Sharing Failure #EdChat #MakerEd

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.

Hugs and High Fives, 

N Provenzano

Respect Winter Break #Education

With the upcoming holiday break, I truly hope that teachers around the country allow students to actually take a break. Some teachers feel break times are a great spot to add work that they could not get to before the break. Extra reading assignments or study guides are given to students during break to help them "catch up". Please do not do this. Students deserve a respite from the day to day school work and should be able to embrace break without the anxiety of finishing the extra work before school starts. 

Teachers, you also deserve a break. Take the time off and remove yourself from school work and spend time with your family and find non-work related activities to ease your mind and support your mental health. I encourage you to do those things you have not had time to do over the past few months. No, I do not mean catch up on grading, I'm talking about reading that book or video calling that friend. Find the time for "me time" and enjoy the break. You have earned it. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful break and we can all look forward to what awaits in 2021. Let's just hope it is not Godzilla or something. ;-)

Hugs and High Fives, 

NP

Why #MakerEd?

Now, more than ever, people need to find things to do with their time. There is a whole generation of people that went through school without learning to build and make things as part of learning. I imagine that these people are restless with the various lockdowns across the country. 

For me, and many others out there, making things has helped pass the time. Building things out of wood or coding items for a Raspberry Pi, micro:bit, or something else has given me an outlet while stuck in side keeping my family and strangers safe. Knowing how to make things and sharing that with my son and with people online is important to me because I want people to learn and create. 

As a teacher, it is so important to me that students leave my class with the sense that they can make things on their own if they have to. Whether it is coding a game through MakeCode or building in Minecraft, I want to empower them to build what they want, when they want. MakerEd is so important because it is giving a generation of students the tools to create. We have a world filled with consumers and we need more creators. MakerEd is how we, as teachers, help shift the dynamic. 

Please consider exploring what MakerEd and Project Based Learning looks like for your learning environment and make some moves to embed it into your classes. These are not just skills to master a curriculum, but skills that will help student be well rounded people. 

How are you doing? #EdChat

These four simple words. "How are you doing?" can make all the difference in the world. Teaching in person during the pandemic has led to an increase in anxiety in me and thousands of teachers around the country. Medication and therapy helps, but having someone who takes the time to ask, "How are you doing?" can be a life saver to many people. I have been very blessed with friends who have sent me texts to check in on my mental health and those mean the world to me. My lowest of lows can be overcome when I can exchange a few texts with friends. Think about your teacher friends and consider checking in with them. Stay connected, now more than ever. 

Teachers are not the only ones that need to hear these four words. Checking in with students to ask this simple question can lead to very important conversations. Before the pandemic, these four words asked to students led to an outpouring of emotions that they had been carrying for days or weeks and just waiting for someone to care. Reminding students that you are there for them if they need someone to talk to is still important. It stinks that we have to carry our emotional baggage all day and then try and help students lift the load they carry. Each teacher needs to do what they think is manageable. It is not easy, but these are not easy times. 

I hope you will take a moment after reading this post and text someone to ask them those four words. We always say we can do it later, but don't do that here. Open up your message app and send them those four words and let them know you are there for them.