What Does Failure Look Like? #MakerEd #EdChat

It is almost the halfway point of the school year for me and it has been crazy. I've spent lots of time the past few days thinking about what has worked and what has not. I know that I'm too critical of the things I do, but I still need to look and see where I can be better.

As I have been reflecting, I was thinking that there is still so much to do in the Makerspace and that I am not where I would want to be with student engagement. I have very dedicated students in the Makerspace on a regular basis, some that come in from time to time, and others that have not interest in what is going on. For me, I feel like I have failed to bring in the students I wanted into the space to see them explore and grow. However, I received a couple of recent compliments from teachers saying they have been seeing cool things coming out of the Makerspace. They are excited to see it grow even further in the second half of the year. It really caught me off guard. I thought I was failing at what I was trying to do, but I was succeeding in the eyes of others. So, what is failure then?

If a lesson does not go exactly as plan, but students still learn and are engaged, is the lesson a failure? Just because I did not hit randomly chosen numbers of usage in the Makerspace, does that mean that my efforts have been a failure?

My badging system took off at the start of the year, but it has slowed down a bit. Students have been trying to find time to use the space, but sports and other assigned work has stopped some from fully engaging in the space. I have many kids that want to spend more time, but have conflicting schedules. It's tough for them to get down here. Is that a failure on my part or is it a success that students want to be come down, but they are not able to do for reasons outside of my and their control? Students are still earning badges and the steady trickle is probably what it should be until I'm able to get more resources.

I think I'm just rambling at this point, but that is sort of what reflecting is for me at times. If others view my work as a success, but I think it falls short, is it a failure or a success? If a tree falls in a forest...

Most importantly, not everything is perfect in the Knight's Forge and I still have plenty to learn and understand from others and from the overall Maker Community.

Special thanks to @gravescolleen for getting me thinking about this. She is awesome person to talk/text with when something is rumbling around my skull. 

'Tis the Season (for Sadness)

I've been open about my battle with Depression and it's ugly cousin Anxiety for a few years now and I like to touch base on it publicly because there are so many stories to tell about it that are so similar to others out there. One of the things I've learned about sharing my struggles is that there are many people that reach out to thank me for sharing the story they are not ready to share themselves.

The holidays are a time filled with joy, happiness, and other nice things for most people. For others, the holidays bring lots of dread. While many people deal with the stress of family and friends at this time of year, many others, myself included, feel the pain of anxiety at trying to balance all of these different things in life and trying not to let anyone down, but ultimately feeling like everyone has been let down. The anxiety brings on the depression and the Winter Break for a teacher designed for relaxing and recharging becomes the opposite. I'm lucky to have great family and friends who have been supportive as I figure out what works and what doesn't for me.

For students, going home for 10-14 days could be the worst thing in the world for them. Sometimes, school is their safe space. It's the place where they can count on a meal. Their friends are there to comfort them after a rough night at home. They look at the break as dark period of time before school starts again and they can escape their home life. While dealing with those issues, students can deal with severe anxiety leading up to the break and might act out at school. Students need so much empathy and compassion during this time because they are scared. Teachers need to be a rock for them no matter how crazy life is for them.

If you have loved ones in your life that deal with Anxiety and/or Depression, know that they might need an extra hand or just a nice hug when things seem a bit crazy. For your students, offer them a safe spot to talk before or after school and help them find things to keep them occupied over the break. Focusing on the anxiety and depression will only make it worse. 

Flat Earth - It's not funny

It's not funny people. Stop giving people that deny Science a platform to deny Science to a larger audience. Teachers have it hard enough getting students to understand what is fact and what is fiction. Pretending like the people that believe that the Earth is flat have the same factual basis for their arguments as actual scientists is nonsense. Denying Science can lead to very harmful and dark times. History has played this out for us already.

Whether it is Climate Change or a flat Earth, we need to stop pretending that a different opinion is the same as evidence that has been around for millennia in some cases. Science is based on questions. To get started with any type of Science, there is a question. Throughout history we have discovered the answer to many different questions. One being that the Earth is not flat. Stop pretending this is a debatable topic and focus attention on things that matter.

Ugh.

(I can't believe I had to write this post)

Having Fun with Cubelets

The awesome people at Modular Robotics asked if I would take a look at their Cubelets 12 Kit and share some thoughts.

To be honest, I was not sure what to expect when I opened the box and saw these Cubelets that snapped together using magnets. Like always, I tossed aside the directions and just start connecting cubes. Within seconds, I had the cubes with wheels sprinting off the table with the light cube on the front and a light sensor on top. I had accidentally created a light powered train! I had a huge smile across my face. 

The kit comes with 12 cubelets, hence the name, and here they are;:

Inverse Cubelet - Directs the flow in the opposite direction.

Passive Cubelet - Lets data and power pass through it. 

Blocker Cubelet - Passes on power, but blocks communication between blocks. 

Rotate Cubelet - One face of the cube spins at the relative rate of power it receives.

Flashlight Cubelet - Strong LED

Brightness Cubelet - Light Sensor

2 Distance Cubelet - Infrared light sensor that detects how close or far an object is away.

2 Drive Cubelets - Cubelets with wheels.

Battery Cubelet - Chargeable Cubelet that powers everything connected to it. 

Bluetooth Cubelet - Control your Cubelets from your phone by connecting via Bluetooth and the Cubelet app.  

What is nice about these Cubelets is that they can be connected in any order. The build options are limitless with the cubes. There also two connectors that allow for the addition of LEGOs. I like this feature because you can connect your LEGO creations to your Cubelets and use the Bluetooth Cubelet to control your LEGO creations. I love any tools that can allow connections to other tools. 

Modular devices are very nice and allow for many different creations for students. I can see students building their own robots with the Cubelets serving as the power, sensors, and wheels. Add some arts and crafts and your personal little robot could be connected to your phone through the Cubelets app. 

It is a fun tool that is a great way for young children to engage in creativity using sensors without the full hassle of soldering and computer boards. Playing with Cubelets would be a wonderful way to introduce students to those concepts down the line. 

Cubelets has a great site for resources to show how Cubelets can be used in the K12 environment. Their lesson plans are a great way to engage students with Cubelets. 

If you want to dive in to the coding world, Cubelets has a couple of programming options worth checking out on their site. Using Blockly and Flash, you can program your own blocks to do exactly what you want them to do. 

Overall, I think Cubelets is a diverse tool that can be used for many different age groups and are worth exploring if you are looking for something new for your classroom or Makerspace. 

Cubelets was nice enough to offer a Promo Code for the readers. 

Add the Brick Adapters to your cart along with any purchase over $30 and apply the code at checkout to get the Brick Adapters for free. 

Promo Code: NerdyFreebie

Cubelets did send me a kit for the purpose of the review, but that doesn't make the product less awesome.