CandyCandy!

Written 11/29

The students here *love* sweet things. Morgan and I brought a small amount of starbursts to be able to give as rewards for review games and other such competitions in class, and so far, they have always gone over well. I always know when Morgan has given students candy in his morning classes, because they’ll come to my room in the afternoon all chirping “CandyCandy!” (it’s one word now) to each other and me, hoping I’ll decide to give them some as well. If you want a mental image of what this is like, just recall the seagulls from Finding Nemo. I can never tell who actually won the review game and therefore may truly be on a sugar high and who is just hoping I will decide to scrap my plans for the day and give them all starbursts.

Last Thursday, I had a legitimate reason to give out some candy. I was having a competition in my physics classes to see who could build a boat from a 6” by 6” square of aluminum foil that would hold the greatest number of rocks. We’re studying pressure and buoyancy right now. My 12A and 12B classes always understand directions fairly well. My 12C class (the lowest level of seniors), however, can have a tough time sometimes. I broke it down as simply as I could for them:
*I will give you a group and a piece of aluminum foil.
*Your goal is to build a boat that can hold the greatest number of rocks possible.
*The team whose boat holds the most will get candy.

I wrote these on the board, read them to the students slowly, and crossed my fingers as I asked them if they’d like me to repeat the directions and if there were any questions. Only one girl raised her hand. Her name is Saylina and she has always been a quiet student. I called on her, happy that she’s decided to speak up and let me know that she didn’t understand. Her question, however, was a simple “How much candy?”

I guess they understood the directions. Saylina’s group ended up winning.