember their own number.

The rule is simple: first I will shout a number. People that have this number will shout another number, and  this game will continue until somebody is make mistake (such as too long to answer). People who makes mistake are eliminated.

There are another rules:
1). Never mention the number in your right and left side. Example: people number 5 can not shout number 4 and 6.
2). Never mention the number people already gone. It's devil number.

So the game will depend on people concentration. Re-start the number after every mistake. After some mistakes, it will be more difficult to remember the devil number.

Play the game. It's fun and people always love it :)

Picture taken from purplenote.wordpress.com

Insight Variation
-(Personal Notes)-

Guys, I want to inform you old news - but it's really important. Do you see many category in the right side of this blog that categorize all of writings into : facilitation technique, nature game, nature game, wisdom story, energizer, ice breaker, etc?

First, I'm not a very good organizer. It's mean that sometimes I found new category that suite more rather than those old category, than I re-organize my writings. Unfortunetely, It happened only in my spare time.It's not perfect.

Second, you always can find something different, get new insight or do some modification. I believe that you can get new insight related with the condition you have in your class. It means that you sometimes can use "ICE BREAKER" game to talk about "CLIMATE CHANGE" if you can get the "KEY". What should we do is by finding the right block for the puzzle..

Good luck friends...