I just had to share this amazing video a student created for Innovation and Design class. The 6th grade class was tasked with building their teacher (me) a house based on his answers to their questions. The goal of the assignment was to emphasize the value of asking questions and understanding the problems people might be dealing with on a regular basis. Once the students created the house, they needed to create a presentation to showcase their work. Below is one example a student submitted. The student used Adobe Express and the Animate from Audio feature to give a guided tour of the space. Better yet, when they showed it off in class, other students asked for help with their presentation so they could use Animate with Audio as well.
Adobe Express is a great tool for teachers to use to building dynamic lessons and wonderful graphics, but it is even better in student hands. Giving the students the opportunity to work with tools that allow them to enhance their artifacts to demonstrate their understanding of concepts can lead to wonderful creations. The day after the project was submitted, I saw two students working on a project about Neanderthals on Adobe Express. Traditional slideshows are boring and tend to be an image with a monologue written next to it. Express allows students t=many different approaches to sharing their learning and that is why it is an important part of my class.
If you have any questions about Adobe Express, please reach out and I am happy to help.
There are many teachers out there that want to support the neurodivergent students in their classroom, but are unsure of where to start. It can feel overwhelming to think about the number of students who need the support, but there are a few things you can do to help them be successful in the classroom.
1. Provide Accommodations
Some neurodivergent students have accommodations already in place and some students do not have any because they have slipped through the cracks of the system. There are many other reasons why the student might not have a set list of supports in place, but that doesn't mean you can't offer help. Find the support options that work best for these students. Some students might need an extra day to complete an assignment. Others will struggle to stay organized and need an extra hand at the end of the day. It can be overwhelming, but it is important to follow IEP and 504 documents for students who have set accommodations and to keep an eye out for students who could also benefit from support who are not identified in the system.
2. Structure the Environment
One of the things that I have found that really helped my neurodivergent students was the way that I provided the assignments. I made sure everything was written on the board or on the website, I provided the directions verbally at least twice, and then I checked in with students who might need personal directions to help them get started. I make sure to get out in front of potential communication issues by making sure the assignment can be found anywhere a student might look. Also, I make sure to move about the room and redirect students as needed.
3. Educate Yourself
Sometimes professional development offered by your school does not meet your needs or the needs of your students. It is important to find helpful resources to support your understanding of the changing pedagogical practices to support all students. Diving into Google and searching for specific content resources is one approach. There are many resources out there that provide information on supporting neurodiverse students. Here is one I found with a quick internet search. An article here and there can really help students in your classroom if you are committed to supporting students who do not conform to the typical student learning profile.
4. Support Student Self-Advocacy
This will be one of the toughest things to make happen in the classroom because not all students are in the same place in dealing with their own neurodiversity. Asking a student who deals with generalized anxiety to advocate for themself to the teacher is not going to happen overnight. It is going to take time and many, many, reminders. As the classroom teacher, it is our job, hopefully with the help of support staff and the family, to build up the capacity of the student to self-advocate. There are going to be plenty of instances where the student does not speak up about needing more time or extra help. The struggle will be very real for the student, but patience is key in helping them grow and develop the skills they need to be successful.
Supporting Neurodivergent students in the classroom is no small task. There are going to be days where you are too busy to provide that little extra nudge to get a student moving in the right direction. There will be days where it feels like a student requires all of your attention in class to stay on task. This is all very normal. I like to view the support of all students, but most especially neurodivergent students, as a marathon instead of a sprint. Much like the students, we will stumble in our efforts to support them, but we must get back up and try to make the next day better.
I was thinking about the phrase, "It's just a phase" the other day after watching someone say it on a show I was watching. The phrase is funny to me. It is said as if it is not a big deal, but I think that is wrong. I think going through a phase is a big deal and we should encourage students and adults to go through them. Follow me on my logic here,
A phase is a time where a child is trying something new. This could be a new style of clothing or possibly a new type of music (90's Swing Music anyone?). They will explore this new identity or hobby and claim it is who they are now. Instead of telling kids they are wrong or they will grow out of it, I think it should be encouraged. Exploring and trying new things is not easy. This is something that should be supported because you will never know what you love or don't without experimentation. If you have taught long enough, you have seen students evolve over the years because they try on many different hats. It is a fun conversation to have with them when they get older because they, like many of us, are embarrassed by their phases. I have some great pictures of me with tremendous 90210 inspired sideburns. We shouldn't be embarrassed. We should be proud that we tried something out that made us happy at the time.
