The Power of a Group

I teach chemistry (yes, I love it), and we do lots of labs. 

Behold: the Bunsen Burner.
We play with fire all day...or so they wish. 

     Thing is, during a lab, sometimes students need a hint.  I've tried to give directions by speaking loudly to the entire class, but that’s nothing special.  You see, after some time, my voice blends in with the hum of the AC, and students just aren't too concerned.   

    So one day I started talking with just two students.  I began describing some tip or technique for the lab.  All of a sudden, other students nearby started to listen in.  I saw them stop, glance over trying to be sneaky, a little envious that ‘we’ were moving on.  They tried not to make it seem like they wanted an extra bit of help.  It was pretty cute, to be honest. 

    Cute, yes, but bottom line also a very effective technique.  They were awfully concerned.  They saw a group of us, and they wanted to be part of it.  

     Lest you think their motivation was just to ‘get it right’ and ‘grab the grade’, I’ve also seen this happen before class when we’re shooting the breeze.  If a couple of us are laughing or having a good conversation, I see heads turn, eyes light up, and an ache to be included...and brilliance when they are called out by name to join in the fun.

So my new technique?  Talk with just one group...it's motivation for others to listen in.  

Friends from Peru.
They make you want to join in the fun.

     Truth is, the need to be included is super basic.  It’s deep within and it's here to stay.  I've heard that the best way parents can love a child is by loving each other; children would much rather be caught up in the love of their parents than doted upon to an odd degree. 

     *Ding* this is old news (or timeless news?).  The Trinity.  It's three in one.  Not 1-in-1 (boring).  Not 2-in-1 (a friendship…good, but it's just two-ply).  It's 3-in-1.  To be invited into a dynamic friendship, a love that has been around and inviting before you came to be, yes that’s so much more real.  It's relieving, and wonderful to be along for the ride.  It makes you want to stop what you’re doing and listen in.   

[ Have you heard of the power of the first follower?  Click here for the dance. ]