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Taking it Home with Self-Directed Learning by Bob Sprankle

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I love it when this happens: when learning goes home, never having been assigned by the teacher, but taken up by the student.

It happened a bunch this week, so I'm smiling hard and telling the tale in 3 acts:

Act 1: The scene is 2nd graders who are learning how to change the font in their "Peace Cards to the World" that they're making in the tried and true application, KidPix. One girl comes across the font called, "Alex" and pretty soon students are asking, "Who's Alex?" I explain that this is the name of the font and that it was probably named after the person who made it (Alex). The girl who discovered the font lights up and says, "Cool! That would be cool to make your own font." Moments later, we are downloading the template to make your own font from FontCapture.com and I'm showing her how she can in fact create her very own font. She asks me if she can take the template home, and I say sure. The next day, she has created three beautiful fonts on the templates, has named them ("Peace," "Cactus," and "The Squirrel") and brings them to me. I scan them in, upload them to the site, and voila! she has her own fonts.

Now most of her class is taking home the font template and are bringing back font after font after font. My scanner is busy and happy, and this class has become font designers all on their own: it was never a part of my curriculum.

Act 2: It's a lesson working with photo images with 4th graders at the site Pixlr.com, which is a free web-based graphics program that does many things that the very expensive Photoshop can do. Students are working with the photos that they recently took in Art and are literally jumping out of their seats when they discover something new that completely transforms their photos into amazing works of art. At the end of the lesson, student after student actually thanks me for the lesson.

Then half the class goes home and fires up Pixlr.com on their own and continues creating art. They can't wait to tell me about it when I see them next.

Act 3: I'm watching 3rd and 4th graders "knock it out of the park" with their Poetry Blog they're working on: their poems are amazing, but so are the in-depth comments that they leave for each others' work. They don't just say that they like a poem. They are following through with our lesson of "What Makes a Good Comment" and telling why they like the poem, asking the poets questions about their inspiration, and starting threaded conversations with each other.

One student goes home and shows her mother the blog, teaches her how to log in and how to leave a meaningful comment. The mother joins in and leaves her daughter and another student comments on their work. The girl is overjoyed when she reads this the next day.

Now other students want their parents to join in. Neither their teachers nor I have even sent a letter home to orchestrate this.

It's happening all by itself.

The show continues... without the teacher as director.

Posted by Bob Sprankle at 12/10/2009 05:11:28 AM |

Nov 09

I missed October and this is almost the end of November!! Phew! We MUST be having fun! Time is FLYING!!

Just spent yesterday (Nov 23, 09) in a meeting with all the other Hoover Enrichment teachers, sharing our various robotics resources. It was fantastic! Then...at lunch we talked and talked and talked to a group of teachers from Hoover High, Spain Park, & Simmons connected with the Engineering Academies. We talked about how we can all work together; through peer helpers, perhaps on Skype, which is so near and dear to my heart (being the topic of my EdS paper!!). Joy!

THEN, we had another guest, Scott Ferguson (tech-guy, late of the Rick & Bubba show) who brought his Lego 'bot (named Robbie) who solved a Rubik's Cube!!

Then we played with Scratch & Alice programming (both free, BTW), Blabberize.com, NumberTwins (from Coolgames.com), and FreeRice.com. We were in Traci Ingleright's classroom/science lab at Gwin - about the only spot that would hold all of us. We ate ALL day, and with ALL of the excitement, I had to come home and take a nap!

The students are working diligently on a number of things -

*What are MY Talents? - Looking at how THEY learn, interact, what are their strengths, are they good at flexibility, fluency, forecasting, considering all the factors, what are the rules?, etc. etc.

*They are keeping a journal entry weekly on how they can/are/should become a self-directed learner, one of my goals for them.

*I always throw in problem solving (usually math problems) as an "Early Bird" (something to work on until everyone gets there/gets settled) whether they "LIKE" math or not (they WILL!).

*The students have all (beware of saying "all") chosen logos and code names, several have put themselves in blabberize and they are on the Podcasts, vodcasts, wiki's and blogs page in this wiki.