As teachers, I think it is easy to dismiss new pedagogical approaches as fads or just a phase another teacher is going through at the moment. There are plenty of things I have tried that I no longer do. I'm not embarrassed but them. I use them as points of growth along my educational journey. They are examples of where I have tried something to better support my students. I either do it because it is great, don't do it because there is something better, or I don't do it because it does not work how I want it to. Not matter the reason, I tried it for myself and I'm glad I tried it.
The next time you think that someone is just going through a phase, also think about how you can cheer them on as they explore something new.
Right now, there is a big push to support students and staff with Social Emotional Learning. My big questions to people out there that talk about SEL is, do you know what SEL actually is? I feel it is another acronym that people use that do not fully understand what it means. There is a vague understanding, but not truly enough to expound on the specifics of it and how it would be possible to implement it.
This is one, of many, issues with public commentary on education that does not have an educator's voice at the front. It is super easy to tell everyone that we need to support our students with SEL and then not have to worry about the complicated process it takes to infuse it into a school. While still requiring students to take these high stakes tests and then find time to make sure their mental health is supported would be comical if it wasn't so sad.
Teachers are not equipped to just "roll out" SEL with students. It should not be a box that is checked as well. "Doing" SEL is not the same as investing in SEL with your students and staff. It takes lots of hard work and the shifting of priorities. I wish more people would spend the time to dig deeper into the buzzwords that are thrown around before expecting teachers to adjust their instructional day, again, for a new program that they have not been prepared.
If you are looking for SEL resources, check out these links,
I hope these resources help. I will be writing more and sharing more on SEL in the coming weeks. Let me know if you have any good tips or resources to share.
It is a very simple question that we often think about, but, sometimes, are too busy to stop and ask our students or our colleagues. As Spring approaches and schools go on break, some students might be dreading being away from school for a whole week or more because of the turmoil in their home. Asking this simple question can be open up an important dialogue with students and peers. At a minimum, it shows the person that they are seen. I know when someone checks in on me I feel so loved. Even when things are going perfect, which is rare, it is nice to know that someone is thinking about me and wants to know how it is going. Take a moment and find some people you have not connected with lately, some students who need a check-in, or a colleague that you have not chatted with in a bit and ask that question.
After three weeks of working with the Flex Farm from Fork Farms, I was able to put together this video using Premiere Rush from Adobe. I was able to take the photos from the past three weeks and add them to the application. I was quickly able to add transitions, title slides, and music. The music options were amazing. I could type into the search bar and there were so many different options for music. I discovered that they have tons of sound effects as well. I was flooded with ideas after hearing some of them. I could create some very fun videos in the future now that I have access to this amazing library of sounds.
When I was done, I exported as an Instagram video and it formatted everything for me in an instant. The file was saved on my computer and the files are in the cloud.
I think there are so many parts of Adobe that people do not explore because the assumption is that they are too difficult to learn to do something simple. There is still plenty for me to learn using Premiere Rush, I was able to create something that was able to share what we have been doing in our school with the Flex Farm.
Here is a quick look at the workspace of Adobe Premiere Rush. I love a simple and clean UI. Too many tools always overwhelm me and PR does not do that to me. I wish I would have tried using it sooner.
Here is the finished video showcasing the growth over the course of three weeks using the Flex Farms.
If you have any questions about using Adobe Premiere Rush or how the Flex Farm could work in your learning environment, please feel free to reach out to me.
One of the things that I have advocated for when talking to people about Project Based Learning is the need to reconsider how we assess growth. As an ELA teacher, one of the most common practices was the manila folder where students would keep their assessed writing. The idea was that they could go back and see how they have grown from one essay to the next. Another traditional format is asking students to keep a binder of everything they have done in class and hope their water bottle doesn't explode in their bag or lose it completely.
Those are traditional examples of portfolios that many of us have used for years, but maybe never actually called a portfolio. As I shifted more to project based learning and created my design classes for 6th-8th grade, I needed a way to assess student work that also allowed them to hold on to it and see their own growth over time. Adobe Spark and Seesaw have been two apps that have really helped me accomplish both of those objectives.
As a school, we use Seesaw as out main portfolio tool in the Middle School. I like it so much, that I also use it with my high school Mechanical Engineering class. It allows for teachers to create classes, create activities in those classes, and it allows for students to post their work to those activities to demonstrate their understanding of the material covered in the activity. What is really nice about Seesaw is that is allows for video uploads, image uploads, and recorded annotation. Students can spend multiple classes creating a project and then upload images of their work to the Seesaw with a provided narration that explains what they did and how that demonstrates their understanding. I have found that by adding Adobe Spark to the mix, you can take the portfolio to the next level.
