Today's Topics
Guest: Conn McQuinn @ConnMc
Digital Age Learning Culture ISTE Standards A Standard 2
Sheninger 3 & 4
Guest: Conn McQuinn @ConnMc
Digital Age Learning Culture ISTE Standards A Standard 2
Sheninger 3 & 4
Chapter 3 Keys to Sustain
Chapter 4 Leading w/ Technology
Chapter 3 ~ Keys to Leading Change
Change is Hard!
6 Secrets from Fullan
- Relationships
- Purpose
- Capacity
- Pro Dev
- Data Driven
- Systems that Serve
Roadblocks
Chapter 4 ~ Leading w/ Tech
Sheninger's 7
Pillars of Digital Leadership
ISTE Standards-A ~Standard 2 Digital-Age Learning Culture
Today’s Tool: Feedly
Create a Feedly Account and find 10 RSS Feeds
Create a Vimeo Account or YouTube video and embed a video in your Blog
Twitter
Facebook Pages
Flickr
Instagram
Vimeo
YouTube
I love the idea of a MakerSpace! Giving kids the time to be innovative and creative with their own ideas is such a great idea, with a potential for far-reaching learning outcomes. There are so many great skills (collaboration, self-direction, grit, perseverance - to name a few) that are being developed in these spaces and the level of engagement for kids would be so high because they are doing something that interests them! I would love to implement something like this at my school if I could figure out how to acquire the resources. I also want to spend some time thinking about how to make genius hour a reality in my classroom (and future school) within the parameters I am given from the district and state.
ReplyDeleteI have a few ideas to share if you want to begin Genius hour at some point. My PLC worked on creating some expectations for the use of the hour and the sharing expectation as well. We also created a shared google sheet of problems from the classes that allowed kids to look for problems to solve in material, knowledge, and theory.
DeleteI would love for you to share your ideas and experiences with me. I really want to find a way to make it work in my classroom next year and hopefully eventually on a school level, but I am struggling with how to make it work with what my district wants us to do as well. Thank you, Ryan!
DeleteFirst and foremost, funding is the thing that stands out in my mind more than anything. Grant writing could help offset some of the costs however. If this was offered as an actual class, how would you align this with the Common Core Standards and the SBAC testing, or could you simply use it as a CTE class where there are no actual state assessments. Allowing students to be creative in their own capacity is beyond amazing, and I can't imagine how many great ideas and the kind of growth you would see in these kids with a great program like this!
ReplyDeleteI agree, funding stood out in my mind as well! But I think even getting started with cardboard and basic computer things could be a good start!
DeleteMy initial thoughts are to use this as a CTE class, allowing students to work without the pressure of trying to earn a grade or having to work towards a deadline or any specifications.
I also think it could work for project based learning! I liked the idea that was shared about having a reflective piece to go with the projects. That way the projects wouldn't be graded, but the writing could be.
DeleteMakerSpace is such a fabulous idea. Teachers in my school have such a hard time coming up with project-based learning, so it rarely happens. By creating a MakerSpace or a genius hour, teachers can let students come up with their own project-based learning activities.
ReplyDeleteMy school just finished a book study on The Growth Mindset. MakerSpace not only promotes the growth mindset, but also on grit, focus, self-direction, failure, and adaptive expertise. How awesome is that?
MakerSpace would be the perfect project to follow up that book study!!
DeleteI read The Growth Mindset recently too in conjunction with some work with AVID and it really changed the way I approach many of the things I do in my classroom. I feel like MakerSpace and Genius Hour will take it even further. It is definitely the perfect follow up to your book study!
DeleteI love the idea of growth mindset! It is everything that has been embedded in me as a musician. You'll have to keep us posted on how your principal is ensuring that everyone is on board.
DeleteI love the makerspace movement. At times I felt like I was working with similar ideas in my classroom and constantly trying to integrate all of the subjects. However, without great support, using these ideas can look like frivolous play without much content. I would love to see how this kind of idea can start small with a group of teachers starting a club before or after school or weekends. Once there is enough support and advertising for the club, we may start thinking larger. One idea I had for the "stuff" is using summers to get kids to come down to a site and deconstruct donated "junk" to organize to set up for the fall. You may be able to consistently do this summer after summer. Just some ideas to get started.
