Sandbox LearningThis article from TeachThought caught my eye recently. For those who know me, I often choose to do a "sandbox" day when introducing a new tool. I know that I learn best by hearing about something, watching someone/a video, and then messing with it myself. I need the verbal, the visual and kinesthetic modes to really get a handle on most of the digital tools and all of the physical tools. Although the article spoke to gaming and video games, like Minecraft, where the object is to build something, it also spoke to the need to "do stuff", "make stuff", to create. The digital tools I use every day stick in my head, the ones I use sporadically, I have to look up every time. The physical tools I use every day present no challenges,but new tools often take me a while and some "sandbox" time to get used to. Fellow teachers and I were watching students cut paper circles last week as part of a project and could not believe how hard it was for them. They apparently never have to use scissors. Last year I watched a student attempt to use a hammer to screw in a screw. If you have ever seen me try to use a sewing machine, you know, some of us just need more direction and practice. Thus, Sandbox Learning=hands-on, engaged, minds-on learning. It works. It brings out our strengths, allows us to learn and work through our weaknesses. Is this the way to learn everything? Probably not. I know how much I have hated being tossed into a project with no help. Sandbox learning can be structured, with scaffolded support as needed, but wide open enough to challenge to encourage. Lock-step, teach-to-the-test may give students high test scores, but are they learning? Media LiteracyI'm quite sure that as we head into election season here in the US, the "disinformation" in the media will only get worse. Commonsense Media is an excellent resource for educators. Their News and Media Literacy Resource Center has a wealth of material to use. I love the Sift, the News Literacy Project's newsletter for educators. If you haven't seen it, check it out here. Did you know about the upcoming first National News Literacy Week, Jan. 27-31 ? The goal is to raise awareness of news literacy as a fundamental life skill. Read more about it here. I also didn't realize, and have not checked out their new app Informable. "The app, which is free, is designed to improve users’ ability to identify different types of news and other information." This is also an interesting site that I was introduced to recently- allsides.com . What are you using for media literacy resources ? Ideas to Share
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Google View Image Button
I sent this info out just before vacation to some, but Google has changed their image search and has deleted the view image button. From what I can gather, this was in response to Getty Images and others who were complaining that folks were stealing their images. I tend to go the route of "let's show students and their teachers how to"... search for public domain or creative commons licensed images and how to cite or get permission to use them in our own work, rather than put roadblocks up and create a generation of hackers.
I found out that the button was gone as I attempted to show 5th graders how to get images for a presentation project. It was yet another one of those moments when the teacher demonstrates how to work around unanticipated tech issues in front of students. You can click on the link, which will bring you to the website, not the image and you get to see if you can find it again. You can right click on the image, open it in a new tab, get the url and info for citation and then right click or command click to save the image. Or... you can install the chrome or firefox extension that will put that lovely little View Image button back on the search page. I have successfully installed the chrome extension and it works well. You can get it here. There is also a firefox extension. If you need a quick and easy link to share with students use: http://bit.ly/viewimagebutton LunchBots
I'm a little late to the party here, but caught a tweet the other day about LunchBots from Hummingbird Robots. If you aren't familiar, these are incredible kits to build all sorts of creative projects using some simple robotics and a well designed electronic board. I honestly cannot see what I am doing on most of the breadboards and raspberry pi boards I have tried and spend more time troubleshooting my connections than actually creating and coding. Hummingbird connections are color-coded, larger than most and easy to use. Here's their intro blurb: "The Hummingbird robotics kit allows students to create and program robots built from electronic components and craft materials. The Hummingbird is made by BirdBrain Technologies, a company devoted to cultivating creativity and computational thinking by providing flexible and inspiring products that engage students and teachers in programming and robotics" So... LunchBots...
These are quick 20 minute webinars, recorded on their YouTube channel; Byte-Sized PD that you can reference later. I happened on these as I was looking for other ways to explore mechanisms, fascinated with all the cool automata and contraptions I have been seeing from @TinkeringStudio #CuriousContraptions #automata. Check out the video below and then head on over to Exploratorium and see all their mechanisms too.
MassCue GooglePalooza
I spent one vacation day last week attending MassCue's Winter Google Palooza. The presenters at these events are teachers. They are in the classrooms and know all the pitfalls/wonders of using tech to enhance lessons. I always learn something new from Jenn Judkins and attended one of her sessions. She is the queen of useful workflows with sheets, addons and this time with templates for projects. Jonathan Schmid demo'd lots of great ideas for makerspaces in one of his presentations. He showed a link to this really cool cardboard pinball machine. So, of course I had to get one to try. I can't wait to have the kids design their own games and even hook up makey- makey to it. They have ideas on how to incorporate materials you can generate with your 3D printer too. Check them out here.
If you want to get a peek at all of the wonderful presentations,you can find them online. This is not as good as being there, but even for those who got to attend, it's always hard to just choose 4 sessions for the day and miss out on the others. I was looking through the presentation on chrome extensions to support struggling learners, saw some I hadn't known about and was thrilled to see that TDLR is back up and running for all those who need a quick summary of a web page. I couldn't get the options section to work, but otherwise it seems like it's back. |
AuthorMaureen Tumenas Archives
June 2021
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