Adobe Spark is free to all students and allows for the creation of images, slideshows, and websites. All of it is hosted and stored on their account. They can download their content and use it as needed. What I love about Adobe Spark is that it gives students access to amazing creation tools that have normally been reserved for art departments or design departments. I have students that love to use Adobe Spark to create different templates and styles to showcase their work and then they upload it to Seesaw. Some have used websites to store all of their work as they progress through the trimester and share the link on Seesaw. Adobe Spark adds an element of versatility to the use of portfolios in the classroom.
Due to privacy issues, I cannot share any of the work that students have created with all of you, but here is some of the work I have done using Adobe Spark to give you a sense of what it looks like. This is template I created in Adobe Spark that students could use if they wanted to showcase their work at the end of the marking period. You can make your own copy of this template by following this link to my library of templates.
What I think is most important is helping students understand the value of looking at growth over time. Where have they started and where are they now. It is so important to remind students that everyone is on their own learning journey and are at different points than their peers. Having a portfolio that allows students to truly see their growth is a wonderful way to keep the hopes up for those students who might feel like they are not where they should be in class. Using Seesaw and Adobe Spark has really allowed for some great conversations with students about growth. I will continue to be an advocate for project based learning in the classroom because I have seen how it impacts student learning. Seesaw and Adobe Spark are just more resources that showcase how important PBL can be.
If you have any questions about Seesaw, Adobe Spark, or Project Based Learning, please reach out on my social channels.
Assessments are a big part of any class, but they are sometimes misunderstood. When people hear the word assessment, they think of a test. A test is an assessment, but not all assessments are tests. This is very important to remember as a teacher. There are multiple ways for a teacher to assess what a student has learned during class. That is why Project Based Learning can be a valuable tool for assessment.
When a Project Based Learning assignment is given in my class that gives students latitude to create a project that demonstrates understanding in a way that is meaningful to them, there can be a wide variety of projects that could be submitted. That leads to a common question from teachers,
"How can you equally assess a wide variety of projects?"
The answer is simple as well as a bit complicated. The simple part is rubrics. Rubrics can be written in a way that don't focus on the tools that are used to demonstrate understanding, but focus on the concepts that the students are trying to convey. That part is where things get complicated.
Rubrics are not an easy thing to throw together. I wish I had more instruction on rubric creation in college. That would have helped me so much in my journey. One of things about rubric writing that needs to be embraced is that the first few rubrics are not going to be great and you will have to get used to adjusting them to ensure they are assessing the correct things and awarding points.
One of the very first rubric creators I used was Rubistar. It allows for the creation of multiple columns and rows that can be filled with language they provide or edited language that better fits your needs. After reading a novel in one of my ELA classes, I might create a rubric that focuses on the student's ability to demonstrate understanding of themes, symbols, motifs, etc. When it came time for student presentations, it was easy to have the rubric in front of me and check off the boxes that matched how they demonstrated understanding. I would jot notes down and then discuss the rubrics with the students the next day.
I have found that as the year went on, the students became more comfortable with the rubric structure and improved their projects over time based on the feedback that was given. That growth is what you are looking for in a class and the rubrics support that growth.
In terms of adding a grade to the gradebook, assigning points to each row and column can be difficult and it is important to try and balance the rubric so one aspect does not make or break the entire project. Also, avoid adding columns/rows that focus on non-instructional issues. For example, do not award/deduct points for "neatness" or "turned in on time" or any other concept that is not about understanding the material. I created some terrible rubrics in my early PBL days that gave too many points for things that focused on the aesthetics instead of the content. Rookie mistakes I hope this post can help you avoid.
Rubrics opened up a world of communication with my students because it allowed for specific feedback that created better conversations when we were able to sit and discuss their work. The back and forth about the final project were strong because of the rubric and the fact that I was there with them throughout the process.
If you are exploring Project Based Learning and are worried about assessment, that is natural, but do not let it be the reason you do not give it a try. Below are some resources that can help you on your journey.
IUPUI - Creating and Using Rubrics - This site has a link to a bunch of other sites to support rubric writing and provide some great examples. Check this out if you are serious about using rubrics for assessment.
Welcome back to the next installment of the PBL Q&A posts where I answer commonly asked questions about Project Based Learning. You can find the first post here if you want to catch up!
Another set of common questions I receive about Project Based Learning has to do with group work. Here are three of the most frequent,
1. "Should I assign groups or let students pick them?"
2. "What if a student doesn't want to work in a group"
3. "What do I do if I have students working in a group and one of the students is not doing the work?"
These are very tough questions to answer and can cause lots of stress for a teacher, especially if they are new to Project Based Learning. Let's unpack these questions and see what we can do provide some support when you encounter these in your classroom.