*Most of my students have also signed up for our "social networking" blog pages on Edmodo.com, including those in the AltaMath team, the Celebrate Science bunch, and the GEMS (Girls engaged in Math & Science)(but it's not a HAVE TO JOIN thing). Each class is a separate group - like my 4th graders on Thursday aren't mixed in with the 4th graders on Monday but both classes are connected in the Talent Pool group. Other people (including parents, siblings, anyone not invited) cannot access these groups. However, the students can text back and forth to each other (to each other's group/not individually), they can text me and I can text them. I've put a few math problems out there, suggested several mind-exzercising web sites and am playing it by ear (or eye, as the case may be). I'm not very happy with the amount of "zup?" "nothing, I'm bored" conversations. But we've only had this for a week and a half.

*AND, the COOLEST part of all, is that some of my students have begun fleshing out their MESS that they will work on. The assignment (due the week of Nov. 9) was to be thinking about, and, YES, they knew about this since our second class meeting, discussing an idea for a mess that they would like to attack. Not the kind of mess in their rooms but something that they can go outside of themselves for the greater good. So far, I have a group creating greeting cards for shut-ins (& trying to figure out ways to raise money for the supplies since Mrs. Mac is getting ready to cut them off), another group who is creating a portfolio of bulletin boards and (pro bono) marketing them to teachers, a group researching how they can alleviate some cruelty to animals, a team is creating teaching videos for Mrs. Rich and myself to teach other students to run the computers in the broadcast room.

Several groups are still more into "how can we raise money" than what they will actually do with it. We have talked about their responsibility with the money and that they may ask for parental donations but must keep track of that money/what they spend on supplies and pay it back before any profits are given away. Money raised - donations to be paid back = profit to go to charity.

One absolutely fascinating "mess" some 5th graders are attempting to tackle is researching what they can do to get the ball rolling on planning and building a rapid transit/subway in the Birmingham area. Where can they find out what has already been proposed? Who do they need to talk to, convince, lobby? If you know of anyone who could be instrumental in helping these far-sighed young people, please let me know. I know a city planner for B'ham and they'll contact him next week... but this is HUGE! I'll keep you abreast of what's happening!!

*Of course, there's always room for Origami, PopUps, and Automata - Automata are those wonderful whirly-gig-type contraptions where you turn the crank and the wings on the bird flap or something like that. Well, I bought several from www.robives.com and some students are making automata out of paper. This activity teaches PATIENCE, precision (in cutting, scoring, folding, gluing) and how gears, pistons, and all manner of machinery work - by building it! I also appreciate anything that helps with fine motor skills. As groups the students built arch bridges (complete with crockodiles in the water if it should collapse!) and tested a bunch beam bridge designs to see which could hold the most pennies.

Phew! Time's flying! Enough for now!

I'll be back! XXOO!!

MacRichment
It's September still but had to add...

Have you ever read something that just opens your eyes? Yeah, you've been getting along just great but then you get enlightened through a book or another's opinion and it's like a REVELATION! I have had one and I want to share it!

I hope you will remember in my last post I mentioned (strongly!) a couple of books by Rafe Esquith for parents (& teachers!!). In them he mentions Lawrence Kohlberg's Six Levels of Moral Development as one of his tools for teaching for excellence. Kohlberg, a professor at the University of Chicago and later Harvard, subscribed to the ideas of Piaget, especially that development manifests in rigidly defined stages, one after the other, in succession, no variation. One article I read said he went about his research differently than other psychologists of his time - he looked for the process through which his research subjects came to their moral reasoning, not the product of it. When asked a moral question such as is it okay for a man to steal drugs if his wife needs them and he doesn't have enough money to pay for them, he looked at the reasoning behind the answer, not just the answer itself. He also suggests that few of us ever get to the 5th and 6th levels. I must have been distracted if his work was mentioned in any of my classes because I do not remember learning about Kohlberg & his theory before. Synchronicity (things come around when you need them)??

Anyway, the levels are:
Pre=Conventional
1. I don't want to get in trouble. This is beginning stage of knowledge of right and wrong, the stage you learn from the adults around you. Everyone starts here.
2. I want to get a reward. This is doing what is right for a reward, a sort of behavior modification.

