"PLINK!" . . . "CLANG!" . . . "DING!" . . . "KERR-PLUNK!"
I hear the distinct sounds of a marble machine on the other side of the door as I bend down to retrieve the marble that has "escaped" the classroom, and rolled under the door into the freedom of the hallway. The sound of other glass and steel marbles hitting the bottom of tin cans, wooden bumpers and the tile floor are also heard as I head back in, escaped marble in hand.
I re-enter the classroom as two new marbles roll past my feet, this time followed closely by an anxious student. Once inside, I realize that the noise level and the warmth of the room are higher than normal, the high levels are caused by the twenty energetic fourth grade bodies sweating, laughing, shouting, and rebuilding, as they run from one marble machine to another, testing them out.
The activity in Karen Thimmesch's (Karen T.'s) classroom is because today is the day that the students share with one another their completed marble machines. Several months of hard work designing, building and adjusting each marble machine has culminated in today's event. Several machines are working properly, sending marbles down various ramps, spinning marbles through plastic funnels, and lifting them in small containers attached to pulleys. Several machines are not working quite as well, but nonetheless, the kids are in appreciative of their classmates attempts to decorate and fill their marble machines with elaborate moving parts, reflecting their complex ideas. The classroom is loud and chaotic today, but it reflects the level of activity that the students have been engaged in since being introduced to marble machines three months ago.