Today the kids had the day off school. I wanted them to stay busy. They lost interest in a project I wanted them to do. It was to build a wall with paper. They were quiet for a while. They worked together and then made a mess. They did not finish. Why did they not finish. I could have been more clear on what my vision of the wall was supposed to be. I could have had a reward in mind for them. I could have given them more incentive. They may have been in need of my assistance. They could have wanted my attention. Maybe I could have worked with them. Just because you have an idea does not mean that someone else can build it.
I take full responsibility as the project manager on this one. That is what leaders do. How can someone build without a plan? How can anyone build something without the help of others? I could have had them involved in the planning of my idea. I had them do most of the work. I wanted them to work together and figure it out. For a while they did work together until they had disagreements of what the final piece should be like. It is not a total failure. They did figure out how to build the wall by taping part of it to the existing wall. They did get creative with the bricks. They were occupied with something for two hours. Building something from scratch is not easy. Building something with others is great. There has to be a desire to build it on everyone’s part.