Week 5 - Tears to my Eyes

     Now I have to admit it is not always that difficult to bring tears to my eyes.  However, I experienced a special moment recently that I feel would have managed to bring tears to most anyone's eyes.  For the 3rd graders, I alternate each week with presenting them a concept and a scripted build, and then the following week providing them a challenge that is unscripted but has constraints and criteria that tie in with the previous week's concept.  Last week the 3rd graders worked on builds with inclined planes.  This week, their challenge was to build a marble track that used at least two inclined planes for the marble to travel.  I was still very unsure of what the end results of the challenge would be, but the students always seem to enter the lab with excitement and enthusiasm to learn what the challenge is.  They struggled and stumbled for the course of about 40 minutes working on some elaborate and some simple constructions.  Some students had to be reminded of the qualities of an inclined plane, while others had to be reined in to build within the time constraints.  The students are always proud and anxious to show me the final results.  What seems to have had an even greater impact on them was when we had a "walk about."  I played a song and the students walked around to take a look at the other projects.  They are usually working with at least a partner on these challenges.  So, the group members took turns staying to demonstrate their builds while the other group members visited the projects around the room.  During the building period, I had already heard numerous "Yes!" and "We did it!"  Then as I watched the students during the "walk about," I could see the pride on the faces of the builders and the viewers being awed by the contraptions before their eyes.  There are many times I feel under appreciated in my profession, but this was one of the times when I was thankful to be where I was.  Their expressive faces and gasps of awe were more than I could have ever hoped to have achieve.  This was not an outcome that was measurable on any standardized test, but some of these students will remember their marble tracks and the success they had for many years to come.