Over the past couple weeks, one of our new teachers, Mrs. Rymer, has been working with Mr. McKinlay's grade 6/7 class from Perley. The elementary students came over to observe some real life physics as the senior physics class was demonstrating catapult devices they had built. The goal of the assignment was to design a mechanical, self powered device that could launch a projectile (tomatoes in this case) a great distance but also be able to attain accuracy in hitting a specific target.
Today, the 6/7's came to GFSS and participated with a science 10 class in a chemical reactions lab working alongside a partner from the older class in a learning partnership. While I didn't get into see the action, the reports were very positive.....kudos to Mrs. Rymer and Mr. McKinlay.
It is great to see these positive opportunities for both the elementary and GFSS students. The research is clear that one of the more powerful strategies for helping students learn is a mentoring relationship where an older student is paired with a younger student. Younger students in these partnerships benefit from increased confidence and connectedness with an older peer. Older students also benefit from the confidence they receive from helping a younger student as well as the learning that takes place in order to be able to teach a skill to someone else. In addition, sometimes these activities are just plain fun.
I'm looking forward to more opportunities to watch these type of positive interactions!
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