Tag: ideas

Talking with Children’s Author S.A. Bodeen

Talking Ed. with S.A. Boodeen

Episode 009 (View entire series)

“S.A. Bodeen is the author of the acclaimed [young adult] novels The Compound, The Gardener, The Raft, and The Fallout. She is also the author of the Shipwreck Island series for middle grade readers” and she has books scheduled for publication in the next few months. “Raised on a dairy farm in Wisconsin, she was a Peace Corps volunteer in Tanzania, an experience which inspired her to write Elizabeti’s Doll, her first award-winning picture book” (Source).

I enjoyed visiting with Stephanie (She said that’s what her friends call her.) and especially appreciated this advice she offered to young authors.

S.A. Bodeen's Advice for Young Authors

The following is the video from the interview. In it, she discusses her background, highlights some of her books, provides additional advice to young authors, and discusses ways that she would enjoy connecting with you and your students.

Further Investigation

S.A. Bodeen’s Official Website, Facebook, and Twitter

Complete Bibliography

Author Pages at Amazon and GoodReads

EdTech Showcase in Memphis

Join us on Thursday, June 18th, for the EdTech Summer Showcase at the University of Memphis. This event will be hosted by the Instructional Design and Technology Program and will feature outstanding Mid-South teachers demonstrating ways that they effectively integrate technology and learning. You won’t want to miss this fantastic opportunity to gain new ideas for your classroom.

Register soon as seating is limited.

2015 EdTech Showcase

Tour of 3D Printing Lab

3D PrinterYesterday I had the opportunity to take one of my graduate classes on a tour of new 3D Printing Lab in the University of Memphis Library. We received training in computer-aided design (CAD) and use of the 3D printer, and had the opportunity to see it in action. Our conversation about integrating 3D printers with learning was packed with ideas and I left feeling energized. Additional educational uses have been popping into my mind since.

The following video and photos showcase some of the various projects that were printed. The Memphis skyline is my favorite and look even more impressive in-person.

The following album offers snapshots and captions of our tour.

Discussion

  1. What experiences have you had with 3D printing?
  2. Can you see potential ways to connect 3D printing with learning?

Win Prizes in IDT Memphis’ Picture Scavenger Hunt at #AAIM14

Klikaklu“Treasure hunts are a fun way for students to use problem solving skills, to work in teams, to practice comprehensions skills, and to use technology resources all while practicing subject matter” (Source).

Klikaklu has reinvented the scavenger hunt. The iOS app allows you to create a treasure hunt based on images. It is a photo hunt game that uses your phone’s GPS, camera, and advanced image matching technology. It’s a great way to quickly create and play treasure hunts! Share hunts privately with friends and family, or leave them in public places for students and others to find. Lead people to new and interesting spots. Reveal secrets and rewards when they crack your clues. No geocaching boxes or QR codes are necessary, so you can create hunts around school, in national parks, museums, at the public library, or on field trips – any place you want to add an element of challenge or mystery, or share information with others.

AAIM Conference

Educators at the 2014 AAIM Conference can download the app and begin competing for prizes in IDT Memphis‘ virtual scavenger hunt. Our scavenger hunt is a very simple demonstration of how the app works and the game is played. Browse through the resources below for ideas for using Klikalu at your school.

Tutorial

Resources

Pirate Day Treasure Hunts

iPad Orienteering with Klikaklu

Reinventing the Scavenger Hunt

The Teacher’s Quick Guide to Scavenger Hunts

Make Your Own Treasure Hunt

A Student’s Thoughts on Visible Thinking

Analogy: Thinking and PizzaThis young lady shares a few thoughts about visible thinking. She explains that “when you do Visible Thinking it helps you understand more and learn more than you thought you know.” I especially like the analogy she makes between thinking and pizza. I hadn’t heard that one before.

It’s great to see how much she values thinking and metacognition.

Thoughts on Visible Thinking from Bemis Elementary School on Vimeo.

Image Source: Wikipedia

hgsepzfol #hgsepzfol

2nd Graders Remember Dr. King

Here are some resources and ideas to help everyone learn about the life and important contributions of Dr. Martin Luther King.

You can learn a lot from simply watching this video developed by (I think) a 2nd grade class (Please help me find the original source so that I can properly cite and acknowledge their outstanding work.).

EdTech Ideas

You and your students could also make your thinking visible using technologies such as: Google Slides or Prezi, Storybird, ToonDoo or Pixton, Blubbr, Pinterest or Learnist in combination with AudioBoo or  Soundcloud, Glogster, Dipity, VoiceThread, SlideCast, Zentation, or GoAnimate or PowToon.

Photo Album

Here are a few of my photos from what was then the recently finished Dr. Martin Luther King Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Design Thinking: A Practical Application

Design Thinking

Here is an interesting contribution to education’s ongoing conversation about design thinking. “Architect Alastair Parvin presents a simple but provocative idea: what if, instead of architects creating buildings for those who can afford to commission them, regular citizens could design and build their own houses? The concept is at the heart of Wikihouse, an open source construction kit that means just about anyone can build a house, anywhere” (Source).

“We’re moving into this future where the factory is everywhere. And, increasingly,
that means the design team is everyone. That really is an industrial revolution.”
–Alastair Parvin

Hat Tip: Trever Acy

Image Source: rogerlmartin.com

Related articles

Paper Airplane World Record

Former Cal quarterback Joe Ayoob sets world distance record for throwing a paper airplane. I saw this during SportsCenter and I instantly started thinking about all the learning and fun that could be generated with this video clip. The STEM teacher in me just loves this sort of thing.

 

Educational Connections

Use friendly competition as a motivational strategy and challenge teams of learners to design the paper airplane that will travel the greatest distance. We are seeing greater emphasis placed on design and engineering in STEM areas on a number of fronts (Common Core Standards, recent grant RFPs, etc.). This would be a way to provide students with practical experience with design, project management, and more.

Consider cranking the discovery learning up a notch by providing non-traditional materials available, too. Will an airplane made of an entire sheet of newspaper travel a greater distance? Does the addition of paperclips to a plane’s design impact results?

Think way outside the box and challenge teams to work together using only non-verbal communication. This can really spice things up and promote creativity and higher-order thinking. My students always enjoy this and usually astound me with their creative communication strategies.

Let’s not overlook some of the more traditional connections. This can be an organic way to provide students with practice with measurement using both standard and non-standards units. This could be coupled with data collection, data anlaysis and the presentation of results through graphs and tables.

Those are just a few connections. Please share your ideas in the comments.

Related articles

Online Geography Gaming Tips and Resources

I ran across an interesting set of slides via @skipz on Plurk. The slides seem to be the ongoing work of Tony Cassidy. I encourage you to browse through the presentation and consider the ideas for integrating technology with geography.

Online Geography Gaming – Tony Cassidy
A compilation of more than 100 online games and simulations for use in the geography classroom.