Jazz It Up!Teambuilding Activities

to Liven Up Your Meetings

Dr. Lisa Gonzales – Santa Clara COEEdith Mourtos – Santa Clara COEDr. Devin Vodicka – Carlsbad USD

Agenda

OUTCOMES:• Experience new activities to be used with

teams at school/district/parents/students• Add more pizzazz to meetings and

improve work quality and communication

Who is in the room this morning?Stand up, Sit down

Directions - NSEW• Give NSEW handout to each; slide shown• Signs on 4 directions of room - NSEW• Have everyone go to group s/he is most like• 3 chart sheets at each location• 1st chart – what is unique about you? 2nd chart –

what is most challenging/misunderstood? 3rd chart –which group is easiest/most difficult to work with foryour group?

• Have groups report out 1st & 2nd chart; do 3rd chartafter all report out the first time

• Debrief – how can you use this information with yourteam?

NSEW (North, South, East,West)

• Communication styles• Large group (40-50) to small group (10)• 30-60 minutes

• Prep: 10 minutes• Handout

Who Am I?

• Getting to know you, fun• Large group (not all contribute) or small

group (5-10)• 10 minutes or interspersed through

meeting

• Prep – 10-15 minutes to design questions• Space to move• Great to use to get attention (pop balloon)

Speed Rabbit

• Teamwork, fun• Large group (100+) or small (10)• 10 minutes

• Prep – none!• Space to stand in circle

Life with the Wright Family

• Communication, following directions,listening

• Large group (100) to small groups (10)• 5 minutes

• Prep – none!• Get a writing utensil

Duck & Cover

• Communication, judgment, fun• Best with group of 20-40 (need subgroups

of 10-20 each)• 20 – 30 minutes

• Prep - gather items to be used - two ormore of each item (1/subgroup)

• Space to move!

Zoom

• Teamwork, problem solving• Large group (100+) or small (10)• 10 minutes

• Prep – none!• Works best in a circle, standing or sitting

Talk a Mile a Minute

• Communication, fun• Large group (100+) or small group (10)• Best with an even number of people

• Prep – powerpoint, projector• Need space for two people to work

together and have access to see screenwhen standing

1

Famouspeople

65

4

3

2

7 11

Things associated with babies

DiapersPacifier

Bottle warmerBurp cloth

BlanketStuffed animal

High chair

13

Give & Take

• Getting to know each other, pre-discussionof topics in a meeting

• Large group (20+) or small group (12 ormore)

• Even number of people for rotations• 15-25 minutes

• Prep – 10 minutes for question design• Materials – timer, noisemaker

Pockets

• Teamwork, fun• Large group (100+) or small (10)• 5 minutes

• Prep – none!• Space to team up

Letters & Triangles• Getting to know each other, teambuilding,

communications• Large group (20+) or small group (12 or more)• Will need to work individually, in small groups, in

larger teams• 10 minutes

• Prep – minimal• Materials – powerpoint slides, projector, paper,

writing utensils

Letters & Triangles

Group or Team?

DN X Z

Q B C E TL U V P M K S

W R J O H G I A F

Group or Team?

Group or Team?

DN X Z

Q B C E TL U V P M K S

W R J O H G I A F

Group or Team?

ES F Z

J A M H PB Q W Y O V T

D K N C I L R U X

Group or Team?

Group or Team?

Turn to an elbowpartner and discussthree key differencesbetween a groupand a team.

Directions - NSEW• Give NSEW handout to each; slide shown• Signs on 4 directions of room - NSEW• Have everyone go to group s/he is most like• 3 chart sheets at each location• 1st chart – what is unique about you? 2nd chart –

what is most challenging/misunderstood? 3rd chart –which group is easiest/most difficult to work with foryour group?

• Have groups report out 1st & 2nd chart; do 3rd chartafter all report out the first time

• Debrief – how can you use this information with yourteam?

Directions - Speed Rabbit• Stand in a circle• Have one person in the center of the circle• The person in the center points to people and says

“speed rabbit”• The person being pointed to makes the whiskers and the

two people on the side make the ears• The person in the center counts to ten and if the rabbit is

not finished before ten the person being pointed toswaps places and goes to the center

• Can also do:– Speed elephant– Speed surfer

Directions -Life with the Wright Family

• Each person needs a writing utensil of anykind

• Break into groups of 8-10 people andstand in small circles, almost shoulder toshoulder

• Directions – when you hear the wordRIGHT, you pass your item to the right;when you hear the word LEFT, pass youritem to the left

• Facilitator reads the story.• If the group does it correctly, each should

end up with his/her original writing utensil.

Life with the Wright FamilyOne day the Wright family decided to take a vacation. The first thing they had to decide was whowould be left at home since there was not enough room in the Wright family car for all of them. Mr.Wright decided that Aunt Linda Wright would be the one left at home. Of course this made Aunt LindaWright so mad that she left the house immediately yelling “It will be a right cold day before I return.”

The Wright family now bundled up the children, Tommy Wright, Susan Wright, Timmy Wright, andShelly Wright and got in the car and left. Unfortunately, as they turned out of the driveway someonehad left a trash can in the street so they had to turn right around and stop the car. They told TimmyWright to get out of the car and move the trash can so they could get going. Tommy took so long thatthey almost left him in the street. Once the Wright family got on the road, Mother Wright wondered ifshe had left the stove on. Father Wright told her not to worry he had checked the stove and she hadnot left it on. As they turned right at the corner, everyone started to think about other things that theymight have left undone.

