Exploring Creativity In The Classroom #MakerEd #EdChat

This school year has been an important year for creativity for me and for my students. I really wanted to give them more ownership of the projects they would be creating. So far, I have seen some great examples of creative problem solving and increased engagement from my students. Here are just a few images of their work this year in the Makerspace. 

There are a few reasons I think you should explore allowing more creativity in your classroom based on what I have seen the past few years in my classes and classes of teachers who have focused on allowing more creativity in the classroom through MakerEd and Project Based Learning. 

1. Creativity supports the love of learning. It is so crucial that we get students to see learning as something that is valuable and to love doing it. You do that my letting learning look differently than the standard sit and get many classrooms have come to embrace. Sometimes students are going to need to sit and listen to information, but there are plenty of opportunities that should allow for students to explore and create. Those moments need to be embraced in the classroom because those are the memories that will be created that support a life-long love of learning. 

2. Bringing creativity into the classroom support critical thinking and problem solving skills. Students that dive into creative exploits often find their original creative idea might not work as imagined. This forces them to problem solve. I saw this with the clock assignment in my Innovation and Design class. Many students had wild ideas on creating clocks and were forced to explore their designs and solve problems when their sketched design was having trouble coming to life. The more students are tasked with exploring problems and creating solutions, the better they will be moving forward. Critical thinking and problem solving are muscles that need to be worked out in all classes from time to time. 

3. I have seen that creativity supports communication and collaboration. When it comes to creative projects, students have lots of ideas. When working in groups on creative projects, students will need to work on their communication skills as they explain their ideas and work on compromises. In the middle school, students are developing these important skills and creative projects are a great way to engage them to support these soft skills. Even if the students are not working on groups, having students work on creative projects gets them excited to share their work and get feedback. That back and forth over a project is also great for students as they learn to give and receive constructive feedback to support their peers. 

4. Creativity is great for boosting the confidence of students. So many students feel like what they are good at is not important in school. Givings students a chance to shine in different ways in the classroom can help boost their self-esteem. Giving students a chance to write a song, build something in Minecraft. paint a picture, or some other creative outlet instead of a worksheet or essay could be a great way to see what students know while giving them a platform to showcase their creativity. Over the years I have had students tell me my encouragement of their art, writing, singing, and other creative talents helped them feel seen in class as more than student in a desk. Those are the moments that remind me that the work outside of the curriculum is so vital. 

I could go on and on about the value of creativity in the classroom, but I will pause with these four reasons for now. If you are new to this idea, please do not be overwhelmed. Take it one step at a time with one lesson at a time. Bringing creativity into the classroom was something that took me time to get just right. You can do it at your pace and the students will forever be thankful for it. 

Hugs and High Fives, 

The Nerdy Teacher

Coolest Projects from Raspberry Pi #MakerEd

If you are looking for a fun way to bring a design challenge to your students, please take a moment to check out Coolest Projects from Raspberry Pi.

Coolest Projects provides all of the information a student and a teacher needs to be successful. The mentor guide really helps the teacher through the process. I love the student guide that was created that helps walk the students through the design process. From ideation, creation, testing, and reflection, the student goes through the entire process following the guided steps. 

Whether creating something using Scratch or something that requires physical hardware, there are plenty of different categories that students can submit their project to for consideration. I will be rolling this out to my 6th grades in the next week and I can't wait to see what they come up with for Coolest Projects. 

The deadline for sharing the projects for judging is May 11th. I am looking forward to seeing all of the amazing projects this year. 

Hugs and High Fives, 

N Provenzano

Interactive Fiction with Python! #MakerEd #Coding #ISTE21

Thanks to everyone that made it to the webinar. I was able to take the recording and add it to YouTube. You can watch it below. Feel free to share it with your students and with others around the internet. Here are the links to the resources used.

Trinket.io

Raspberry Pi Tutorial

My game with advanced elements

Here is my game I made. Press play to start.

 

 If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out and we can connect.

Virtual Hugs and High Fives,

NP

Who is an authority in STEAM? #MakerEd #PBL #EdChat

 There was a tweet sent out by an awesome educator, Scott Nunes, that sparked an interesting sharing of ideas. 

Who is an authority on STEAM?

