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.

We Want Your Huck Finn Stories #EngChat

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is  one of the most important pieces of literature ever written in American History. Mark Twain wrote an amazing story tackling the issue of race that still resonates today. It is one of our favorite books of all time and a joy to teach with our students.

Literature teachers are part of a wonderful community and we share many stories about our favorite novels. Huck Finn is one of those books that brings this group together. Ask any ELA teacher for their Huck Finn story and they will share with you an amazing tale that will be sure to make you laugh, cry, and shake your head. These teachers also have great lessons that they use to get students to see the classic the way that Mark Twain had always hoped people would see.

After sharing our love of the book, we thought it would be an a great idea to collect these stories and lessons put together an e-book that all teachers could read and share. In particular, we’re looking for your stories about teaching this novel in present time.

We want your stories about how you've made sense of this text in a diverse classroom. We want your stories about this book being challenged by parents/community. We want your stories about making this book relevant for your students.

If you are interested in sharing your story or lesson, please fill out this form by May 30 and we will pull all of this together over the summer so teachers can have something awesome to read by the start of the school year.

Please share this with anyone that has a great Huck Finn lesson or story worth sharing!

Thank you,

Nick and Meenoo

@thenerdyteacher

@meenoorami

#ASCD16 Wrap Up - Tech I Loved

The ASCD Annual Conference is an amazing conference filled with educators that are connecting and collaborating. The sessions are jammed packed with great information and the ASCD authors that are there are great to engage with and share ideas. I am always excited to attend the Annual Conference and I highly encourage all educators to check it out next year a Anaheim.

I really wanted to highlight some of the really cool vendors I saw this year and I teamed up with Steven Anderson (@Web20Classroom) and Tom Whitby (@TomWhitby) to share what we thought were some very interesting technologies on display at the ASCD Annual Conference.
 There were so many great resources out there for all different types of educators, but these are a few that really caught my attention and I wanted to make sure everyone heard about them. We broadcasted them live via Periscope and then archived them with Katch.me to be able to embed here.

Let's start with littleBits. I have always been a fan, but I've never been to their booth to play with all of the bits. Here is a very excited me talking about them.




I think littlebits is a must for all educators in their classrooms and their Makerspace. You can learn more by checking out their website website or tweeting them Twitter.

The next thing we checked out was a very cool virtual reality system call ViziTech. I was blown away at how amazing this product was and how real everything seemed when I used it to look at a human heart. Here is Steven Anderson taking apart a car engine.


Find out more about ViziTech and how it can be in your school by visiting their website and liking them out on Facebook.

We next stop by EZ-Robot. This robotics company blew my mind away with all of the different things you can do with their technology. It was amazing.


My mind has been racing ever since I was by their booth with all of the different things I could create for my students to explore with the EZ Robot. I am also thinking about all of the different things the students could create for me to try out. There are so many possibilities. Check out EZ-Robot at their website and on Twitter.

I heart Tiggly. As a father to a 5 year old, I am always looking for something different to engage him in learning beyond the worksheets that are sent home from pre-school. Tiggly is an amazing app worth exploring. Here is what Steven had to say about them.


These are just great examples of what is possible with mobile devices and your children. This is something Leo is going to love. I was so excited to find them and can't wait to see what things they have in store for the future. Visit Tiggly on the web to learn more and check them out on Twitter.

These are just a few of the amazing things we saw at the Annual Conference. We encourage all of you to try and attend next year at Anaheim. Until next year!

Free Range Learning #ASCD16 #MakerEd

I was talking to my wife the other day about kids. For her job, she organizes events for the community and creates programs that engages kids in healthy living. She is amazing at her job and her programs have won national awards. She is the best. While talking, she mentioned the phrase "Free Range Kids". This means kids playing outside on their own without supervision. I didn't know that this was a term and I don't think the vast majority of our parents knew that was term when we were "Free Ranging" growing up.

The term had me thinking though. As schools take away more and more play time (recess) from students, how often do students get to Free Range anything? Schedules have become so structured and students are so stressed, they have little time to just go and do their own thing. I thought about the idea of "Free Range Learning". As teachers, we always encourage our students to explore the world around them and dive into things they are passionate about on their own time. We know that importance of fostering that inquisitive nature. Having that free time has become harder and harder for students. After some time, I realized their is a way to get more Free Range Learning in schools: Makerspaces

For me, this is a no-brainer. Makerspaces should be designed to allow students the freedom to learn and experiment without considerable teacher oversight. Even when we were young and we played outside, our parents still had an idea of what we were doing and could keep us in line if needed. The same is true for Makerspaces in schools. In my opinion, Makerspaces need to be in open areas where students can freely participate. This can be in a part of the classroom in the younger grade levels or in the Media Center. There will always be an adult presences near by to offer guidance if students need it, but, otherwise, the students are on their own to explore and experiment. Locking a Makerspace behind doors and it can only be access when a teacher is in the room is not a good Makerspace in my opinion and it is not supportive of Free Range Learning.

If you really think about it, playing outside as kids was the ultimate Makerspace. We climbed trees, we made swords and shields out of branches and garbage can lids, we created games, tested them, and tweaked them as we went along. We were Making something new every time we stepped outside. Makerspaces in the school can allow students to engage with an entire world of tools that will foster their creativity, encourage problem solving, and support critical thinking. These are all things we did as we played outside and we can now bring it inside. Kids can explore robotics, coding, 3D design, and other STEAM concepts on their own. Makerspaces are a chance to support independent student learning.

The best type of learning is Free Range. As teachers, we know that students excel when they are able to take ownership of their learning. This is one of the many reasons 20 Time/Genius Hour is so successful. This is not a revolutionary idea, but it is something that can be forgotten as we dive into testing in the coming weeks. I encourage all of you out there to consider how you can give your kids an opportunity to be Free Range Learners.