You learn something new everyday in this gig, especially working with experienced, creative teachers and energetic students.
Trying to get some reluctant learners (fidgety insecure/unconfident boys) on track, we tried pairing with strong learners (girls, as it happens) but it showed mixed results. The girls were quite capable of completing the tasks on their own and expecting them to corral some squirrelly boys was too much. The lack of confidence shows through as the stronger partner sails through the work, even if they are kind and patient about explaining and encouraging. Better-prepared students are often more willing to just do the work, without wondering about its purpose (pin-punching as a key to manual dexterity/fine motor skills, for example).
Next option was to pair peers. That worked pretty well to start with, as the confidence that comes with mastery wasn’t an issue 😉 There were some clever insights and solutions to a task that required a pattern to be built from some materials. I could see there weren’t enough color variations in a bucket of connecting blocks to make a pattern of color but one of the boys suggested setting them so the connecting faces were opposed, alternating right or left. I was surprised as the idea was completely intuitive and the problem hadn’t even been framed.
But as often happens, a group hums to the lowest vibration and with only two of them, chaos was never far away. Score it a partial victory.
I’d like to see Bill Gates’ DVD collection handle these kinds of challenges. Can a TV screen really offer the kind of focused attention or variation of technique that a teacher can?