— 𝕊𝕔𝕠𝕥𝕥 ℕ𝕦𝕟𝕖𝕤 (@MrNunesteach) April 6, 2021

 This was a follow up question to the tweet,

These ideas really had me thinking. For the first question on who is an authority on STEAM, some people responded by naming people they thought were an authority. I took it the question as something a bit more abstract. More of "what makes someone an authority on STEAM".  You can find my thread here, 

Finally had some time to digest and read all of the replies. I'm trained as a 6-12 ELA/SS teacher. My interest in PBL led me to Makerspaces. Makerspaces led me to learning to code to help students. Everything snowballed after that.

— Nicholas Provenzano (@thenerdyteacher) April 7, 2021

Overall, I think the A in STEAM covers the humanities. I think ELA is in STEAM. I think social studies is part of the A in STEAM. I think STEAM is school. Because of that, I do not believe there is anyone that can claim to be THE authority on it. I think there are people that bring tons of knowledge to the STEAM arena, but it is next to impossible to be THE authority. Being an expert in STEAM doesn't make you an authority on it either. I do not have experience in urban/rural STEAM, but there are those that do. How can I be an authority in STEAM for those areas where I lack experience? I have written books, spoken internationally, and worked with schools from across the country on MakerEd, STEAM, PBL, and other topics. I have learned from every group I have worked with over that time. While I think I can help educators on their learning journey, I do not have all of the answers and can't claim to be the THE guy in these areas. Everything I have learned has come from experience and what others have done before me. I am lucky that I have the opportunities to share that learning with others and I make sure to connect people with others that can be more helpful than me. It's important to know that you don't know everything. That is how we grow. 

Ultimately, I warn everyone to be wary of anyone that claims to be THE authority in any field. It suggests that they have very little to learn from others and that is not someone you want to bring into your school/district. 

What are your thoughts? What makes someone an authority on anything? 

Students Share The @WonderWorkshop Cue and Sketch Kit

Good morning everyone! Today I am sharing the last video of the school year from the Knight's Forge Maker Show. The students spend a few weeks learning how to code and draw with the Wonder Workshop Sketch Kit and the Cue robot. I had so much fun watching them problem solve the code and trying to get the Cue to drive and use the markers to make objects. Here are just a few shots I shared on Instagram.

A post shared by Nicholas Provenzano (@thenerdyteacher) on May 11, 2018 at 9:47am PDT

A post shared by Nicholas Provenzano (@thenerdyteacher) on May 15, 2018 at 3:27pm PDT

The students worked very hard on understanding how the Cue works with the Sketch kit and figured out how the Cue was able to move the pen up and down. The spent extra time on the video and this is really well done.

It has been awesome to watch them grow over the past few months as they have explored the different tools that are available in the Knight's Forge Makerspace. They have started talking about a mentor program for incoming 5th graders to help students interested in joining the team next year. I'm very proud of all of the hard work they have put in and can't wait to see what they come up with for the next school year.

Learning Math in the Makerspace #MathChat #MakerEd

Over the past few weeks, the 6th grade students have been working on building their own arcade games using Scratch. The origin of the lesson was helping students understand x and y coordinates. It was a very fun and creative lesson that the students have enjoyed very much. Kudos to Mrs. Montagne and Mr. Medvinsky for a wonderful plan.

As part of this lesson, there is an extension opportunity for students to build their own controller for their arcade game. For this, students would be able to use Makey Makey and other materials to create their own personalized controller for their arcade game that will debut during Student Led Conferences in March. The students were pumped and the Makerspace was about to get busy!

I knew that students were going to want to dive into design and use the tools available in the Makerspace. Through a grant from DPTV and CTN, I have been able to outfit The Knight's Forge at University Liggett School with some great new tools. I have an Inventables Carvey CNC machine and a Full Spectrum Laser Muse. I've been setting these up and trying to get a good understanding of the software and design process of using these tools so I can better help students who have asked to use these tools in the Upper and Middle School. I figured building my own controller for a Scratch game is the perfect opportunity to use these new tools!

I started with some basic paper design and figured I wanted my controller to be 5" by 2" and drew that on some paper. I traced it in thick black marker so I could upload the design to Easel, the Carvey software, so I can match the lines for the cuts I wanted to make. After adding my cardboard and running the CNC, I had the rough cut of my controller ready to roll.