Conventional
3. I want to please someone. I want to step outside of myself and please another: my teacher, my boss, my sweetheart. You can see the maturational progression but it still isn't necessarily a moral one.
4. I follow the rules. I believe that the United States is at this stage of development. Which is why we have to have so many laws (rules) to "guide" our behavior. And if we don't follow the rules, we will get in trouble.

Post-Conventional (Kohlberg felt few people actually reach these levels)
5. I am considerate of other people. Wouldn't the world be a great place if we all were at this level? We would have empathy for others, be considerate of other's feelings, possibly not need so many laws to keep us from harming others, maybe even to the point of considering the environment because it affects us all.
6. I have a personal code of behavior and I follow it. This is one's conscience and the need to satisfy one's own universal principals of right and wrong. Esquith likes to use Atticus Finch, a key character from To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and Phineas, from John Knowles' A Separate Peace as examples of people who exhibit Level VI behavior, but because it IS Level VI behavior, don't need other people's recognition for it.

Okay, so now you know my new soapbox! While trying to calm the students in the gym for carpool the other day, I told them about these 6 levels; that none of us want them to get in trouble, that we give them spots to recognize (Spotted! silently) that they are doing the right thing, that we know they would like to please us (though sometimes by the end of the day it's tough!), that they DO know the rules and that I want them to do what is right just because it is right without anyone being there to watch. They are still just children, so our (yours and mine) work is going to be continuing, an ongoing process!! What we have to do is guide them through all of the stages of moral development and help instill in them is their own concept of empathy for others and the universal right and wrong and their own strength of conviction to satisfy their internal conscience.

Go rest. This was heavy!
XXOO!!
MM

MacRichment September 2009

It's September, I am all graduated (Educational Specialist in Technology degree, yea!!), almost re-rested, and now, getting ready to be raring to go!

I've been reading (A LOT!!), for pleasure for a change, - The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan, Teach Like Your Hair is on Fire & Lighting Their Fires both by Rafe Esquith, among others. I heartily recommend all three, but especially the two Esquith books for parents. Raising a capable EXTRAORDINARY child takes us all, together, and it doesn't come overnight!! Please let me know what you think when you read of any of these books! (I also re-read three Madelyne L'Engle books; A Wrinkle in Time, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, and A Wind in the Door and I'd recommend them, too!)

Please be forewarned that this is the only means of receiving this newsletter from MacRichment - I'm not sending out hard copies unless you specifically request one and then, Il mio piacere (It is my pleasure!) to print one for you! I think that is one of the most mannerly, nicest phrases in the English language so I asked my step-father how it is said in Italian (so it SOUNDS really neat, too!).

Back to MacRichment - I've charged the students (Oh! Didn't they TELL you??) with finding a mess to tackle. Not their room but something outside of themselves. There are several examples of going outside of yourself that I use often - one is of a young fella at Gwin who was concerned about the babies of homeless or displaced people - where would they get diapers? He started a campaign with his Little League team to bring in packages of disposable diapers. But one team can only diaper so much! So he got in touch with the Birmingham Barons who held a "night" just for him and the entry fee was a package of disposable diapers! Just imagine how proud this young man felt!

Another was last year here at RES. A fifth grade student was concerned about the children who had extended stays at Children's Hospital and their morale. She thought about sending little notes, or bears attached to notes or something that might brighten their day. She called and asked if Children's could use something like this (research!!) and, if so, how many beds there were. 270+ beds!! Yes! They would be more than happy to accept them, any and all!! So all year, during various lunch times, she and a group of her friends covered old bottles, jars, & containers with paper mache' and painted them to create vases. They also made a bunch of flip-catch the ball toys out of duct tape for boy patients but the quality was not up to her standards so they remained at home. Finally, she added ribbon flowers to each jar and carried them down to Children's Hospital. They were thrilled! That was a self-less act!

We are currently in the BRAINSTORMING phase of this Mess-Finding and the final idea isn't due until November so that they will have the rest of the year to work on their "mess." As messes become project-ideas the research about what HAS already been done, what NEEDS to be done, how can I get it done will take place. By November the students, as individuals or small groups, should be ready to go. And YES!! we would love any assistance you can offer!! Just email me!

