Aonishiki forced by injury to his B-game, when he makes it work, is in a way more fun to watch than his standard forehead-in the-chest strategy.

Good scrambling pummel to find the second belt grip.

@futurebird meanwhile, math teachers and ELA teachers get harped on all day to "build relationships" - many of my kids do not try without a relationship with the teacher.

But that relationship-building can happen naturally in a class like the one you're talking about! And then they can look forward to seeing you later for academics and trust you.

When I only work with students in a context where I'm giving a grade, and that grade is "high stakes" because colleges care about math grades the students are less likely to bring their full creative potential to the subject of math. Grade grubbing happens.

But when they know me from working on a project first, where the feedback is narrative, where they help set the goals they are just more open to really learning the material, not just "getting through it"