Event Reports
Go at Abiqua School
(cont)
AGA and told them my plans.
They generously sent me an assortment of 9x9 and 13x13 boards, plenty of
stones and 28 copies of “The way to Go”. With Gobans in hand I called Anne
and set a couple of dates to teach the kids. As luck would have it my oldest
brother and first Go teacher, Ogden Kellogg,
called a few days ahead of my inaugural lesson and said that he would be in
town; suddenly I had a
experienced teacher of Go to back me up for my first attempt at trying to
elucidate the basics of this “simple” game.
In preparing to teach I asked
for suggestions from my online Go friend
Charkysan who teaches go to his elementary students in
Osoyoos British Columbia. He shared with me a very clear and concise lesson
plan that he had created for teaching Go for the first time. It was similar
to the methods that Bob O'Malley had shared with me: keep the lessons short and
simple and give the students a chance to learn through the experience of
playing “First Capture” Go. Included in Bob's instructions was how to set up
a round robin match for middle schoolers.
When we arrive at the school we found
that the students were eager to learn to play. The mood had been primed by a
couple of boys who had recently discovered Go on their own online. So with
an attentive and enthusiastic audience I asked my brother to begin with a bit
of the history and mystery of the game. The students were particularly
intrigued by the idea that, unlike chess, computers could not beat an
average strong Go player. I demonstrated what it took to capture a stone and
then turned them loose to try “first capture go”. The students played with
great intensity and enthusiasm for 30 minutes. Some students were chomping
at the bit to play a “real” game. I realized that there were a few more
basic points to give them to get them started. I showed those interested the
rule of Ko and the basic concept of scoring and explained about needing two
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