1. To assign or not to assign...
Group work is tricky because most of the time, it comes down to the chemistry of the group. As a teacher, if you do not know your students very well, assigning groups could be disastrous. The inner workings of the social structure of your students group might not be evident and conflict could pop up if students are forced to work together in groups. I have found that the start of the school year leans more toward student selected groups with some minor teacher intervention as needed.
Like all things school related, the age group of the students is important to consider. High school students are much better at choosing their own groups than middle school students. In my experience, having an honest conversation with students about choosing partners for projects really helps set the tone for the rest of the year. I explain that it is great to work with your friends, but you need to be able to trust them to do their part. I had friends that were great friends, but terrible work partners for projects. High School and Middle School students respond well to these conversations. Ultimately, I tell students that they can pick their groups and I will only get involved in extreme situations.
An extension of this part of the process focuses on the students that are not asked to join a group and this where it is important to really know your students. I have found asking a group of students to include the one looking for a group to join to invite them in is often very successful. I have seen amazing friendships blossom because of this approach. Other times, there are students who are not included in groups because they have a history of not doing their work. This issue leads to question 2.
2. Flying solo in group work
Many people find it hard to believe, but I am an introvert in many ways. Large scale group projects are not always my things and I only enjoy them if I can do my part of a larger project on my own or I am working with a close group of friends that understand my eccentricities. We often forget about our introverted students in the classroom in a rush to have everyone socialize and have "normal" interactions in the classroom. Sometimes it is ok to let the "quiet kid" stay the quiet kid.
Every lesson I have created that has a PBL element allows for the flexibility to be completed as a solo project. Every project has the opportunity to be expanded based on the number of students in the group. For example, if the average group size was three, an assignment for a novel we read might ask for 3 examples of theme and three examples of symbolism be showcased in their project. That would break down to each student being responsible for a theme and symbol example. If the group had four students, It would be up the examples to four. I tell the students that if they want to add more students to the group the work, and the expectations, go up. Group work is not about packing in as many bodies as possible to reduce the workload for everyone. After a certain number of students, there are diminishing returns.
For the student that goes solo, I will have a conference with them and see what we can do to adjust the assignment for them to meet them where they are. There are so many different reasons why a student might want to go solo for a project. I think it is important to have conversations with your students to find out where they are. I have had students tell me they are working the late shift the next two weeks to help their family and can't work in a group because they'd never be able to meet up with them. Some have had serious anxiety issues that make it difficult to connect with others outside of the classroom. Having these conversations with students is important because it will inform you on how much you will nudge them to work with other students.
I've encouraged students to push themselves to work with other that might not be in their friend group and see how different ideas can come together to create some interesting projects that really push their thinking. There have also been times when the group got the work done, but it was not an awesome experience. That is the reality of group work sometimes and it is important for students to understand that as well. Sometimes group work does not work the way we want it to and that leads us to questions 3.
3. Carrying the group
The toughest part of group work is when someone in the group is not doing their part. It is important to be upfront with students at the start of the year about the process that is in place when students are in groups and they feel one of their partners is not doing their work. Every teacher needs to create a process that is good for their students and must be comfortable adjusting it from class to class as needed. Here is the process that I had in place for my classes,
Student Responsibility
1. Talk to your group member to see if they need any help with their part of the project. Encourage them to see the teacher if they are having trouble getting started.
2. Privately talk to the teacher if you feel the project is getting close to the end and a group member has not completed or started their part of the project.
Teacher Responsibility
1. Once a student has had a conversation with you about the lack of progress, go over to the entire group and check-in with them about their progress. (Note: Hopefully project check-ins are a normal part of your class period while students are working on projects so this should not seem weird.) Ask each student where they are at and if they need any support. This is usually when you will see that a student has not been doing the work needed for the group project.
2. Have a private conversation with the student to see what type of support they need to be successful for the project. Some many things can be going on in a student's life that a school project is not a priority. This check-in can inform the next steps.
3a. The student was just stuck on an idea and was afraid to let their friends know. You help them get started and they are back on track with the rest of the group. An extension can be given for the whole group if the student needs a little extra time.
3b. The student needs to work on their own because of personal issues. The project is adjusted for the student so they can be successful and focus on the project in a way that does not add to the stress and anxiety they are already facing. Consider reaching out to other teachers and the appropriate school resources depending on the severity of the personal issues. The project is adjusted for the group as well as so they can focus on their work and not worry about the loss of their group member and the work they needed to complete.
3c. The student says they will get it together after the talk and shows some progress. Unfortunately, they do not finish their part of the project and the rest of the group is worried about their grade. Luckily, the project can be assessed based on the different parts that the students completed as individuals and their grade will not be harmed because a member of their group did not complete their part.
