Wood chop

Instructions

Step 1: preparation

• 1 log of (dry) wood (OBJECTIVE / OBSTACLE).
• 1 axe (EFFORT / WORK)
• 1 box of matches (ENERGY – you have)
• 1 outside location where you can make fire, safety measures/ instructions: you are giving an axe to children.

Step 2 explaining the task:

You explain that they are going to get a task that is quite difficult. It is not impossible but they will have to put some effort into it. The goal is to set the log on fire and to make it burn up completely. The only things they can use for this task is the axe, the log, and the box of matches. If they use anything else they fail the task. Everyone gets their own axe, log and box of matches.

Step 3 observing:

Keep a close eye on how they try to tackle the problem. It is important to give feedback to the children on how you saw them working at the problem. Be attentive to avoid dangerous situations.

Step 4: active reviewing:

In normal circumstances the students will do everything but set the total log on fire. It takes some time to get the log into small enough pieces to set it on fire. It is also much more fun to use a lot of matches and see if it will catch fire. None of this however will normally work to totally burn the log.
Students who get the log on fire in one go are a valuable asset to your group as they can, later on, explain to the other students how they did it. 

Questions: 

• What are you struggling with?
• How far did you get?
• What went well?
• When did you almost succeed?
• What is needed to succeed?
• Are there other situations in your life when you are struggling with a goal
• What did you do with that situation
• What can you do to make a small fire
• When did the fire take hold? How can you do more of this?

Step 5: FIRE!

The solution for this activity lies in preparation. Your log (objective / obstacle) needs to be chopped into small pieces. Very small. This takes quite some time with just an axe (EFFORT/ WORK). If they have used a lot matches (ENERGY) just holding them close to the log, their box will be almost empty. The moral here is that if you spend your energy in the wrong way it is easy to be discouraged at the goals you set yourself. 

This is usually a great time to ask if they need assistance. By taking your own log and chopping it into some very small pieces, breaking them up with your hands and setting a small piece on fire. It is ok to show them the solution, but don’t set their log on fire. Making a small fire is one thing, if you didn’t prepare the rest of your log to receive the small fire, it will go out quite fast and the task will not be complete. 
Assist them accordingly to their skills. 

Step 6: Translating the activity into their needs.

While the fire burns you take a break next to the fire. They have made the fire and now they can enjoy it. A marshmallow is a great treat to reward the effort put in the activity.

Explain what the activity means from your perspective. Connect the activity to an objective they have been struggling with. Ask them if there are things they are struggling with. How did they approach it. Are there things they have done with the log that they can use in tackling their goals. 

Collecting and sharing student results

Listen carefully when you make the translation from the log to life goals. Assist them in formulating how they tackled an obstacle in the past and how they can approach it in the future.
Let them write down what goal they would like to achieve, write it down and burn the goal in the fire they made.
After the log has burned down it is time to put some more effort in it. Take the goal they have set themselves and assist them in breaking it down in manageable sub tasks. This can be done with SMART (Specific, Measurable, Acceptable, Realistic, Time bound) or any other methodology you are comfortable with.
Write this down and make a plan on how to achieve this. The exercise with the log will serve as reference and visualization of the task.