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of involving kids in the collection process for supplies! I think once kids had experience MakerSpace or Genius Hour, there would be incredible buy-in from kids (and their families) to come help in organizing for the next year! What are some potential creative ideas for where to reach out for donations besides the families themselves?
DeleteBuy nothing sites help out with this when you let them know it is going to a school to help kids learn. Home improvement stores may give you scrap lumber. And, your lunch staff likely get boxes all the time for cardboard.
DeleteMaker Space is a wonderful idea. I worry about schools that are in poverty areas or who struggle with funding to be able to participate as fully. But I think no matter what a school's SES is, every school could implement a "genius hour." Like Conn was saying, some of the materials can be recycled things to get started. I loved the video of the Maker Space that had students just working on their own projects and I love the idea of having time during the day where students don't have to worry about meeting a standard and can just explore. If all learning could be like this, creativity and possibilities are endless!
ReplyDeleteI also liked the chance to work with Feedly today. I am the person who would love to read more blogs and be more up to date on things but also uses the time excuse! I think Feedly is a great tool for me to be able to use to scroll through things as I'm waiting at the door for my students after a special or something like that!
Ann, I agree that Maker Space would be extremely beneficial and exciting to bring to a school with low SES. In fact, those may be the learners we should be inspiring and supporting! The idea of repurposing or recycling items is something that I am super passionate about, and I believe would be an easy no-cost way to start a program like this.
DeleteRe purposing and recycling would be an amazing use of materials and serve so many purposes! From education and creativity building to saving the planet for the polar bears (something I am a bit passionate about)!
DeleteConn McQuinn was a wonderful guest speaker! I loved the way he talked about makerspace and how effective it is for students. I teach a materials science class that almost directly relates to a lot of what he was talking about! It is really great to see students excited about their projects and proud of the things that they can accomplish. On the flip side of that, it is a grueling class to teach, at least starting out. Lots of the time things don't work and about 50% of the time I can figure out why. My students were great about it, and we talked about how in science, sometimes no result is a result in itself. It is definitely a steep learning curve for everyone though! But, the engagement level is much higher during those projects. I got some really great ideas for my class through Conn today.
ReplyDeleteSeanna- Does your school have access to 3-D printers? What a wonderful way to bring your class to life. All of our HS have 3-D printers for engineering classes, but I don't know how well they share with other departments.
DeleteTriangle:
ReplyDelete1.Making: intersection of art, science, engineering, technology, and math
2. Moving kids/people from consumer to creator
3.What is a makerspace? (Teacher Librarians are often interested) Coach v. teacher - encouraging and helping get material, but letting kids learn on their own.
-Drop in model
-High tech and low tech tools:recycle materials, Laptops, 3-D printers, Sauder, cardboard
Square: I really liked the idea that in the makerspace that success isn’t defined by a rubric.
When we give kids rubrics, they look at what has to be done, but that is an extrinsic motivation. I like the idea that kids are working on projects of interest and it is all intrinsically motivated.
I also liked the idea of draft-feedback-revision before a student turns in work. I think that aligns more with Carol Dweck and her idea of growth mindset. In a Growth Mindset students are working on: grit, focus, failure, self-direction, and adaptive expertise. Also, reminds me of Dylan Wiliam and his thought on formative assessment.
Circle:
I think the biggest ideas circling around my head is how to get this started in my school. I actually think we have some teachers that would love this, right up their wheelhouse. However, I think it would be great to see who else would be interested. Then it would be a matter of where would we set up, times, and resources.
I really loved the idea of a MakerSpace but it seems like something that would be best if it started at the elementary level and worked its way up the system. Not that I don't think that high schoolers can benefit from it, but I think that if I were to really push to have this anywhere, it would be at an elementary level to start.