Between the Mess and the Deep Blue Sea my classes are all participating in a Self-Discovery Unit. They have looked at what really interests them (at the moment, 'cause it changes!!), their talents and not-so-talents, their motivations, and their learning styles. They are keeping most of this in a packet that they will bring home in December to share with you. The more they know about themselves, the more they know about others, the better they will be at creating the optimal environment for their learning. We had a great discussion about TV watching today. How much is actual program watching and how much is sitting passively watching commercials? Blech!!

In addition to all of the above, they are also practicing creating with paper - pop-up cards, origami, quilling, stenciling, all sorts of things to do with paper. This is in preparation for making a number of paper models of gears and other machinery. Be patient! YOU'LL SEE!!

Of course, we play 7 Scrabble Scramble every so often. That's where we draw 7 scrabble tiles and, as a class, come up words using the letters over and over to amass the highest score we can. One 5th grade class had a wonderful day and now has to try to beat their 310 point record!! And sometimes we play Farkle or Tribulation (ask your child, I won't go into them here!!) or do math problem solving. Phew!! Quite the varied life we lead, what?

XXOO!!
Mrs. Mac

August #2
Classes begin tomorrow. I've tried to make sure there are no conflicts in the schedules, that all transfers have been checked, all the good stuff. I spent two daze downtown going over all the State Department rules and regulations and how to be effective about the affective needs of bright students after a half-day with the other Hoover Enrichment teachers, going over the same things! I'm READY!

This year...
First, I really want my students to take a good look at themselves. We will be taking interest inventories*, learning style inventories*, practicing being a Self-Directed-Learner*, looking at what matters to them in the world and developing ways to take charge of it. By December they should have a packet of THEMSELVES that they can bring home to share with you (but I hope they've been sharing & you've been asking about it all along).
Second, in between all of the above, will be an artsy dip into PAPER. We'll start with just folding paper and go from there. Small muscle manual dexterity exercises. You might hear words like foldables, origami, kiragami, pop-ups, automata, & quilling and catch your child folding napkins or scraps of paper or jazzing up a report with a touch of color. Of course this also includes all the things you can do ON paper - Splodges!, printing, drawing, painting, resist...the list is endless! Wait till they get to design Holiday Cards! I anticipate that they will knock your socks (stockings??) off!! ANY paper you can part with will be accepted gladly. Pretty stationary or scraps of gift wrap? Newspapers, especially the comic sections? Tissue? Thin cardboard or card stock? Used scrap paper (works great for practice pieces)!! Do you parents have any paper expertise you would like to share?? Let me know! Come visit!! We may even make paper, that depends on their interest.


*Interest Inventory: Taking a look at what THEY want to know about and facilitating their journey to finding out more.
*Learning Style Inventory: When a student is aware of HOW they learn, how they best receive information, they can accommodate when the delivery of information isn't a best fit. For example, one of my styles is as a visual learner - that is, I like to SEE it. That means I learn best by reading or watching a movie or seeing someone do something. So when I have to sit through a lecture (and LISTEN) I have ways I accommodate to make it more of a visual (& therefore more accessible to my brain) experience. And then I have to DO it, feel how it's done, in a more physical/kinestetic style. The whole thing is METACOGNITION - thinking about how you think & working for your own best interest.
*Self-Directed-Learner: a student, of ANY age, who takes responsibility for following an interest or a need to know and, by doing so, can learn just about ANYTHING they want! AND I know YOU are modeling this sort of behavior for your children!!

Come get SPOTTED at Riverchase! More SOON!
XXOO!!
Mrs. Mac
"Learning is like rowing upstream: not to advance is to drop back." ~~ Chinese Proverb

AUGUST!!
The heart beats a little faster...anticipation builds... dust bunnies (okay, okay, dust rhinos) fly.... getting ready for the new school year is SO exciting! Of course it eats away at the summer vacation but what's a summer vacation among friends? I taught a bit of summer school (well, if you call vermiculture (worm farming) summer school), I've cleaned out my garage like a dutiful person, I scraped, re-taped, mudded, sanded & re-painted my skylight (SO proud!!), & I visited my 5 month old grandson in NY (SO cute!!). I'm ready! Except for the ironing...!

