Breaking A Few Eggs #MakerEd

One of the things that I have always loved about MakerEd is the mistakes that are made along the way. Mistakes are an important part of the learning process, but grades have made them feel way worse than they should be. The best metaphor for this is the egg drop project my 6th graders work on for Innovation and Design. 

Students are given a bag of supplies and are tasked with making a vehicle that can protect an egg from a one story drop from a balcony. Students work to design and build their vehicle and are even given some plastic eggs to use a test dummies for practice drops. However, when it comes time to drop the real egg, some students are scared. They do not want to see a broken egg. Even though they will not receive a bad grade for a broken egg (my class does not have grades) and they will be given a chance to redesign and drop a second egg, some of those students are hesitant to drop because of what failure will physically look like; a destroyed egg. 

Some students love the idea of dropping an egg and seeing a very real success or failure. The binary way of looking at it works for some students. If it broke, they need to figure out how to fix the mistake so the next egg doesn't break. If it is unbroken, they are reassured that their design worked. While not every assignment or project is as clear as this, it is a nice way of looking at work students do in school. 

If the egg breaks, just have another go at it and try to get it right. That approach works for every assignment. I ask students to not be afraid of a broken egg. Just go for it as long as they commit themselves to finding out why the egg broke and work to make sure the same mistakes do not happen again. With that approach, a few broken eggs will be expected and students will not be so hesitant to try. 

Mistakes are how we learn and we want students to be more comfortable with them. Sometimes is takes a few broken eggs for them to see this. 

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A post shared by Nicholas Provenzano (@thenerdyteacher)

Recovery with #MakerEd

It's been a bit since I have shared anything on the website and that is because I have been recovering from a cardiac event. 

tldr; Had a serious heart event. On the mend now thanks, in part, to the calming nature of making.

Over a month ago, I experienced right chest pain and arm tingling after a workout. Decided to go to ER, but almost turned around because it felt better.

Decided to go in since I was there. I was able to be seen right away and they did some tests. Blood tests showed high Troponin levels. These are high if you’ve had heart trauma. 0-80 is normal. I was at 800, then 3,400, and then 32,00.

They called in the cardiac team and rushed me to the Cath lab to stick a line in my wrist to my heart to figure out what was going on because other tests showed I was supposed to be ok. Turns out I suffered a rare SCAD event.

SCAD (Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection)

These events are extremely rare in men. It’s why all of my symptoms and tests were confusing. I was placed on blood thinners and other meds to prevent clots and other nasty things. I stayed in observation for a few days before another Cath visit to see if I’m healing.

The 2nd Cath showed things were going in the right direction. My Triponin levels were dropping and no signs of clots. I was able to go home after 5 days and I saw my cardiologist. I was given two weeks of bed rest to heal. During that time, I spent lots of time making things. I did lots of doodling and spent time with LEGO kits. I needed to do something, but also keep my blood pressure down. I fell back to the things that I loved. Playing with Python code, exploring Raspberry Pi projects, designing in 3D, and other maker outlets was a great way for me to keep my mind active, be creative, but also take it easy. There are great studies out there that support creativity and its positive impact on mental health issues. Here is one by Connor, DeYoung, and Silvia "Everyday creativity activity as a path to flourishing". There are others worth reading if you are interested in going down that rabbit hole like I did. 

I will have missed 3 weeks of school by the time I came back. I will be on blood thinners for the next three months and I could not come to #FETC22 or #TCEA22. I have been looking forward to these events because I have missed seeing so many of my friends in person. My mental health took a major hit when I realized what I was going to miss. Making helped me deal with my emotions during this time.  

I started cardiac rehab last week and look forward to a return to normalcy as I build back endurance.

I look to be right as rain by the Spring and I’m excited about my Summer opportunities that have started to emerge. #ISTE in NOLA will be great. I can't wait to see all of you after a couple of years away. 

The last thing I want to share is to tell you to listen to your body. Get that thing checked out. I was lucky the ER was not slammed for the first time in 9 months and I was seen right away. If I had to wait, I might not be here. Take care and I hope to see you soon.

Hugs and High Fives, 

NP

Demco and the #MakerMinute @Demco #DemcoMaker

Hello everyone! I'm excited to share an awesome partnership with Demco that will share maker tips across social media. There are so many things I do in my space that make life a little easier and I wanted to find the best way to share them with as many people as possible. 

For those who do not know, I have been collaborating with Demco for a number of years. I worked with them on the design and build out of the makerspace at my school and I have used them for lots of supplies to support students in the space and my design classes. Please check out what they have to offer if you are looking to restock your space. I also have been writing posts for them since 2018 about various Makerspace and STEM ideas. The Maker Minute is our next collaboration and it has been a blast so far. Check out what we have shared,

Introducing the Demco #MakerMinute featuring @thenerdyteacher! Tune in each #MakerspaceMonday for a new #makerspace tip or trick. Then, let us know what hacks make your days easier using #DemcoMaker — Nick will be sharing his tips and yours in future videos! pic.twitter.com/JqXHZvlNmN

— Demco (@demco) November 30, 2021

In this Demco #MakerMinute with @thenerdyteacher, Nick shares a tip for answering the FAQ, "what's printing?" on the 3D printers.#MakerMonday #MakerspaceMonday #DemcoMaker #MakerEd @DremelDigiLab pic.twitter.com/LXG6S72Oo1

— Demco (@demco) December 6, 2021

Did you miss the Demco #MakerMinute on Monday? @thenerdyteacher shared how @uniliggett students are using the #FlexFarm to learn about #hydroponics and so much more!

Flex Farm for schools: https://t.co/BUC5xmUrdH@ForkFarms#DemcoMaker #STEM #STEAM #STEMed #edutwitter pic.twitter.com/45g4GxBrsz

— Demco (@demco) December 16, 2021

I firmly believe that we are all better together, so please share some of your tips and tricks for #MakerEd or your classroom using the tag #DemcoMaker and tag me, @TheNerdyTeacher. I want to share these with everyone out there. This has already been a long year and we need to help each other out in any way possible. I hope these tips can make things a little easier. 

Sharing @FlexFarms Hydroponics In The Classroom with @Adobe Premiere Rush #EdChat #SciChat

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. 

Hugs and High Fives, 

NP