Next, I took a blank sheet of paper over the template I created and marked out the cracked design look I wanted. From there, I uploaded that image to the Muse software and traced what I did there. After placing the cardboard in the Muse, I placed the cracked design over the top of the cardboard image on my screen provided by the onboard camera, set the Muse Raster for 35% speed and 100% power and the machine whirred into action. After 17 minutes, I had a beautifully scarred piece of cardboard that will become my controller.

I added some brass brads for the buttons, ran some copper tape for the ground, wired up the Makey Makey, and taped everything down to create my own video game controller. Here are some images from my Instagram account that show the various steps.

1. Template controller design 2. Design for @fullspectrumlaser Muse 3. Design added to cardboard that had been cut using the @inventables CNC Carvey 4. Brass buttons added 5. @makeymakeykits added 6. Testing it out on Scratch This was a multi-day process of figuring everything out from design to creation. Trial and error. Feels awesome to create something from start to finish. Now I can fully help the @uniliggett students with their projects now that I know how every step is going to work. #MakerEd

A post shared by Nicholas Provenzano (@thenerdyteacher) on Feb 6, 2018 at 6:26am PST

After completing the construction, I needed to test it out. I jumped into Scratch and started putting together some simple directional blocks and a space bar action item to see if it worked. I then had a moment where I could not figure out how to make my character move backwards. Whatever the reason, my brain was blank. Luckily, I remembered the lesson from Mrs. Montagne's class that covered the X and Y coordinates on the plane and remembered I needed a negative number to move back and a negative number to move down. I had created a controller that now worked in the digital world.

Some people would say that everything I did could have been done with scissors and a marker. A CNC machine and laser cutter were excessive in creating this controller. I agree that this all could have been done without those tools and I think people should create controllers of their own using whatever tools they have around them, but I used those tools because I wanted to learn about how to use them as part of the design process so I could get a feel for them. While not needed for this specific project, I will have a stronger understanding of how to use them when they are a crucial part of a project. For example, I have been asked to carve our props for the upcoming play. Doing that is easier now because of this process.

At the end of the day, I had a project I could show the students, explain the process of getting it together, and explaining the tools I used to accomplish it, and even demonstrate how I was able to apply the Math concept covered in class to a real life situation. The students now can see how those new tools can be used and it will spark design ideas for them. Making and Makerspaces should be about inspiring creativity in people and showing them that amazing things can be accomplished if they are open to new possibilities. I look forward to seeing the fun and different takes on controllers the students are considering for their projects.

Micro-Credentials in Middle School Makerspaces #EdChat

One of the things I wanted to explore for the Makerspace I'm putting together in the Middle School at University Liggett School is a way to recognize the skills the students pick up through their work. I believe that a Makerspace should be a place where students can explore anything they want. This makes a putting together a system to recognize their achievements tough because the possibilities are endless when it comes to what would need to be recognized. I have been interested in micro-credentialing for a little while, but I could not find a way to make it work in my Literature classes. A Makerspace, on the other hand, is the perfect spot to pilot a badging system.

I set out with the goal to create badges that students can earn for demonstrating various skills in different areas. It has been a very time intensive process to find the different skills that students are interested in and then create a scaffolded system that recognizes their acquired skills and awards them a badge. It has been hard work, but it has been worth it. The soft rollout of the badging system has been amazing! It has been too good to be honest. Students are earning badges left and right and I'm trying to keep up with the student demand for entry level badges to various skills.

I started out with basic skills in physical computing with Raspberry Pi (LED, Buzzer, Button, Motion Sensor,  and Light Sensor), design and building in Minecraft, and 3D design and printing. I thought this would be a good starter spot for me and would give me time to create other badges. It is now near the end of October and I need to ramp up the badge production. I have littleBits on deck and I will be adding MakeyMakey to the mix. I have more things I can add to the Raspberry Pi set so students can earn a level 2 Pi badge and I'm open to students suggesting badges in areas where they are experts.

I made digital copies of each badge I have offered using this free website, openbadges.me. From there, I have printed them on sticker paper and have cut out the stickers and given them to students who have earned them. Here is a picture of a student proudly displaying their badges on their laptop.