NOW for the beginning of a new school year! I plan to use this wiki more and more this year so keep it bookmarked and come back often!

More SOON!! XXOO!! Mrs. Mac

July Already!!
However, GREAT news! Last evening was the last class toward the Educational Specialist in Technology degree! Still have loose ends to complete but, phew!, that's over!
Allow me to invite you to the final product of the Leadership in Technology class, with LOADS of THANKS to all the other teachers for all of their input.
http://leadersintech.wikispaces.com/
I believe I've already started uploading some of the ideas for next year so keep in touch! Loads more to come!!
XXOO!!
Mrs. Mac

JUNE 2009

Oh, WOW! Just finished a week-long class on VERMICULTURE! From 9 to 11 in the morning, at Aldridge Gardens in the field trip garden, 10 students learned about WORMS!! Katy, a 10th grade helper, was my right-hand person. There were 8 boys, 2 girls. There were 8 small people going into kindergarten, one going into 1st grade, one going into 2nd. They came from all over - Macadory, Bluff Park, church schools. Yet they melded into this cool bunch of dirt explorers! It was hot, it was sticky, sometimes it was smelly! We identified poison ivy, gourds, lilies, tomatoes, bamboo, pillbugs (rolly-polly bugs), butterflies, beans, and bees. We learned about (short word) ROT and (long word) DECOMPOSITION. We recited the silly poem about "Ooey Gooey was a Worm." We had a meeting in the Stump Circle where we read about the Magic Schoolbus. We also read about what (who?) could be found under a rock, what's in the Diary of a Worm, and used magnifying loupes (5x) to really get down and observe THINGS. The explorers drew pictures, a few wrote words, of the things they saw. They used pens so there wasn't a big to-do about erasing mistakes (Soooo helpful!).

I remember, as an undergrad, writing a paper on how I could teach anything from picnic table in the yard...ah, youth! Oh, BTW, I haven't yet gotten a grade for the last paper I wrote, and the hindsight is killing me. There have been SO many new articles since I wrote it, so much MORE new information, more people who agree with the idea, that would have made it better. C'est la vie! Now, the latest class has us examining Leadership. It's funny. It feels like opening a whole new view on the world. You know, I've always been so appreciative of my leaders. I appreciated that they did- whatever- they did so that I could do what I do. But this class has opened my eyes to the power welded, or not welded, by school leaders. And the resulting percolation into classrooms. Or is it an upward movement? Yes, I know I have to have a vision of what I aim to teach, I have to stand behind, believe in what I have as my goal, and make sure my students know what the goal is... What I hadn't solidified in my mind was how much this all matters from MY leaders. So now I'm embarking on a campaign to rekindle the Hoover vision of a technologically POWERFUL educational system so that we make the BEST use of all the tools given us to enhance the lives of our students. So there!

Sorry, early morning soapbox!

Back to last week - one day we created fingerpainted worm tracks by pouring a puddle of liquid laundry starch on the back of freezer paper (the shiny side is too slick). To that Katy added a couple of drops of blue, yellow, and red food coloring. Stir it all together and you get the greatest shades of brown! And really GOOEY fingers! We let it all dry and the next day we added worm eggs (splotches of brown puff paint), we printed worms using stamps carved from potatoes (we added the leftovers to the compost pile!) and several more made with a trail of glue covered with sprinkled dirt. It really does LOOK like a worm- when they stretch out you can see the particles of dirt moving down their digestive system. We had a failed experiment (but a GREAT photo!) of making gummy worms. If you take 3/4 cup boiling juice + 1 package of unflavored gelatin, mix, pour into a loaf pan, and submerge about 10 drinking straws in it, cool and squeeze out the "worms". We tried it also with a package of BLUE jello + 1/2 cup boiling water, the rest is the same. The straws were too skinny so getting the worms out was sticky, hard to accomplish, and didn't work well!! YOU try it with FAT straws! But the photo of everyone showing their blue tongues is priceless!

