LTI Brazil, Day 3 - Tina

Oi! Meu nome é Tina! - and for those of you who do not speak Portuguese, "Hi! My name is Tina!" I'm here to update you on the LTI Brazil adventures from Day 3.

Susan began the day running a favorite activity, Communication Headbands. Everyone had a way to be treated written across their heads such as "treat me like I'm famous" or "pretend I'm a child" that everyone but the person coulc read. The students and mentors then had to interact by treating each other as their headband indicated. It was quite hilarious when the student with "treat me like I'm dumb" started carrying around the Portuguese for Dummies book!

Next the students built a pyramid! Well, not the massive Egyption kind, but a pyramid made out of stacking cups using only strings attached to a rubberband instead of hands. To make it even more difficult, Michaela forbid verbal communication forcing the students to revert to non-verbal signaling. One group found the task easy while the other two were frustrated but persisted. The students learned to keep their cool in stressful situations and communicate effectively.

The students carefully raise a cup

Assumptions came next and forced everyone to think of a secret fact. Then, Amanda had the groups guess who wrote each fact, which showed that first judgements may not always be correct.Who knew some of our students hide chocolate in their closets or that Susan was once picked up by an elephant?! Well, we do now!

Extreme Mentoring shocked the students with the realities of dealing with difficult groups. Each person was assigned a personality trait such as "shy" or "inappropriate" and the students took turns leading a discussion as mentors and dealing with the extreme students. We all learned how important it is to practice leading discussions since it takes more preparation than it appears. Dave helped the students brainstorm a list of good discussion techniques to use during furture LTI sessions.

We finished the day with a presentation on Public Relations - including Recruitment, Marketing, and Technology. A smaller group brainstorming session followed by a large group re-cap generated promising ideas for the Public Relations department of LTI Brazil.

Since the Açai berry ice cream was so good, we tried another place and played some cards with the students before heading home. After a quick run around Liberty Square and some coconut water (so refreshing!), it was time for dinner. My host even wore a chef's hat as he prepared pasta! After nearly a week here, I can certainly say my favorite thing about this country is the wonderful people.

Check out our albums so far - http://picasaweb.google.com/LTI.MIT

Boa noite!