A student is showing off their badges at @uniliggett on their device! #MakerProud #KnightsForge #MakerEd

A post shared by Nicholas Provenzano (@thenerdyteacher) on Oct 24, 2017 at 12:33pm PDT

These are the stickers I've created so far and I keep a record of the digital badges. I am still looking for a good portfolio system to deliver and store the digital badges. We use SeeSaw in the Middle School, so that might be what I use, but I'm still looking at other options.

I think if we want to see change in our education system and move away from traditional grading practices, we need to start to look at areas where it is possible to pilot new ideas and I think a Makerspace is the perfect spot to explore micro-credentialing for students.

If you have explored using badges for recognizing student achievement, please share your story. I'd love to see how others are doing this. 

Who Run The World? #STEAM #MakerEd

I was working in the Knight's Forge getting things ready for students who were buzzing about the space and I just looked up and this is what I saw,

Who run the world?

A post shared by Nicholas Provenzano (@thenerdyteacher) on Oct 13, 2017 at 12:18pm PDT

I am sure I had the biggest smile at that moment. The girls were moving around, exploring coding, 3D design, physical computing, and Minecraft. They were helping one another when they got stuck and everything  was awesome.

For me, I wanted to make sure I created an environment that was welcoming to all students and I have plenty of work to do moving forward, but this is a good start.

I'd love it if more people shared photos of their ladies working in Makerspaces to show that these are spaces for all students interested in exploring new ideas and Making things that Matter to them.

Please tag @TheNerdyTeacher and @uniliggett with pictures of your girls making so I can share it with my girls.

Hugs and High Fives,

NP

The Case for Kits #MakerEd

There is a point of view that kits are not good for Makers/Makerspaces. Their is a belief that kits take away from the purity of exploration of a Makerspaces and trying new things and failing. One big question from these people is,

Are you truly Making if you are just following directions?

My answer to that is yes. A big, fat yes for that matter.

I love starting my learning with kits. If I want to tackle something completely new and have no idea where to start, I will order a kit so I can get my bearings. After going through the motions with the kit and understanding what everything can do, I start to branch out and explore my ideas based on what I've learned. That is the beauty of kits. They are the gateway to more in-depth making.

I get very frustrated that there is a "my way or the highway" approach to Making and Makerspaces. Not everyone is going to follow the same path when it comes to Making and that should be embraced and supported by all educators. Our students are not starting in the same place, so why not offer them a kit or challenge to help guide them on their journey. I think it is called differentiation.

Companies (littleBits, SparkFun, Pimoroni, PiSupply, etc.) offer a simple access point to complex electronics that might be too intimidating for beginners to explore on their own. I appreciate any company that wants to try and make STEAM concepts more accessible to a variety of learners. Can these kits be pricey? Yes, but getting all of the pieces for various projects and creating the guides for them are not cheap and a person is paying for the convenience the kit provides.

As a Maker community, please let us be kind and supportive of all learners, adult and child, that are trying to explore the creative world around them in ways that work for them.

Hugs and High Fives,

NP

Wrong kit. This is K.I.T.T.

Student Innovation #TEDEd #MakerEd

Part of being a TED Ed Innovative Educator is working on an Innovation Project. We are able to choose something to work on for the year and document what we have learned. I had a hard time thinking about my project and all of the other TIEs have amazing projects. I had to think long and hard about what I care most about and I decided that student innovation is important to me. I want to create more opportunities for Student Innovation.

The first way I tried to implement Student Innovation Projects is to use 20 Time. I gave one class the chance to work on any project they wanted. It went very well and students created some interesting projects they were passionate about. The one obstacle I faced was trying to find balance in helping too much versus not enough. I felt like some students could have used more support, but then there were times I caught myself helping too much. It feels like such a thin line, but it is something I see I need to continue to work on for future projects. 

One project that came out of this group was a way for students to scan their ID card when they leave the room with s pass and scan when they get back to keep an accurate lot of who is in the room. The scanner is connected to a Raspberry Pi and sends the info to a Google Doc. Our Superintendent saw the student presentation and wants to see this piloted in our schools. The students are currently working on this as an Independent Study with my support. 

I really wanted to give students opportunities for innovation outside of my classroom. It is one of the reasons why I worked hard to create the Makerspace in our library. After becoming a Raspberry Pi Certified Educator, I thought it might be cool to see what students could do if they were given Pi and asked to identify and problem and come up with a solution. After a few weeks, the students blew us away. We had four teams and here is a quick recap of their projects:

Web-based application that will allow a person to turn on/off any device that is plugged into their system. It could be lights in your room or the coffee pot in the kitchen. Just login and turn them on or off.