Oh, the best part! We made worm condos! Everyone got to take home a tennis ball tube with a (decorated, of course) coffee filter paper (w/ rubber band) "roof." Rocks in the bottom, dirt, clay soil laid the foundation. Created a decorated, removable paper skin for the tube (worms like DARK!!). Added a touch (!) of water and chose the best 5 worms and an egg or two with a little compost to inhabit the home.

I didn't know pre-K's could do so much! This was a GREAT bunch of kids; they shared, they discussed, they worked hard, they cleaned up (don't tell their moms!)! I had a Blast! Thanks!

Hello, out there!
This is still May! Wow! That's so hard to believe that the school year is over. If you are anything like me, though, the thoughts of what's coming next are bubbling to the surface. In a way, I really wish we had year-round school. Nature doesn't stop and start a snowball from rolling down the slope...it doesn't make sense to me to stop and start school for the summer. Yes, a vacation now and then is lovely - I'd never get anything painted or cleaned out but I know I feel I do best with a regular schedule (ask me again during the regular schedule and I'll tell you differently!). I'm a creature of habit and I feel guilty about not taking my shower 'till ten. I mean, I've worked, but in my jammies with a cup of coffee nearby.
I'm finishing a thesis paper (due next week) so I'm not in my right mind. I play all the games I see my students play to avoid the inevitable...well, I haven't seen them have this great NEED to clean house...to avoid sitting down and actually writing the paper. I've changed it at least 5 times and I am not sure about this edition. My professor liked the last start but I had already changed it again before I heard from her. If you really want to know, it's about using all of the wonderful technology Hoover provides to reach out to other schools (in the HCS system, for now) to differentiate for students who need to progress further faster. Not truly acceleration, like grade skipping, but allowing them to advance in subject areas at a natural pace for them (remember the snowball??). Because all of the schools are connected via closed-circuit, it seems to me that, with a well placed video camera or webcam, classes from one school could be broadcast or taped, to be used for students in another school. Or maybe a teacher at one school might be a mentor for a student at another. (eew, that sounds like more WORK, doesn't it? Teachers are already stressed as it is!)
Here's a for instance, anyway; suppose there was a student who was very interested in learning another language, or had a gift for mathematics. Why not allow them to pursue a talent or learning desire? If whatever the topic might be isn't available in the student's home classroom, maybe it's down the hall or in another elementary or middle or high school. We have the technical capability. Maybe I'm not seeing all the pros and cons, but it seems to me that it would not take a lot of effort to send out an SOS email about a student who is HERE (pre-tested out of American History for knowing 96% of the content that will be taught in the next 2 months) and would benefit from being (virtually) THERE, with a more advanced American History class or something else that lights their fire.
I've been talking about this with everyone who will listen (like you, right now), trying to get my thoughts in order, reading everything and have found a couple of encouraging compatriots - one was Mr. May, our Art teacher. He latched on to the idea and ran with it. He suggested a couple of students who, haivng done their work for him, would benefit (possibly be less disruptive??) with access to additional/different instruction. He doesn't teach batik (I've asked) but Judy Davidson at Rocky Ridge does, perhaps she could video a lesson (which would have it in storage for multiple uses...?!(for me, too!!)) or stream a lesson to Mr. May's room sometime. Right now, Mr. McKinley, who helped coach the Altamath team, is creating MathCasts (short video/virtual blackboards that explain/examine math procedures) to help the team members (or any math student) work on constructing math concepts. As you know, there's a power point on this wiki that shows students what they need to know/how to work the math problems given in the Altamath test. The world is out there. We need to be able to access it. Oh, BTW, it works both ways - what if a student at Berry needed a refresher class in something offered at Riverchase... We have the schedules what what is being taught when, now we just need to fit them to the students!! Anyway, the possibilities are endless, in my mind.
One last parting shot, an Enrichment teacher at another school mentioned that the streaming videos, etc. would also be useful for a student of hers that has a physical challenge and if often at home, ill. Through the wonderful (I've said that before, haven't I?) technology provided by Hover City Schools, she can have that student in her class with the others, via Skype or Moodle (I'll digress on that one, later).
Thanks for playing along with me, it's only 8am, I've got 2 hours before my shower!!
Let me hear YOUR thoughts!
XXOO!!
Mrs. Mac

May 09 MacBlog

Happy LAST MONTH of SCHOOL!!

