Team Defeat
“It was very cold; we found ourselves in a forest where there was a lot of snow. We emerged from the dense trees and found ourselves facing a frozen lake. We were wondering: should we cross over the frozen lake or go around it? We were tired and didn’t have the extra energy to take the long way. We decided to take the shortcut. We were walking across the lake when suddenly we saw the ice starting to crack under our feet. We didn’t even have time to realize what was happening before we ended up in the frozen lake. Fortunately, we were all able to get out of the lake. Because we fell into the water, we were completely soaked; everything in our backpacks was wet, including the matches. We were freezing and couldn’t light a fire…” What to do? This was our challenge for today. With their characteristic liveliness, the children began discussing options, which even included some unbelievable ideas. When the time came to answer, it turned out that the children had chosen the wrong answer. There were two good things about this defeat: first, it was the last question of the lesson anyway, so the lesson wasn’t interrupted by the wrong answer; second, we realized that the children have a great team mindset—everyone chose the wrong answer without hesitation and remained very satisfied.