This last part opens the door to the next question I will write about next week that addressed the grading of project based learning. Here is a hint, it involved rubrics!
Every project in every class will present teachers with a new problem that has to be addressed. Group projects can lead to some amazing leaps in learning. Some can be downright disastrous. I will leave with a project from a group that I was worried about, but managed to pull it together and blow the class away. I present to you, The Great Gatsby Rap
If you have any questions, please feel free to leave them in the comments or to message me on Twitter @TheNerdyTeacher
As March comes to a close, some schools are starting to think about what the 2021-2022 school year is going to like for their students. One of the things that I hope sticks around is how many teachers embraced Project Based Learning as a strong pedagogical approach to learning during the pandemic. I have been lucky to work with different teachers across the the country that have embraced PBL and have seen the benefits it has for their students. The big questions is, "How do we maintain this positive movement into the next school year?" I think this is where an investment in makerspaces can be a great idea.
If your school has embraced PBL, focusing on creating a space that supports these teachers and students is a wonderful way to keep the momentum. With teachers and students being able to work more closely next year, there will be a surge in possible project ideas that need to be supported. Having a dedicated space that would allow for a wide variety of projects would be great. By adding tools to a space, teachers will be able to expand the possible project offerings to students. If students have more freedom to choose their projects, having access to a larger variety of tools will help bring equity across the board. Having worked with schools that have built spaces to support PBL, I know what it is like to see students and teachers become more engaged in the process of learning with the addition of these learning spaces and the tools in them. Striking while the iron is hot is crucial.
If you are a teacher that is excited about the strides you and your colleagues have made during the pandemic and you want to keep the great work going, I suggest you explore the plausibility of makerspaces in your school. There is so much that can be done to support students and their ideas when they have access to a makerspace. Some schools will look at the 21-22 school year as a chance to return to "normal". Other, more progressive schools, will look at the 21-22 school year as a chance to fix some of the problems that became glaring during the pandemic. Dedicating time and resources to support a positive change in instruction and learning is the best thing we can do moving forward. I have seen what a makerspace can do for students pre-pandemic and I know it will be a difference maker post-pandemic.
If you are interested in exploring makerspaces and have questions, I'd love to connect and help in anyway that I can. If you have worked on setting up makerspaces, I'd love to connect and see what we can learn from one another.
There has been something that has been eating at me for a few weeks. It is this idea that you can just be worn out from creating all of the time. Constantly trying to create something new or solve another problem can be exhausting. I call it Maker Fatigue. I searched the term and could not find it anywhere, but it is possible I've heard it somewhere.
There are times where I feel just spent after building something that the last thing I want to do is think about the next project or problem. That feeling has me thinking about the way that we do projects in my design class. Am I jumping from one project to the next too quickly? Do I need a class period to let the kids reset their minds and decompress to get in the right mindset again? I think it is possible to do too much making and there needs to be a time to all the students to just consume something for a little bit. Maybe I am way off on this though. IDK.
What do you think? Is it possible to do too much making and become fatigued? How do we address this for our students? I'd love to hear your thoughts.
As I look back over the course of the year, I flip through my blog posts, my Twitter and Instagram feeds, and think about all of the things I have shared. I have had so much fun sharing the fun things I have been learning as I build various projects on my own or with students. I did notice I was missing something from my feed and it was my biggest project failure of the year. I have been working on this table project on and off for a year and it has become this Frankenstein's Monster of a project. I keep trying to tweak and make it better, but it ends up worse and worse. It is rough and I have not shared it with anyone until now. Here is my first attempts at an epoxy side table.
You might be thinking, "Hey, that doesn't seem so bad" and you would be very wrong. The table isn't flat. The side pieces are not jointed together smoothly. That is my 2nd attempts at an epoxy top using the Atari cartridges and there are still bubbles and inconsistencies in the top. There are hundreds more of errors I can see that drive me crazy. Every time I try to fix them, I make something else worse. To take a lesson from Edison, I did not fail in making a table, I learned about a dozen different ways NOT to make a table.
We learn from failure and I know that is not a revolutionary idea, but it is important to share those failures once in a while to remind others that we all make mistakes, learn from them, and try again. It's these failures with this table that I was able to create this desk I use at work.
I spent hours sanding the top to get it level and worked on the live edge sides to chip away excess bark. This desk has a built in wireless charger so I can just set my phone down while I work and have it charge. I used a beeswax to bring out the color and a a few coats of polly to seal it. It is a cool desk and I used so many different techniques I learned from my failed side table to make it happen.
