Since my previous post regarding the importance of students playing in class, I’ve become ever more conscious of making sure that I really do spend time allowing this to happen. As much as possible, I try to work from what they are already interested in.
This past week, a number of my computer science students (geeks in the most positive sense of the word) were telling me about a riddle they had been playing. It’s called Neutral Riddle, and starts off simply enough, only to become devilishly difficult. The goal is to finish all 71 levels by guessing the URL that contains the next clue. These kids are spending hours each night trying to get to the next level. (Warning: If you are a compulsive problem solver, be aware that this could engulf your time. Only 70-ish people in the world have solved this riddle, none of whom are from Canada. One of my students is currently at level 38.)
Today in CS class, we worked on the first 2 of levels in the Neutral Riddle together (for about 5-10 minutes). Then, after they had all figured out the concept of the thing and were addicted (to varying degrees), I suggested we make our own. So, today’s class was spent with each student creating one level of the riddle that we will collaborate on. I got them going by showing them how to find images using flickrCC (making sure they follow the Attribution CC license) and getting them talking to each other about ideas of what their riddle might involve.
This fit in perfectly with what we had been doing. I just finished up teaching a unit on XHTML/CSS (markup languages for the web), and this gives me a great opportunity to stretch out their learning on these topics. Now, as they are having fun creating this riddle, they are also reinforcing their knowledge of XHTML/CSS. Hopefully by tomorrow I’ll be able to provide a link to the start page for our riddle (we didn’t quite get to that today).
As an aside, I also had fun with my Math C30 students today. We played a game with trig functions (taken from the Mathematics Teacher, but I forget the author). Seriously. Just get them into pairs, then see who can get the answers in the time limit, using only their brains and a pencil. They actually really got into it, so I had them create their own variations after we were done. I’ve posted a template up on Google Docs, and the students are going to add in their variations online tomorrow, so I can use them for future classes.
Dan, I am looking forward to seeing what your class develops. I love doing things like this as well, especially in the Sr. math classes. I would love to check out what they develop when they are finished.
Comment by Mathman33 — March 4, 2008 @ 8:53 pm
Great … just what I needed. Another addiction. Neutral Riddle here I come!
Comment by Alec Couros — March 4, 2008 @ 10:55 pm
I love that you are letting your kids play a bit and explore all of these new realms. And I agree with Alec - look out Neutral Riddle
Comment by Connie Cossar — March 4, 2008 @ 11:02 pm
Great stuff! I was introduced to Neutral Riddle by some students last year. I used it in my computer science class. A couple of my students were quite addicted, and were in the lab or library at lunch and after school, working through the levels. I’m not sure how far they got, but they certainly got much further than I had the patience for. It’s great to find things like this that students will latch on to.
Comment by ryanflood — March 5, 2008 @ 12:00 am