Algorithms that Mesmerize

Tonight, students from my Rubik's Cube club participated in a Colorado Regional Rubik's Cube Competition. Neither the team nor the soloists placed, but they really did me proud.

First, the parameters. 21 teams competed. Each had 8 members and together they were to solve 25 Rubik's Cubes in the shortest time possible. My boys finished the cubes in 6 minutes and 40 seconds. I think that is a stellar accomplishment. It shows growth and increased pace. They worked as a team. They shared cubes. The concentrated harder than any practice round. These cubers were a fine oiled machine!

But, the competition is not the purpose of this recounting. Consider a three dimensional cube constructed of 54 tiles in 6 different colors and the need to manipulate the faces so that each one ends up a solid sea of one of those colors. Who cares? What is the purpose? My students care and I have observed significant personal and social growth in the process.

At the onset of this adventure, I was the lone wolf with the solution guide. I had no confidence in the solution or the process. That lack of confidence had prevented me from introducing Rubik's Cubes to my students over the past 7 years. However, for some reason I decided this was the year to jump in and sink or swim. What a glutton for experiencing failure!

Day one, just teach them how to correctly solve the white cross. Easy, right? Oh my goodness, NO! 24 eager 3rd through 5th graders wanted to know and I had to impart the secret successfully within an hour. Needless to say, about 1/5 of the students got the rhythm for the white cross and waited for more while I wallowed around the room striving to get everyone else to a place of success. Wide-eyed, needy cherubs felt the only way to get to the solution was to have one-on-one instruction, and thus a line quickly formed. There just wasn't enough of me to go around and time vanished.

After reaching out to other coaches, I soon realized that I needed to lean on those visual/spatial thinkers in that club for two reasons. One, they were ready for more now, not next week. Two, they were more adept at speaking the language of kid. So, a second club formed, made up of Rubik's Cube tutors. They got to the completion stage far sooner than I have originally planned and were quite prepared to guide others to the same place.

Then the complaints started rolling in. Rubik's Cubes popped up all over campus. Students who had not signed up for the club found cubes of older siblings and brought them to campus so that the club members could solve them. Instead of reading during instruction, cubes were being manipulated discretely and not so discretely under desks. Crowds formed around solvers in hopes of gaining a bit of know how. And, the click, click, click of the rotation of faces became the background music for learning.

Students borrowed solution manuals. Requests for 2x2, 3x3, 4x4 and other cubes were made for Christmas and birthdays. Internet searches were made to find "gaming" shortcuts for the cube.

Then the magic happened. The first student was able to solve the cube without the assistance of the solution guide. Domino effect set in, leading to more independent solvers. Introverts were asking peers for pointers or offering suggestions to students with whom they had never conversed. The in-crowd sought out the thinkers so they could walk around with a trophy of a solved cube. As soon as a cuber walked into my classroom, s/he gravitated to the open box of cubes and solved multiple cubes by the time the lesson started.

Eventually, the idea of team work became a common thread. Conversations about the best way to decrease the time that was needed to solve a pile of cubes was discussed. Compliments were easily shared. Brainstorming about each other's strengths led to a plan about passing cubes while competing. Did you see, was a common conversation starter.

And, the confidence bloomed. Heads raised. Poetry and word problems about Rubik's Cubes surfaced. Discussions about Rubik's Cube algorithms connected to history, math and science. Transition of the problem solving process carried over into other situations. My students were fascinated by the algorithms and could not stop solving the three dimensional monster that defeated so many of us in the 80s.

They became believers in much more than the cube.
They believed in themselves, in each other, in team dynamics, in tenacity, and in hard work.

Who cares? What is the purpose?

They care.
I care.
It instilled a more ready willingness to strive towards a growth mindset.

I cannot take credit for that amazing outcome, it is just what occurred through the process of taking a risk on my kids.

I am thankful I decided to sink or swim with them.