This is a monumental first for me, because this is the first of many more posts in my 9th grade physics career. Actually, I'm not a huge fan of technology, so much of this is new to me. But I think that in this age there is no choice but to adapt to change and use it instrumentally for a lot of good things. I am going to warn you (that being myself and Mr.B) that this is going to be a very unprofessional blog. I think that this may even be somewhat of a journal that I can look back on to see my progress. None the less, it will be a place to state my frustrations, findings, and stuff.
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The first official week of school our class had fun creating and trying to replicate tubes that had four strings that were looped on the inside. The sides were taped, so you could not see the mechanism, but could only make models that did the same thing. Mr.B would not tell us how to make it and told us that this is a perfect representation of the world from a science standpoint, since you can never 'just know the answer'. You can only create models to test what you believe to be true. A lovely experience.
The second week we started to do laboramas, a term which I had never heard of but quickly became acquainted with. The things we got data on were such simple objects and yet we did whiteboard discussions for forty minutes on blocks of wood. To be honest to myself, they were so painfully dull and confusing that the flame of interest I had in physics was quickly snuffed out. But, Mr.B said not to worry for the tongues will be loosened and the discussions will flow more freely.
The third week Mr.B gave us a homework assignment that left me in a quizzical state of being. I really like the way he described it:"Confusion is ignorance leaving the brain." This is a good way to make you want to embrace confusion, even though nobody wants to be the one that doesn't "get it." I did the homework with the help of my father and understood some of it, while some of it I didn't know. The next class session I talked amongst some of my group members and we all discovered that we were in the same boat. We wrote down our info onto whiteboards and got some things cleared up. My group left things on hold for the weekend.
Today we returned and got in group discussions. Our group discussed number 11 and asked multiple strings of questions that could be applied to all three parts of the problem. I have a slight reason to believe that I was one of the dominators,though I don't like to be thought of that, but want to try and include everyone. When we finished the discussion, I was so happy because it was the best small group discussion that I've ever had!!! I was happy. I'm happy thinking of it now. Of course there are still things that need to be revisited and redefined a lot, but a journey always starts a with one step. I shall wait and see what the journey has in store for me.
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