Thanks to all who came out for the Share Fair!!
And thanks to all for loaning me your children this year!!

I found the following on line and felt that this encompassed a lot of what our Design Unit was all about:

Learning and innovation skills increasingly are being recognized as the skills that separate students who are prepared for increasingly complex life and work environments in the 21st century, and those who are not. A focus on creativity, critical thinking, communication and collaboration is essential to prepare students for the future.

Creativity & Innovation

Think Creatively

• Use a wide range of idea creation techniques (such as brainstorming)
• Create new and worthwhile ideas (both incremental and radical concepts)
• Elaborate, refine, analyze and evaluate their own ideas in order to improve and maximize creative efforts

Work Creatively with Others

• Develop, implement and communicate new ideas to others effectivel
• Be open and responsive to new and diverse perspectives; incorporate group input and feedback into the work
• Demonstrate originality and inventiveness in work and understand the real world limits to adopting new ideas
• View failure as an opportunity to learn; understand that creativity and innovation is a long-term, cyclical process of small successes and frequent mistakes

Implement Innovations

• Act on creative ideas to make a tangible and useful contribution to the field in which the innovation will occur

Browse Creativity & Innovation Resources

Critical Thinking & Problem Solving

Reason Effectively

• Use various types of reasoning (inductive, deductive, etc.) as appropriate to the situation

Use Systems Thinking

• Analyze how parts of a whole interact with each other to produce overall outcomes in complex systems

Make Judgments and Decisions

• Effectively analyze and evaluate evidence, arguments, claims and beliefs
• Analyze and evaluate major alternative points of view
• Synthesize and make connections between information and arguments
• Interpret information and draw conclusions based on the best analysis
• Reflect critically on learning experiences and processes

Solve Problems

• Solve different kinds of non-familiar problems in both conventional and innovative ways
• Identify and ask significant questions that clarify various points of view and lead to better solutions

Browse Critical Thinking & Problem Solving Resources

Communication & Collaboration

Communicate Clearly

• Articulate thoughts and ideas effectively using oral, written and nonverbal communication skills in a variety of forms and contexts
• Listen effectively to decipher meaning, including knowledge, values, attitudes and intentions
• Use communication for a range of purposes (e.g. to inform, instruct, motivate and persuade)
• Utilize multiple media and technologies, and know how to judge their effectiveness a priori as well as assess their impact
• Communicate effectively in diverse environments (including multi-lingual)

Collaborate with Others

• Demonstrate ability to work effectively and respectfully with diverse teams
• Exercise flexibility and willingness to be helpful in making necessary compromises to accomplish a common goal
• Assume shared responsibility for collaborative work, and value the individual contributions made by each team member

This next weeeeeeeek will be filled with inventory of the LEGO boxes. I've been a real witch about them - I have a baggy of LEGO pieces I found on the floor. I'm going to exact a penalty from the team that needs them back!! We've got to take care of the things that we share! Oh, and cleaning up the room. Teachers are supposed to have all of their stuff that's on the floor moved out into the hall so the custodians can strip the floors....ahhhhh!
Please put on your lists for me for next year: Duct Tape HotGlueGun-Glue Sticks Printer Ink
On second thought, don't. I'll remind you again next year!! But now you'll be forewarned!

Thanks for a great year with these small people. I wonder what kind of mischief we can get into NEXT YEAR!! Keep in touch, I'll try to write in the blog more often (especailly if people out there write to me, too!) Stay safe and excellent to each other!!

XXOO!!

Mrs. Mac

Forget February! It's MARCH!