ReplyDeleteI also am really enjoying the feedly website and think that I will definitely be integrating this into my regular internet perusal. I would love if students could have a feedly account for school and each class had a blog that updated homework and everything. I think that would be more conducive for today's students to use as opposed to a planner or something. If I worked at a school that was one to one, I think that I would definitely push for this to be added to student accounts.
I'm interested in your statement about starting MakerSpaces at the elementary level. I think you're right that this would be a great place to start. Often times as kids get older, they already have developed that stigma against learning to do things new or hands on; or they have already given up on themselves as having potential. Starting at the elementary level could perhaps help to fight that development that seems to happen with students over time.
DeleteThe discussion today spurred some many thoughts in my own head. I was excited by the makers movement because it allows kids to experiment without the fear of failure. The students in my school are often “scared” to fail and experiment without teacher direction. This could be a great outlet for them.
ReplyDeleteThe use of more social media sites is one that I would like to examine for our school. We have done some limited things with photo sharing sites with positive results. We now need to make the next step in sharing the great things we do at the school.
There is a ton of information we are getting and new sites to explore. For me, that is half the battle. There is so much out there to use that it is hard to get started. Once I find it I feel pretty confident.
So far so good and my wife is excited that I am using Blogger because now I get to share in updating our blog. Not sure how I feel about that one Dr. Malone.
I am embarrassed to admit that I didn't know what an RSS feed was until today :) The idea of connecting blogs, etc. is fascinating as I begin to think about how I will utilize this new learning as a principal. Additionally, the Makerspace concept is inspiring! I know that I will spend all summer thinking of ways to utilize it in my classroom and promote its use school-wide. Like Sir Ken Robinson stated in his Ted Talk, schools are focusing only on educating one side of a student's brain. Young learners will be motivated by the concept of using their whole brain to be creative, solve problems, struggle, and most importantly learn.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree Eric! If we want students to leave being able to think and problem solve creative solutions to problems, we have to give them opportunities to practice these skills!
DeleteI agree too! Students are having a very difficult time these days thinking critically and creatively and part of that may be due to our over-focus of more concrete, process based learning. I would love to have time set aside for kids to just be creative and engage in that freedom to choose projects.
DeleteI agree too! Students are having a very difficult time these days thinking critically and creatively and part of that may be due to our over-focus of more concrete, process based learning. I would love to have time set aside for kids to just be creative and engage in that freedom to choose projects.
DeleteI enjoyed our guest lecture today! The piece that really started rolling around in my head was how to create intrinsic motivation. I was interested in the claim that rubrics create extrinsic motivation, but when students create their own standards it creates intrinsic motivation. This made me wonder in what ways can I allow students to establish their own standards within my classroom and as a principal how do I facilitate teachers doing the same in theirs.
ReplyDeleteThe piece I agreed with in our presentation was the notion that many teachers claim to have a growth mindset philosophy but don't live it out when it comes to grades. I struggle with the same pieces in my own classroom when trying to identify whether or not I'm grading learning or achievement.
In terms of implementing something like this within a building, I think you need to develop interest and buy-in with staff before anything can happen. Once you have buy-in then you can go about establishing clubs or times and places where students could be taking place in makerspace activities. However, as was said earlier; it is unclear as to whether or not a makerspace program will have any effect on test scores. This brings us back to the question of what is more important, cognitive development, or test scores?
I thought our discussion today was very interesting. I am intrigued by the idea of a "maker space" and the impact in could have on our school and potentially our feeder schools. I have a vision for creating a before school maker space course at the high school level and then training high school students to be able to go lead an after school maker space course at the middle schools and elementary schools. Not only would that build community within our feeder schools and provide mentor ship to younger students in our district, but it could also provide work or volunteer experiences for our high school students. My only hesitation to implementing something like this is funding, however based on what you said Dr. Malone, it sounds like I could find the right person or grant to fund something like this. My other hesitation is more or a frustration, in that the model we currently use to assess students does not align with the notion of letting students be independent thinkers and pursue their passions. And, noting the upcoming CORE24 requirements, fitting this type of class into a school day will become much more difficult.
ReplyDelete