Habit #6: Synergize

Synergize: Definition It’s like teamwork, but even better! Two people work together to create a better solution than they could have done alone It’s not your way or my way. It’s a better way. (5 minutes) Have students make a heading for Habit #6. Explain what “synergize” means. Have students choral-read the underlined parts. Ask students to think of/write down as many flavors of ice cream as they can think of in 1 minute. See who has the highest number. Then, put students in groups and have them repeat this for another minute. What is the highest number now? The groups (probably all of them) should have a higher number than anyone who tried to do it alone. Talk about how this represents synergy.

Geese! Geese Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MriF6X19hEE (10 minutes) Play this video and have a few students share surprising or interesting thoughts they had. Print off the “Goose Video Scramble” papers (one-sided). Mix them up and have students work as a team to put the facts in order on the floor. Read the facts together.

Synergize Synergy is: Synergy is not: Celebrating differences Teamwork Open-mindedness Finding new and better ways Tolerating differences Working independently Thinking you’re always right Compromise (10-15 minutes) Have students re-create this chart in their notebooks. Show ones of these videos (or both!) and talk about how the teammates would have to use the synergy traits: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjOlRok5TDQ (start at :27; students doing a shadow act) … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvQBUccxBr4 (adults doing a shadow act; serious but touching)

Synergy is Everywhere! (5-10 minutes) Explain that synergy can be found all over the world and throughout history. Preview these videos/anecdotes and decide which ones best illustrate synergy for your students. Animal symbiosis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qqa0OPbdvjw Constitutional Convention: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCCmuftyj8A (stop at 5:40) Engineering example: One 2x4 beam can support 607 pounds. Two 2x4 beams can support 1,821 pounds– three times as much! Three 2x4s nailed together can support 8,481 pounds!

Celebrate, Tolerate, Shun There are three ways to respond to differences in your group: Shun Tolerate Celebrate The groups with the best synergy celebrate differences! (5 minutes) Our differences lead to synergy, because we bring diverse strengths and ideas! We can be different in the way we grew up, our race, our paradigms, our gender, whether we were an only child or have a huge family, like sports vs. arts, etc. Some people don’t respond to others’ differences in a safe/productive way. Those people tolerate or shun differences. Shun: Afraid of/hate differences. Sometimes they make fun of people who are different; will almost always avoid those who are different. These people join gangs, cliques, or hate groups to keep different people away. Tolerate: Believe everyone has a right to be different. They want those different from them to keep to themselves and not bother you with their differences. They see differences as hurdles/problems rather than strengths. They miss out on true synergy! Celebrate: Value differences and see them as an advantage, not a weakness. Abraham Lincoln filled his cabinet with advisors that were different than him. They disagreed on a lot of things! He realized that it made him a better leader to hear different opinions. Check yourself: As I read these scenarios, think about how you would respond to these situations: There’s a new boy in class with different views about religion than you. Do you feel like he’s a weirdo, like you don’t care either way, or like he has a lot he could teach you about his point of view? If someone lives in a different kind of city than you (sketchier or fancier), do you label/stereotype them? Do you ignore them? Do you get to know them? If someone wears clothes in a different style than you, how do you feel about that? Can you still be friends?

Everyone Learns and Sees Differently It all depends on our paradigm! (5 minutes) Everyone learns and sees the world differently. Stand up if you learn best by listening to someone; if you learn by reading; if you learn by moving around and doing stuff; if you learn best with a computer. Because we all learn differently, having diverse learners on your team means that they will have learned all kinds of different things about your subject area or the world. What do you see in this picture? Some see a skull and some see a lady looking in the mirror. They are both right! It all depends on your point of view! Let’s say that your grandpa believes girls shouldn’t play sports and should always wear dresses. This is his paradigm. How could you learn from the way he sees the world? It all depends on our paradigm!

Celebrating Differences Roadblocks to Celebrating Differences Ignorance: You’re clueless. You don’t understand people who are different. You maybe don’t even realize what the difference is. Cliques: Your group of friends is exclusive; you don’t allow anyone who is different into your friend group. Prejudice: Treating or seeing people differently based on who they are (before you get to know them). (5-10 minutes) Ignorance leads to problems because it’s easy to fear or hate someone/some type of person you don’t know. Things that are different can be scary! Once we learn more about people’s differences, we usually feel a lot more comfortable. How can ignorance hurt people? Cliques are easy to form– we tend to hang out with people who we are similar to, because they are comfortable and easy friendships. Friendship groups become cliques when they don’t let other/different people in. How can cliques hurt people? How can they get in the way of good synergy? Prejudice: Watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyKvus3hSHw How can prejudice hurt people? How can it get in the way of good synergy?

Personality Test Today, we are going to take a personality test. This will show us how we are different from each other, but also how we can work together with others! (30 min) Judge your class the best you can– should you give them a paper version of a simple personality test or the computerized version? I’d recommend printing off paper ones just in case the websites are blocked. Allow plenty of time to go through the test and explain the words/descriptions. Go through the results with students. Which answer is the best? None of them! They are all equally great. Lion/Beaver/Otter/Golden Retriever Test: https://www.quotev.com/quiz/5946131/Lion-beaver-Otter-and-Golden-Retriever-Test Simple and Short version of the Myers-Briggs Test: http://personalityclub.com/short-personality-test/ The fruit test is available on the website to print.

Synergy Action Plan (20 minutes) Model using the Synergy Action Plan using the problem/opportunity “Your friends are going to a movie and can’t decide what to see.” Or, use the Synergy Action Plan example for a more detailed version (excerpted from the book). Brainstorm a few other times they might have a problem or opportunity with a group of people (You want to study Abraham Lincoln for your group project, but another team member wants to study George Washington; You have to have a partner for a math test and you don’t want to work with a partner; You are helping to plan the activities for a computer club you are in, but one person only wants to talk about coding; You are working on a project in the hall and some random teacher tells you to move; etc.). Have students practice using their own Synergy Action Plan in their notebooks.

Synergize: Definition Draw a poster/advertisement in your notebook that represents “Synergize” Use 3 colors that work really well together– colors that synergize! (5-10 minutes)