Feel free to download a full-sized version of this poster for use in your school.
Maker Education: A Quick Introduction
Journey from a Makerspace to a Maker District
Building the Future: Tinkering and Playful Learning
The Maker Movement in K-12 Education: A Guide to Emerging Research
Invent to LearnThe Maker Movement in K-12 Education: A Guide to Emerging Research
“During this time of social distancing it is important to remember that creativity has not been canceled. We all can benefit from engaging into creative activities that stretch us and force us to look at our world and situation from another angle” (source). What does creativity look like in the current world of quarantines and social distancing? Kylie Peppler suggests that there are four types of creativity – “the technical, the critical, the creative, the ethical” and that the best creativity happens when we work within all four areas. (source). Peppler suggests that the wide open nature of the internet is a bit too much for students and that instead we should focus on interest-driven learning. DIY.org offers camp-like structures with small groups of people with similar interests who work together. Connected Camps is another program that also focuses on interest-driven learning. In our current situation of quarantines and social distancing being creative can be a daunting task so start small – 20 minutes a day. Lots of people are turning to music – learning an instrument or dance, baking, reading, completing puzzles, learning to paint, etc. Creativity does not have to be a huge project but it can make a huge difference in our overall mood and attitude even if it is just 20 minutes a day. What will you create today?
References:
Image source, Photo by Riccardo Annandale on Unsplash
All other sourced information is hyperlinked as applicable above.
@hollandkaylah
In our virtual, yet isolated, current environment, it is important to continue maintaining healthy relationships with students. “When kids spend their daytime hours in safe, supportive schools where adults work every day to build strong relationships with every student, they are simply better, more engaged learners” (source). Yet, how do educators continue to build strong relationships when students are on the other side of a screen? The suggestions below offer strategies to maintain strong relationships with students despite the virtual connection (source).
References:
Image source, Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
All other sourced information is hyperlinked as applicable above.
@hollandkaylah
Forbes recently published an article titled Leading in Times of Uncertainty that mainly discussed what businesses can do to look forward with a positive attitude instead of simply reacting to whatever may happen in the future. “With all the news primarily focusing on what’s going wrong or could go wrong, it’s critical that we give equal energy to identifying what is working and where are the benefits or opportunities in the midst of all this upheaval” (source). The truth is that our normal routine as educators has drastically changed over the last few months. However, despite the change, it is important to focus on the positive things that have taken place. Focusing on positive behavior can help to alleviate the anxious or nervous feelings students have. As you prepare to end the school year virtually, you can help students focus on the benefits that learning virtually have provided by creating a safe place for conversations. Ask students questions about how they feel in the current situation. Help students work through the negatives and lean on the positives. Ask students what they can do to improve their own situation and ask students what you can do to help. Having open and authentic conversations will help students begin to process our current circumstances in a positive mindset and will help prepare them to return to face to face instruction whether in a few weeks or in the Fall.
References:
Image source, Photo by Oleg Laptev on Unsplash
All other sourced information is hyperlinked as applicable above.
@hollandkaylah
In our current global situation of quarantining at home and learning virtually, the most essential skill to educating students is vulnerability. Our current situation is one that has not happened before and makes educators and students feel afraid, stressed, and anxious. Educators often feel the need to seem like they have it all together so student’s will not know they are afraid or anxious. I once heard a presenter say that educators should leave their problems in the car when arriving at school so that student’s will not see them struggle but students learn from what is modeled and if educators model apathy then students will not learn how to deal with their emotions. David Brooks recently wrote an article titled “Student Learn From People They Love” (source). He states that if teachers show vulnerability, students will be able to connect with them on a personal level and will thus learn more from them as an educator because they have connected emotionally. Brooks states that an older view of educators is that “if you wanted to be rational and think well, you had to suppress those primitive gremlins, the emotions. Teaching consisted of dispassionately downloading knowledge into students’ brains” (source). However, in our current situation, we have seen numerous stories of teachers heroically overcoming so much in order to passionately care for and educate their students. Brooks discusses various research but concludes with the realization that “what teachers really teach is themselves — their contagious passion for their subjects and students. It reminded us that children learn from people they love, and that love in this context means willing the good of another, and offering active care for the whole person” (source). An educator’s vulnerability helps students feel connected and encourages them to learn. Students can also interact with each other through the same type of vulnerability. This type of teaching and learning has been named social emotional learning. Click here to read the entire article by David Brooks.
Next Steps
Interested in learning more? Check out the websites below for great information.
References:
Image source, The New York Times
All other sourced information is hyperlinked as applicable above.
@hollandkaylah
Google for Education has announced the creation of a program to help support parents and educators teaching from home. The current global pandemic has caused schools around the world to close for in person instruction and almost instantly create lessons to be delivered virtually. Google’s Teach from Home program includes training materials for educators, schools, and parents including collaborating with educators, students, and families virtually, keeping students engaged, providing accessibility in lessons, managing virtual classrooms and much more. Teach from Home also provides weekly webinars, peer communities, and regular office hours to offer instant support for educators and families. Click here to access Google’s Teach from Home program.
References:
Image source, Google’s Teach from Home
All other sourced information is hyperlinked as applicable above.
@hollandkaylah
This week we’re investigating maker education, tinkering, and coding in our educational technology courses. Translating all the hands-on experiences from our face-to-face class meetings into the online learning environment has been a fun challenge. Thankfully, we actually began preparing this module for the online environment in Summer 2019, so it has been a work in progress. A special thanks to colleague and EdTech Team member, Melissa Marshall, for helping develop the module.
I thought I’d share some of the resources that I put together. Perhaps these will give families ideas to spice up their days of quarantine. Please share your ideas and recommended resources in the comments, so that our preservice and in-service teachers can learn from you, too.
Browse through this slideshow to view examples that might spark inspiration for your next maker or tinkering project.
Feel free to bookmark, save, or print the following document.
“In a school or district, as in any organization, the leader is responsible for setting the tone, and one way leaders can nourish organizational harmony is to consider three spaces” – Eric Saibel
Eric Saibel contends that district leaders can build strong relationships among educators by focusing on three factors: the physical space, the interpersonal space, and the historical space.
“Only by balancing these three spaces will leaders cultivate the influence that permeates an entire organizational culture, and only by attending to these critical human needs will leaders experience the deep happiness that keeps them engaged and attentive for the long haul.” – Eric Saibel
Read more details about Eric Saibel’s thoughts on how to organize these spaces here.
Guest Blogger
Raina Burditt
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The following chart from Kathleen Cushman’s Fires in the Mind gives teachers a great tool for creating more meaningful assignments that really allow students to demonstrate their learning.
For more thoughts on this topic, see this post by TeachThought.
Guest Blogger
Raina Burditt
