I have been thoroughly enjoying the last several weeks of classes with our instructor, Jim E. His calm demeanor, wealth of knowledge, and excitement about curriculum and engaging students is a breath of fresh air. :) Jim has shared some fun activities with us including replicating a structure made with PVC pipes (we had to look at structure in a different room, and then go back to our classroom with a visual memory of the structure to try to copy the structure exactly). That was interesting. In my case, my partner had better visual memories than I had. I did okay, but I felt as though I had trouble concentrating on one piece of the structure at a time.
The second activity we did was have one person view a picture of a structure that was projected on a screen, and the other person had to put the structure together with verbal clues only from the person who viewed the picture of the structure. What we did well as a pair was not talk to each other while we were working (which was one of the rules). I was the one who gave verbal directions, and I found myself being very polite and clear. I did better on this activity compared to the previous one. :)
During the end of class on Wednesday, June 8th, we had to make a floating device out of aluminum foil, and then we had to see how many small PVC pieces could float on our device without sinking. My partner, Shana, and I were able to float 16 pieces. One attempt at this was enough for the two of us, whereas two other groups were trying to be the winners by having the most PVC pieces float. I think one group was able to get to 21 pieces to float on their device. That was pretty cool.
I view these activities as good team building exercises, and I am interested in doing some of them with our students. It's just a way to give students a fun exercise to get them out of their seats and working with other students on a common goal. I may plan to gather the materials I need this summer in order to do the activities next year. :)
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