Norah's Offering

I've invited staff and faculty to contribute to my blog when they find something of interest.  Norah has stepped up to the plate and offered this.  Thanks Norah!

"The kindergarteners often build block structures with ramp components.  They are really amazing buildings, complex and intricate (and incidentally all of my kindy classes when they build this type of thing  include a hidden storage area for marbles—I am fascinated by this, must be some archetypal thing, this need for storage).  Anyway, one morning the children were building these ramped structures to roll marbles down.  No matter how often I buy new marbles they kind of go away—some go home in pockets I imagine, most I think are in far corners of the room having rolled off a building.  And because of this they are a precious commodity.  Most of the time there are several structures going on at a time so there is usually some negotiating about marbles.  (Interestingly enough when we have more they all just have more and still negotiate over a few.)  The morning I tell about here I decided not to help them try to figure it out anymore—clearly, what I had to offer wasn't helping.  I called a student in to see if she could possibly be more help.  Without skipping a beat she went to all the players and asked them to give her their marbles.  They all did, no questioning even.  She collected them all in a basket, then she went around parceling them out—she asked each group or each child how many they wanted and gave them that many.  She had plenty more in the basket, which she carried with her as she played in the other room.  Any time anyone needed a marble they went to her and asked.  She asked how many they wanted and gave them that many."