This year has been full of success stories and stories of failure. Instead of being too hard on yourself, remember that, while you may have failed, you learned something along the way. Even if it was just how not to do something.
I hope everyone has a great end of 2020 and prepare to make some amazing things in 2021.
I'm excited to showcase some student examples from the project that I created for my design class. These examples come from students in grades 6-8. First, I'd like to share the steps that were taken to get to this point in case anyone would like to mirror the project. Note: We are on a block schedule, so I see students for 75 minutes every other day, so feel free to adjust the timing to meet your needs.
Step 1:
I ask students to build be a house in Minecraft. They are not allowed to ask me questions or work in groups. They have 20 minutes to build me the best house I could ever have.
Step 2:
Students showcase their builds and I provide honest feedback on what I do like and what is not for me.
Step 3:
I asked students if they could do a better job if they asked me questions and they said they could. I gave them about 10 minutes as a class to ask questions to help them better understand what I would like in a house. Then they were allowed to build another house or edit the one they had already built.
Step 4:
Once students have built the second house, I pass out a form similar to the one created by the Stanford d. School for the Wallet Design Thinking Challenge. You can find it here. I go over the full design thinking process with students and we discuss how creating something for someone without asking them is a terrible way to create. We walked through the full process to understand each part of the design thinking path.
Step 5:
Once the students have a strong understanding of the Design Thinking pathway, I give them the Vacation Home assignment. They are asked to pair up and design a vacation home that is perfect for their partner. They need to use a copy of the Design Thinking handout to guide their process.
Step 6:
After completing the interviews and drawn rough drafts, students can use Minecraft to create the vacation home.
Step 7:
Once the students have built a vacation home they like after a couple of days, they present it to their partner and get feedback. They have half a class to change anything they want and share with their partner for one last time.
Step 8:
Once the final piece has been shared, students are requested to take at least 3 photos of their build and write a minimum of three sentences in a caption that explains what was built and why it is was built of their partner.
Step 9:
I provide feedback on the private SeeSaw posts in the comment section where we can have a dialogue on what they created and how it might be improved. (I have shared with SeeSaw that I wish the projects could be shared publicly for other students and the exchange between student and teacher would remain outside of the public view for our eyes, and parents eyes, only.)
That is the process of using Design Thinking and Minecraft to build a vacation home for a peer. Here are just a few examples of what students have submitted.
These are just a few of the builds that students have created for this project. Not having grades did not mean students were not going to try. Not having homework did not mean that the students would not work on this at home. Students put in more effort because they were free of grades and worked on the project at home because they were engaged in the creative process.
By bringing Minecraft Education Edition and SeeSaw together, students were able to engage in the Design Thinking process and showcase their work in a space that allows to have a dialogue about their work and document that for their portfolio. The focus is always on growth and learning. Using Minecraft and SeeSaw together help make that possible
If you have any questions, please feel free to drop me a line on Twitter @TheNerdyTeacher and check out my Instagram for more creations from students.
My first lesson for my Design and Innovation class needed to be something that would engage the students immediately. Minecraft is huge in our Middle School and I thought that would be a wonderful way to get students thinking about design. Luckily, we have Minecraft Education Edition rolled out for every student in our Middle School.
The goal of the fist design challenge was to design a house for me. The students were not allowed to ask me any questions. They just had to build me a house based on what they think I might like. They were given 20 minutes to put together a prototype. The kids were understandably frustrated, but they all worked very hard to create something that they hoped I would enjoy.
We discussed the mostly completed houses and I would tell them what I did and did not like. Next, I allowed them time to ask me questions and dive deep into what I do like and what I need in a house. The reason they had to build the first house without the questions was to show them the value of listening and asking questions.
In design thinking, you want students to have empathy for the person they are designing and you can do that with the help of asking the right questions. Having the students see the value of asking questions allowed them to embrace this part of the design process. Kids love to jump to the ideation portion of design thinking because it is more fun, but they really need to spend time focusing on empathy.
The kids asked so many amazing questions and really focused on what I liked to do with my spare time and how I move about my own house. I could see they really were looking for questions that didn't just give them one answer (Do you like carpet?), but for questions that could provide a multitude of information (What do you do when you are bored at home?).
Minecraft is a wonderful tool for this intro to design thinking for students because it was so easy for them to log in and start crafting. Students were put up houses of all different shapes and sizes in a matter of minutes. That is what I was really hoping was going to happen and it was awesome to see them all working and helping one another. No grades really seems to help them take their time and try different things. One student built a red stone operated door that was protected by a golem. Ya, that was a weird sentence to write.
