Communication Skills

In my special education class we spent Friday talking about the collaboration that goes on between teachers working in a school.  We spent the last portion of class doing an exercise.  In the exercise we had groups of around eight people and had to hold hands in order to create a human knot.  I found online instructions that explain it all little better here. But anyway, I quickly discovered how difficult it is when someone either tries to completely take over or no one steps up.  This not only relates to working with other teachers, but the classroom in general.  If no student is willing to participate a discussion may fall flat or turn into a strictly lecture class, which honestly is not engaging for high school classrooms.  We have to try and find a balance for getting students to orally express themselves and demonstrate their knowledge and them listening to a lecture.  In addition, I think the exercise could be beneficial to do in the classroom to get students to work together and utilize effective communication skills.