3.D.G.Tsebe 24-05

Grade 7 (194)

The run into Mokopane from Roundstone Lodge was pleasant and gave me time to reflect on the journey so far. Each time I aim to modify my presentation based on previous lessons learnt in order to refine it further. The dynamics of the group provides a hidden dimension that needs to be catered for with each and every group. There are no guide lines and experience helps at times.

I arrived at the school just after 08:00 but felt as guilty as the other 40-50 learners who were locked out, even though I was an hour early. In most other instance the learners would be greeted by a stick yielding teacher / principal with serious consequences. Not Mr Tshilabje. He was joking with the learners who showed him a great deal of respect.

I introduced myself and went about identifying a suitable venue so as not to disturb the rest of the school. A table and power cable appeared together with 194 learners in Grade 9. There were many solutions to the wind turbine challenge and the final solution was forthcoming. I introduced the piece of paper experiment to demonstrate the Bernoulli Principle and how aeroplane wings work much to the fascination of the teachers and learners alike.

The group was well behaved with some of the Grade 10 learners who were not present, asking me if they could participate in the project. I referred them to their teacher and informed them they could do so but not at the level of the final competition. Encouraging signs.