After their second version of the house, I walked the students through the rest of the design thinking process following the handout created by the Stanford d. School. I modified their handout that can be found here. Next week, students will pair up and go through the design process with a partner and try to create the perfect vacation experience in Minecraft. This is their chance to really stretch and see if they can find empathy for their partner and really build something amazing for their partner.
Thanks for listening and let me know if there is anything you'd really like me to cover or someone you would like me to have a conversation with in a future episode.
I've been thinking about starting a new podcast for quite some time. I had fun with my NerdyCast and people asked if there was a chance for a new episode down the line. I thought I would try something new and have a Maker focused show that allows other great MakerEd folks share some tips, tricks, and tools on MakerEd! I'm using Anchor to house all of my episodes, but you can find all of them on other podcasting platforms as well. Here is a list,
I will be recording and posting based on the availability of my guests. I like this format because it allows people to binge listen if they want. I also promise to keep episodes in the 15-20 minute range. That is tough for me because I like to hear people share awesome things, but I want to make these podcasts episodes be digestible for the average listener. Here is an embedded widget that has the most recent episode, so feel free to listen right here if you want.
If you have ideas for guests or topics, please feel free to reach out to me on Twitter or by leaving a comment below. Thanks for all of your support and I can't wait to hear all of the amazing things Makers are going to share on the podcast!
This has been an amazing year for me as a Maker Educator. I've worked with students and staff to create a new makerspace at my new job and have worked hard on plans to expand the space three fold next year. Project Based Learning and Making have taken hold in some classes and expanded in others. I have had the joy of working with so many different students and teachers on creating amazing projects and lessons to showcase understanding and engage students. I sit at home on this holiday weekend proud of what I have accomplished, but exhausted.
I was hoping to dive into some making this weekend. I have tossed around some ideas, but nothing seems to be sticking for me. I look around my workroom and all of my tools lay dormant, almost mocking me. I have been so hyper focused on helping everyone at school, I feel like I have lost the creative oomph that I have that sparks my maker impulses. Is it possible to have Maker Fatigue?
I'm not tired of making, I feel like I'm missing the creative flicker that drives my creating. Is it possible I am dealing with more of a Maker's Block and not a Maker Fatigue? I want to dive into some fun Raspberry Pi project and there are some sweet projects on Adafruit right now, but I can't seem to find the drive to do them.
I can see this a huge metaphor for student engagement. If I don't WANT to make something, I do not have the drive or passion to do so. The same is true for students. The ones I have worked with that were excited about their projects were in the space all the time and could not wait to iterate the next version. Those that were just completing a project had a hard time following through on their work or always placed it on the back burner. Maybe the same is true for me?
I wonder how many makers our there have dealt with this type of fatigue or block? Is this something you are not supposed to admit? Does this make me a "bad" or "flawed" maker? I'm not sure of the answers to this, but it can be frustrating to want to make, but don't seem to have anything that appeals to you.
If you have been here, I'd love to hear how you dealt with this.
As some of you know, I have been in a new position this year at such a great school, University Liggett School. I am the Makerspace Director and Middle School Technology Coordinator. That means I spend my time working with students in the Makerspace and with teachers and their lessons. I do not craft my own lessons and do direct instruction on my own anymore. I have to say, I do miss it.
I never thought I would say that because of how exhausting it can be, but it is easy to forget how rewarding it is when the lesson is just killer and the kids are super engaged. I was reminded this week because I am covering for a great teacher who is off with the grade 6 students on their camp trip. I volunteered to take her 7th grade English class and she said I could do whatever I wanted. She said she trusted me. Those are usually famous last words, but I was stoked to create a lesson and spend four days with the students exploring.
The first think I did was read up on Pernille Ripp and her writings on dealing with Middle School students in an English Class. After that, I dove into a story I love, "The Yellow Wallpaper". It is a great piece of American Gothic Literature about a woman losing her mind and sharing it with the reader through first person narration. As a reader you are not sure if the place is haunted or if she is crazy. It is a wonderful story easy to explore because of the rich imagery and the solid symbolism of the oppression of women.
I wasn't sure how it was going to go and I was sure I was going to be rusty running a class, but everything was great! The students were engaged and we had a great conversation about symbols and how women were treated and, in different ways, are treated today. Their comments were insightful and their questions were on point. They were engaged in the story and are looking forward to more discussions and the project where they are going to create their own example of a symbol that connects to a theme from the story.
At the end of the second class, I was just so energized. I had forgotten what it feels like to be "in the zone" with a group of students. I am going to make it a point to try and do solo lessons in English class once in a while to keep me fresh, connected to direct instruction, and for the fix of teaching a group of students something I love.
It has been half of the school year and I thought it would be a nice time to reflect on the badging process I have started to implement at the Middle School. These are the big things that stand out to me.
