More Cruising...

Gravity Cruisers once again.  Two classes.  The guys from GM were there in force... 4 of them.  Generally, there would be two of them in one class, two in another with this many here to help (we haven't had that many "helpers" since we've been here).  The other teacher who is doing Gravity Cruisers at the same time didn't have that with her first class, due to discipline issues... that meant we had a LOT of help with Steph's first class.


Since they wanted to work in the hall with the test runs, I worked in the classroom most of the time... and came out into the hall when they needed a hand with "moving the kids along."

For the second class, it was only two of the GM helpers, and things flowed a bit smoother.  I didn't have much time, but I did get a few shots of the test runs...

Only one more class before the competition to narrow down which teams get to compete for school honors.  There are some good designs... and some interesting designs.  These cruisers are made with fiberboard, and it doesn't hold up well to any rough handling... there are a couple cars that are going to have to be rebuilt, and not much time to get it done.

You might think this is all about car building, but a big part of it is team building (3 person teams) and confidence building: "OK, the car didn't move, but that is still data.  Write down what happened and let's make some changes to get some distance out of this.  I know you can do this, and your car design looks sound.  What changes can you make to..."  It gives them the opportunity to reason out how to improve and keeps the process moving.

After school, it was time for the second guirtar lesson.  I was impressed: it was apparent that some of them have been practicing.  There were a couple new guitars, both bought by parents.  Between what Stephanie bought and a guitar that another teacher lent, we now have decent guitars for each student... it makes a difference.

We reviewed the two chords they learned on Monday, practiced some strumming, and were introduced to three more chords.  There was still plenty of "fingers hurting" comments, but my fresh supply of sympathy was held up in shipping.  ;-)

Here we are, all strumming together...

"We're making music!"

With this being a holiday weekend, there is no school here on Friday and Monday... I told them, "Even more time to practice guitar!"

One young man asked if there was any interest in "doing a concert for a fund-raising effort"... I suggested that it might be best to wait until we are able to learn some songs.

"When can we learn songs?"

"When you are able to switch from one chord to another.   All the more reason to practice!"

;-)