
When was the last time you ran in circles?
As we grow up and gain this perspective of what is right and what is wrong, we forget what truly makes us happy. We happen to redefine our definition of fun and decide on a different “comfort level”.
As we greeted students while on a recent class, we saw the face of confusion in junior students and the boredom on the face of the senior students. They were obliged to gather in the ground under the harsh midday sun.
Nevertheless, we began the class, “We will start today’s camp by playing a short game. How many of you have played the game – ‘fire in the mountain’?” we asked, none of the students raised their hands so, we told them about the game.
“We will be running in circles, yelling ‘Fire in the mountain. Run, run, run!’ As we are running, we will call out a number and you guys will have to make a team of the same number. And if you can’t do that, then your team will be disqualified!”
We were all laughing as we played. By the time that we started our third round, the senior students were running round enthusiastically in circles. We called out the last number: 3, and we had all the teams ready.
The first half of the class was about motion and its transformation. When building a prototype of an “automaton”, the students discovered that we could convert circular motion to linear motion with a simple mechanism. They realized that this could be related to real-life situations. By the time we announced that we were having a ten-minute break, we were tired from running from one corner of the classroom to another.
Our class was run in a medium sized hall that had a total of sixteen tables, each with three chairs. “We only have five minutes left for the break. Aren’t you guys going out?”,we said. “No, we want to complete our activity first!” replied the team. All the team members were busy cutting papers and trying to make their project functional.
We personally don’t remember having a dedication like that in any of my classes when we used to be a school student.
We went to the class on the second day – all the necessary materials; prepared the night before. Then, started the class with an energizer called ‘jump-in-jump-out’. Then, we divided the students into two groups. And then we immediately handed out the instruction sheets to the students. “How many of you know what soldering is? Or have ever soldered something before?”, we asked.

Four students raised their hands, so we instructed them to share with their friends what soldering was. Even if we had motors and battery caps ready for use, we instructed the teams, one at a time, and encouraged them to solder their own motors and battery caps. As some teams got busy in that, other teams worked on their prototypes of vibrator motor bots. We were a little disheartened seeing just 8 girls in a pool of 48 students. And even their hands trembled as they carried the soldering irons. We also had to guide them how to hold a wire stripper properly.

We felt accomplished by the end of the class as we saw students working at the soldering station – with their hands not trembling.
At the end of the class, we had a quick battle of bots to pick the ultimate bot of the day. And the students gathered around the battlefield and cheered for their favorite bots!
By the time the class ended, and we got ready for a group picture, we were thirty-two minutes later than the calculated time. And even if the students were supposed to be having their lunch at this time, none of them complained about being hungry or about wanting to leave the hall.
Yes, learning is definitely an experience, and we can’t feel more happy and grateful that we get to provide that to our students.
On the way back to their own classroom, one of the students came up to us and said, “Please, definitely come to our school for the next year!”
Tag:Karkhana, Parents, School Leader, Students
You may also like
Timi Culture: Why everyone at Karkhana uses “Timi”?
The “TImi” culture at Karkhana promotes fluid hierarchy.
14th February was my first day at Karkhana.
Kritika’s first day of work at Karkhana was filled with love.
Inside the mind of a POC Co-ordinator.
Preeti shares her feeling of being a POC co-ordinator.