3rd Graders, hmmm
Oh my was about the only thing I could say during the last two hours. I was with twelve 3rd graders who were all trying out for the 3rd grade Destination Imagination team. I was just so surprised at how little imagination they were showing, a lack of creative thinking. DI is all about imagination and thinking outside the box, so I was getting nervous that we were going to either have a really bad team or no team at all.
These kids would do exactly what I told them, no more. I kept telling them to use their imaginations, be creative, don’t do only what I tell you to do, add to it. Nothing. I was thinking this wasn’t going to work. Finally, I gave them a few props, a piece of tin foil, a piece of wax paper, a small paper bag and some cotton balls. I told them they had 5 minutes to create some sort of time keeping contraption. I also told them that it really shouldn’t be a watch, they needed to try to be imaginative, create something the other groups wouldn’t think of. It worked, each of the four groups came up with something completely different. I was so relieved.
Out of the twelve we chose 7 (the maximum allowed) for a team. It will be interesting to see how they all work together in the coming months. I’m glad I’m not their team manager!
