The Challenge is Yours

"Take a Risk" February can take many forms.  It can result in a new technology tool, a teaching strategy that enhances current curriculum, classroom procedural changes....the list is endless.  Today, I witnessed a team-building activity with potential to build a classroom community, reset the classroom climate, and connect to curricular skills.

Before entering the room, students were given directions to line up silently by height and and find their numerically ordered seats by that line-up.

Attempt #1:  Getting to their seats after lining up.

Trying to find the randomized numbers...still without talking.

Almost there....I think.

Regrouping once their original plan failed.

A new strategy:  identifying a leader to help match students to the correct seats.

Using their skills - students annotate the directions to ensure accuracy.

 In this example, student's used problem-solving skills, adding strategies to correct their errors in the first trial.  The parallels to a science classroom are endless as we make comparisons to scientific inquiry.