One of the most enjoyable portions of every lesson, for both ourselves and for the young people with whom we work, has got to be the moment near the end of class when the points that each student has earned for their homework and classwork and through their in-class participation are tallied and we stamp the cards that, when filled, can be redeemed for books and DVDs from our continually-replenished bins and shelves.
This past Sunday, for example, three students in one of our Lower Intermediate 2 courses were ready to redeem their stamp cards simultaneously and, coincidentally, were all eligible for DVDs. In the image above, you can see Ryan, Jack, and Walter holding the films that they had earned over the preceding several weeks. Fortunately, we had two copies of the NOVA documentary Absolute Zero on hand. It had caught the interest of both Walter and Ryan.
Here’s Sonia holding her hardback copy of Molecules, the latest lavishly illustrated science book from Theodore Gray, one of the co-founders of Wolfram Research:
Getting to know our students’ interests and aspirations helps to guide our choices when it comes to deciding what books and DVDs to offer and, at the same time, we have been increasingly encouraging the young people in our classes to explore STEM-related topics and stories.