So its the end of the year and keeping kids on task is tough. So I finish every last 3 weeks with projects. The student choose. Some are doing water quality, others are making VandeGraaff machines, some are creating a solar panel charger for Iphones using many calculators.

But these two sweetheart girls do not have an idea of what to do. Earlier I had presented the idea of putting an electric guitar together thinking that someone (I had a group of boys intersted in music in mind) would bite. No one did. So I resuggested that these two girls do it because one of them plays fiddle and it was atleast musical. They reluctantly agreed. Then the fun starts.

At 8 am on Monday, my son’s electric guitar worked perfectly, just slightly out of tune. By 8:30 am, it was in many minute pieces. My pair looked at it bewildered.

All of a sudden, the pair came in upset. They heard from random students who watched us disassemble the guitar, that it worked perfectly before hand. This added pressure the the pair. They were under the impression that we started with junk and if they were not successful, then it was still junk. But knowing that something was destroyed specifically for this purpose, but some pressure on. Then the fun really began…

I told them an almost true story. My twin boys have been preparing a duet (piano/guitar) of Bruno Mars “Just the way you are”, to play at the final middle school variety show to profess their “interest” in a couple fo girls. Then I told my physics girls that the guitar that they were working on was my son’s guitar. Then I played the song on repeat for the entire class to hear while they worked. 

I also told them that I was not particularly impressed with the choice of girls that my boys had chosen (untrue), and that I would not be upset if the guitar never got fixed. This really jumped the inspiration. It was now their mission to ensure that middle school puppy love flourishes.

Thanks to Krista Ritchie for inviting me to speak with your BEd. class. It was fun to look at how I use emotion to increase engagement in the class. I had never really thought about it before. Using the bell for suspense, creating arguments related to the content, telling stories.

I have a new one to add. Two of my students are putting together an electric guitar as part of the circuits portion of the physics 12 class. The students thought I had a guitar in pieces and needed them together. The reality is that at 8 am, the guitar was in perfect working condition and by 8:20 it was completely in pieces with individual wires removed etc… This showed my confidence in them. I was willing to destroy something knowing that it would get fixed.

Then I told them that it was my son’s guitar (true). I told the girls who were putting it together that my twin sons were preparing for the end of school year variety show and that they were getting ready to sing publicly to a couple of girls. Just to add to the ambiance, I played the song on repeat. The perception is that the future of middle school romance depends on the re-assembly of the guitar. They are working hard. This tactic would probably not work with a group of guys.

Thanks for making me think Krista and class!!

Smartboards (IWB’s) are NOT TPR’s ( Traditional Pedagogy Replicators). If this is how you see them, you are not using the right! If you are not using them right, then the IWB’s are a waste of time and money. More importantly, they are a waste of kids’ brain growth. However, use them correctly, and they are a very powerful tool for 21st century learning, in particular influencing group dynamics for critical thinking, collaboration and communication.

http://edcompassblog.smarttech.com/archives/6556