One of my students finished his assignment a little early the other day, and as he turned it in to me, he asked, "Can I solve your Rubik's cube?"
The popularity of the cubes I have on my desk has taken me back 30 years. Students are constantly asking to have a go at those brightly colored objects. They just want to hold them in their hands and twist and turn them randomly, hoping for a miracle. I can hardly criticize them-- wasn't it I who bought that Powerball ticket just the other day?
At any rate, I shrugged and tossed this guy one of the cubes. I've found them to be excellent incentives for encouraging kids to finish their work.
In retrospect, I should have been tipped off by this particular student's choice of verbs, for it was less than two minutes later that he handed me a cube with six perfect faces. Certainly I gasped, and I know I clapped in delight, because
it
was
really
cool!
The popularity of the cubes I have on my desk has taken me back 30 years. Students are constantly asking to have a go at those brightly colored objects. They just want to hold them in their hands and twist and turn them randomly, hoping for a miracle. I can hardly criticize them-- wasn't it I who bought that Powerball ticket just the other day?
At any rate, I shrugged and tossed this guy one of the cubes. I've found them to be excellent incentives for encouraging kids to finish their work.
In retrospect, I should have been tipped off by this particular student's choice of verbs, for it was less than two minutes later that he handed me a cube with six perfect faces. Certainly I gasped, and I know I clapped in delight, because
it
was
really
cool!
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