A wifi based garage door opener that could eventually have a detector  that can notify you when it is opened or closed.

A wifi connected robot rover that can take pics and record video.

The winning project was a Raspberry Pi connected to a touch screen monitor that allowed users to enter in their medication and the times they need to take it. The screen then starts a countdown and will notify users when it is time to take their next but of medication. Future extensions will have text capabilities. This group has another member that worked hard on the code, but she could not be their because she had sailing practice. 

I loved watching all of these students share their projects and what they learned along the way. All of them talked about the failures and frustrations, but also the excitement that followed when they got it working. It was also fun to hear other students ask questions and offer suggestions for the other projects. It was a very nice collaborative atmosphere for the students and it all took place in our Makers Lounge. 

There were two groups that dropped out. They said that they could not get their projects working and did not want to present. Despite encouraging them to come out and share their work, they were no-shows. I wonder how much more support I could have offered those students. More meeting times or something might have helped. Getting feedback will help for next time. 

Overall, I think this was a huge success. This was the first ever STEAM competition our school has held like this and I think it got kids excited to do something different and see what they could learn along the way. It made me so happy to hear that students were teaching themselves how to code and learned so much along the way. You can't make students innovative, but you can give students the opportunity to explore and learn along the way. More often than not, students will create something innovative they never thought was possible. 

The Pi Teams

Winning Team: Noah, Simon and Eva (not pictured)

Disney Puts the A in STEAM #EdChat

I spent a week at Disney World with my family and it was a blast. All of the annoying things about large parks during high traffic times hold true, but it all washes away when you see the smile on your little guy's face when he meets a favorite character.

Joy @waltdisneyworld World. #WaltDisneyWorld

A photo posted by Nicholas Provenzano (@thenerdyteacher) on Mar 27, 2016 at 2:56pm PDT

These two evil step-sisters where so kind to Leo. They were just finishing up a long shift and they really engaged with Leo and made him feel like the only Prince in the Kingdom. It was almost 90 degrees out and we were all tired, but it melted away with that smile.

The more I walked around Disney, I tried to look past the costumes, the lines, the heat, and I tried to see what really made this place tick. The logistics of running a park like this have to be a nightmare, but everything seems to run and everyone is having a good time. They clearly have a pretty good idea of what they are doing because the park is filled and I think they make a little money on it. After a couple of days of enjoying the various parks and watching my son become a Jedi,

Leo took out Darth. #NBD

A photo posted by Nicholas Provenzano (@thenerdyteacher) on Mar 26, 2016 at 9:46am PDT

I realized that Disney is an amazing example of why you need the "A" (Arts) in STEM.

The "Imagineers" make Disney possible. They are the ones that are designing the rides, the park structure, and all of the bells and whistles that make things work on a daily basis. They make the park run. However, they are the guts of the park. You need much more than guts to make something successful. That is where the Arts come in. The costumes, the art work, the characterization, the overall goofiness help create the overall experience. You cannot have Disney without one or the other.

This translates beyond Disney though. As we look at more and more companies enter the technology market, there is a premium on how things work, but also on how thing look. Apple has always prided itself on how things look and work. For me, I need a product to work well, but I also want it to look good when I use it. These details fall to the creative minds that are sometimes marginalized in education. It's sad because the students involved in the arts are some of the most brilliant students we have and we tell them their passion is not "practical" or we ask them how they will make money doing this for a living.

Now, more than ever, we need to encourage our students to explore the creative arts and become experts in those fields. Those skills are going to be crucial as new things are created. Jobs will appear for things that do not even exist. We need to remember that the Arts are very important and that we cannot push them to the side because they are not going to be tested. Disney is a great model of fusing Arts with the STEM field. STEAM is important in schools and our future and Disney shows exactly how awesome it can be.

Yo ho

A photo posted by Nicholas Provenzano (@thenerdyteacher) on Mar 27, 2016 at 8:07am PDT

The skills that are required to program/code all of the robots for this and other rides must be intense. Then, artists need to dress it up to fit the ride. That is no easy feat. STEAM in action.