No need to worry now, they were off on a right fine vacation. When they arrived at the gas station,Father Wright put gas in the car and then discovered that he had left his wallet at home. So TimmyWright ran home to get the money that was left behind. After Timmy had left, Susan Wright started tofeel sick. She left the car saying that she had to throw up. This of course got Mother Wright’s attentionand she left the car in a hurry. Shelly Wright wanted to watch Susan get sick, so she left the car too.Father Wright was left with Tommy Wright who was playing a game in the backseat.

With all of this going on Father Wright decided that this was not the right time to take a vacation, so hegathered up all of the family and left the gas station as quickly as he could. When he arrived home, heturned left into the driveway and said “I wish the Wright family had never left the house today!”

Directions - Duck & Cover• Identify a location with a lot of space to do this activity• Break into 2 teams of 10-20 people• Identify who will be the FIRST person in the group to

start the activity – put times behind that person• Must have 8-10 items per group and same items for

each group• First run through – person #1 starts, throws item to

anyone in group except next to him/her, then goesdown on 1 knee and cannot be thrown to again

• Practice again – SAME order as the first time• Then introduce all 10 items – person #1 throws first

item, then another, then another; person #1 goesdown on one knee when completely done

• Group that finishes first wins

Possible items for Duck & Cover• Half-filled water bottles• Koosh balls• Nerf footballs• Nerf balls• Tennis balls• Old shoes (no heels please!)• Handball• Rolled up newspaper taped shut• Oranges• A dozen socks tied together• Small cat/dog toys• Half-filled box of tissues• Small boxes of raisins

Directions - Zoom• People are in a circle• Starting anywhere, the first person goes “zoom”

and points to his/her neighbor• The neighbor repeats (says “zoom” and points to

his/her neighbor)• The “zoom” is passed all around the circle• Moderator challenges the group to complete the

process faster and faster• Moderator challenges the group to complete the

entire process in one second

Directions - Talk a Mile aMinute

• Goal- get your partner to say the word• Talker may say anything but…

– Not words in category title– Not rhyming words

• May skip and come back• Raise hand when finished

1

Famouspeople

65

4

32

732

Things associated with oceans

WavesMoonAlgaePacificShips

Tropical fishGeorge Clooney

33

21

3

45

6

7 34

GAME: Talk a Mile a Minute

The Sixties1. “One small step for man; one giant leap for mankind”

1. “I have a dream….”

1. Civil Rights Act

1. The Beatles

1. July, 1969

1. “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what youcan do for your country….”

35

Directions - Who Am I?

• Upon entering a room, have slips of paperready for attendees to write one littleknown fact about themselves.

• Put slips of paper into balloons and blowup the balloon. During the meeting, pop aballoon and read one slip – have teamguess who that person is.

• For a group that is new to one another,have 3 guesses and then have the authorreveal him/herself.

Directions - Give & Take• Create a list of 5-7 questions you want people to talk

about• Vary questions between personal & professional• Participants stand in 2 lines facing each other –

everyone has a partner (need even number)• Ask question 1 – each pair talks about question for 2

minutes• May need to use lights in room or noisemaker to end the

time• Have one line move x people to the right or left (have the

line and the direction remain consistent)• Continue through the remaining questions• On way back to seats, have participants say “hi” to 3

people they didn’t talk to

Possible Questions for Give &Take

• Share a highlight of your summer.• Share a challenge you anticipate this year in your work

that cannot be based on budgets.• When is the last time you did something for the first

time?• What challenges have you had with the new adoption?• What is your favorite childhood memory?• What one word would you use to describe your

school/district?• What would people you went to school with tell us about

you?• What aspect of your work are you most proud of?• What one thing would you change about ACSA?

School? District?

Directions - Pockets• Find a partner• Take out your keys. Explain what keys you

carry and why you have them with you.• Take out a coin. Look at the year on the coin.

Tell your partner about something significant inyour life that happened in that year.

• Other no-prep prompts could include:– Why did you buy the shoes you are wearing?– What is your favorite color to wear? Why?

Directions - Letters & Triangles• This is an exercise that will focus us on the difference between being a

group and being a team. It will connect back to the concept of positiveinterdependence. This can certainly be used in classrooms.

• You will be shown a pyramid of letters---25, in the shape of a triangle. In 10seconds, try to remember as many in their proper positions as possible. Youcannot take notes. You can only use your eyeballs and your brains. Afterten seconds the pyramid will be removed, and you will have a minute or soto copy down what you remember. (Flash slide with triangles and letters).

• Flash slide with triangle and letters for 10 seconds.

• “Draw what you remember.” Flashback to previous triangle. “Count howmany you got right.” Ask groups of 4 to average their INDIVIDUAL scores.Facilitator lists under a column marked INDIVIDUAL. Ask groups toaggregate their scores…any one who got any letter right gets a score, butdon’t count doubles. Facilitator lists under a column marked GROUP.

Directions - Letters & Triangles• You’re going to see another triangle in just a few minutes. It will be different

from the first. But what will be different is that you work as a team. I willgive your table one minute to strategize how you will collectively accomplishthe task. It’s too great for any one person, but what will be your plan forworking as a team. FLASH SLIDE FOR 10 SECONDS.

• Check your results individually. Sit down poll. Get in groups of four.Calculate a group score. Report out. A group is not a team. As a team, youhave two minutes to strategize how you will get all 25 letters of the nextpyramid.

• FLASH SLIDE FOR 10 SECONDS.

• Ask teams for their “group” scores. Record on chart paper. Debrief:Essential Question: What is the difference between a group and a team?