My first week of school at the Island School as the K-5 21st Century Math Teacher!
The whole week was
very successful with breaking the ice of being back in school and Each group
talked about rules and we came up with our own rules.
The 3-5 math group
decided that rules were unfair and so they would like to not have any rules. We
discussed possible outcomes of this decision but they agreed it would be
better. So, as a way to show them that rules and directions are a good thing.
Lego Build! So we
had a little hands on practice. The students were able to look at the picture
of their finished project but wouldn’t allow them to look at the directions
(because rules and directions are unfair.) They proceeded to build these
creations without directions and I would like to note that it took 20 minutes
one day and then 10 minutes the next and most still did not have them built and
only a couple of them had them actually moving. Hmmm…shocking- NOT!
Proud of my
cunning planning, I offered a challenge to continue my glee! Since they had now
gained the background knowledge and practice, they would only get 5 minutes to
rebuild their creation with the directions. Not surprising at all, almost every
one of them had them put together and working properly!
The students all
learned a priceless lesson about rules and directions that day and it is now an
activity that I will plan to do EVERY school year from here on out! My only
regret is that I didn’t have the video camera out to document the whole experience.
It was definitely an effective and engaging lesson and it really excited and
sparked the students about being back in school after a long summer off!