It is period five on a Friday and I have my Chemistry class. They are super engaged, collaborating, being creative and not doing any Chemistry.
The trigger was these kinex kit carousels that the year 7 class had made. They are doing a simple machines unit, and so had made the carousels to investigate gears.
To be fair, the carousels are really cool. I had been playing with them on and off all day, each one has a different sized gear that means it spins around at a different speed.
So of course my year 12’s wanted to play with the kinex. And given we are where we need to be, I decided to run with it and say sure.
It is still fascinating me as I sit here and type – they are soooo into them – especially the boys, although a couple of the girls have joined in. There was an interesting discussion about following the instruction versus using your imagination – or youtubing how to make something. There are rubber bands flying about as they test the rubber band guns that made, and go back and modify the design to see if they can make them go further. Cranes, tractors, wheels, guns, it is really nice to listen to the quiet hum of the class as they have fun and just have a play.
I don’t quite know how to get the same enthusiasm for exam revision… I wish I did. But for now, it is nice to be having a fun friday P5 with some engaged students – even if ewe aren’t doing exactly what we should be.
Maybe that is why it is so good 🙂
ibpossum takes on tech 