While some students started to use the space to "get a badge", the students that were obsessed with the badge and not the act of making rarely followed through.
Earning a badge is not enough to drive someone to do something they are not truly interested in doing. The fancy sheen of a badge they can place on their device is not the lure that some people feared. Students will not have inflated achievements and forgotten skills because they were obsessed over a sticker. Making is a multi-step process that requires time and energy. While some students might put in some time to earn low level badges, truly mastering different skills takes too much time for those not fully committed. The truly passionate makers stick with it and hang out in the makerspace.
Students that just love to make will come in and make whatever they want and then ask if there is a badge for it after the fact.
I have found that it is tough to keep up with the type of badges I should be creating for the space. So much so, that I stopped. I'm just taking lots of notes. Students are coming in and exploring different tools all the time. It might be littleBits, Makey Makey, 3D design, or just building with cardboard boxes found in the room. The students that want to make are going to make with whatever peaks their interests and that is a GREAT thing! Badges are not the drive for them, the making experience is. The badges are the bonus to learning something and making something awesome. The students like the fact that they can earn something that will recognize the skills they are mastering and do not mind showing it off to their peer and family.
The physical badges do bring in new students every so often.
I hadn't planned on using physical badges as part of my program, but the students asked for them and I was happy to print out stickers they used to adorn their devices. The plus side to this was that other students would see the stickers and ask what they were all about. It was free advertising for the makerspace. I thought that all of the badges would live in a digital world and shared with students in a digital backpack of some kind (work in progress) so it could be shared with parents and others as needed. The power of the physical badge is something that should not be that surprising. Look at Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. They have been using physical badges to represent skills for decades and that extra branding works great for them. There is something to be said for physical badges moving forward. I'm curious to see how this aspect of the badging system will continue to change and grow.
Student schedules make it tough to build consistency in the makerspace which does impact badging.
The makerspace is new at my school and I am working out the hiccups with the entire staff. Everyone is very supportive and talks around student schedules are something every school should do to find the right balance of core content areas and electives based on student interests. Sports and other activities take time away from the makerspace for some students, so there might be large gaps between visits and that makes retaining knowledge tough to keep progressing in different areas. There is never enough time for everything we want in schools, so this is not something that is going to be solved over night. I wonder if creating a Maker class would help with this issue and students would earn badges instead of grades. Hmmmmmm.
Female students seems more interested in the makerspace overall and have earned more badges because of it.
The makerspace is regularly filled with young ladies exploring different aspects of making. Some like to put on their headphones and work on their Scratch games and others are working together to build cardboard box homes. There are young men that frequent the space and are making amazing things as well, but the numbers are slanted toward women. This is a great thing for me to see because I wanted to make sure that female students felt the makerspace was a spot for them as much as it is for the guys. It looks like I might need to work harder to have the guys invest their time in the space to see if a balance can be found.
I have to remind myself that this has only been 5 months and there is plenty of time left to try new things with badging.
I have a three year plan in mind that allows for steady growth of the space and new programs to encourage students to explore making in ways that are meaningful to them. 5th graders have visited the space and they were so excited about the ability to design for the 3D printer and to build in Minecraft and to earn badges. This is exciting to me because a steady flow of new students every year will allow for new ideas to help the makerspace evolve as needed.
I'm excited at what I have been able to do and I can't wait to see what the future holds with badging in the makerspace.
The badging program is still in its infancy, but it is heading in the right direction. Student feedback will be key as it grows and evolves.
If you have any experience of rolling out badges for your makerspace, please leave a comment below or email me at onenerdyteacher@gmail.com.
I was going over some old lessons and student work and I was hit with something that I just blurted out, "Just let the student make!"
I'm so lucky to be at a school that allows students the creative flexibility to explore learning in a ways that are meaningful to them. The students can express their understanding in a variety of ways and I get to see students engaged in learning. It is hard for me to believe that there are teachers that do not trust that letting students make is a positive force in the classroom. It has been a while since I've tried to get a hashtag up and running, but I thought this is worth it.
I would love it if everyone could share student work on Twitter with the tag #LetStudentsMake. I want to everyone to see the great things that can happen when we get out of the way and let students show us the amazing things they can do to demonstrate their understanding of a variety of things.
Here is one of my all-time favorite student projects. It makes me smile every time I see it. I asked students to show me that they could identify connections between The Catcher in the Rye and other books read over the course of the year. I had joked for years that I've really wanted to see students do an interpretive dance. These two amazing students granted that wish and blew me, and everyone in class, away. Enjoy.
Please share student work over the next few days and show educators everywhere to just #LetStudentsMake!