Okay, okay, I missed February's posting - I meant to "get a round tuit" but didn't. It was an exciting month and March is following it's example. I'll try to make up for missing it!
The Talent Pools are all burbling with activity on this Robotics and Design Unit. Of course, there were a few set-backs - some students didn't quite understand that when I said "I want you to write down the design steps" that it meant WRITE DOWN the design steps. When a group/team tells me they have completed a project I ask them to sit down with me and share their journals. For each activity they should have a tab and then they should start with 1. Identify the Problem. I had a couple of journals that were shared without even a Title!! of their projects. Au Contrare! I believe I'm identifying a problem here... that what they are working on producing is haphazard, can be done in a slapdash manner, and doesn't have any rules. WRONG!! I will not allow the team to go on to the next activity without satisfying my criteria. Title. Identify the Problem (some projects identify the problem for them!). Then 2. Brainstorm (& research - you can get some good ideas through research!!), LISTEN to each other and WRITE THE IDEAS DOWN! Even if you don't like a particular idea, take the time to write it down, it may lead, later, to a better idea. Draw pictures. LABEL the pictures! I tell these junior engineers that by writing all this down & drawing pictures together they make sure that they are all on the same page, talking about the same thing, coming up with a common goal. 3. Design what your best idea should look like (I want 3 designs so your team has a choice), label the parts of your design. (I figure I've been saying this to my classes for two months now, now I'm saying it to you, the parents) 4. Build your best design using materials that the team provides. If you don't have the materials, what will you do in my class? 5. Test your design, sometimes the test is provided for them, sometimes they have to devise their own tests (WRITTEN, if you please! Charts are fine!!). I suggest that they try a test at least 3 times, so they can take an average or know that it's not just an "oops" before they try to change anything. Keep records!! So you can 6. Evaluate What went well? What didn't? How far, how fast, how high? Problem solve! If a prototype boat sinks...if a paper table falls over....if a vehicle veers to the left, figure out why, fix it and try again! 7. Redesign, if necessary, then try, try again.
Yes. I am being as hard as possible. Some students couldn't wait to create a "balloon car". Problem (not provided for them): Create a vehicle that will travel at least ____ feet using a balloon. I provided all kinds of information on Newton's Laws, photos from the Internet of ooodles of ideas for balloon cars. I believe my 5th grade would still be playing with the balloons if I hadn't said "Enough." We have videos and photos of some of the test runs that you will be able to see at the Share Fair in May. I love the fact that the tiles on the floors are one foot square, it makes measuring how far so much easier!
I have told the students that while I'm glad they like these projects, the projects are not MY prime concern. My goals for this unit are 1. To learn/use the design steps (on paper, in their journals, to solve problems), 2. To be responsible - responsible for the Lego Kits they are using (I have a baggy of parts found on the floor...), responsible for bringing in their share of the materials needed for their projects, and responsible for their behavior in the group and in my room. 3. To learn to work in a group. When we started they decided that they wanted to keep the same group throughout this unit. They chose one person in their group to be "Captain", this is the person who cheerleads the group, keeps the projects flowing, is responsible for the Legos and cleaning up after each class (not that they have to DO it all, they are the ones I am relying on), etc. However, after almost two months of togetherness, working as a group was getting to be so difficult (or that other groups' projects looked like more fun) that a couple of students asked if they could change groups. A discussion of What Does a Team Look Like?, How Does YOUR Team Look?, What Can YOU do about It? has helped. I have given the teams the option to change "Captains", if they want (but I'm not making more business cards!). I do feel that our Talent Pool Group Problems have strengthened the attainment of my goals and, however much the students may complain, they are learning how to problem solve.
Anyway, PI DAY is coming up! Since the numerals in Pi are 3.14, Pi Day is held every year on March (3rd month) 14th. Shakespeare obviously missed his chance to quoth, "Beware the Pi of March!" Since March 14 is a Saturday this year, we are celebrating on Monday, March 9, during the Altamath Team time (8:15-9). BTW, the 16 fifth grade students on the Altamath team are competing this Saturday, March 7, so good luck to them all!! The competition is also held for 6th and 7th graders as well, so encourage your 4th & 5th grade students to try out next year!
March is the last month in the Mini-Courses on Building Big that I've been offering to 1 & 2 & 3's. I'm also seeing some fourth graders for an independent project who decided it looked like fun. This month the topic is Skyscrapers! So we'll see what occurs! The PBS series is based on the book Building Big by David Macaulay and investigates the history, engineering, and building of Tunnels, Dams, Domes, Bridges, and Skyscrapers. You & your child can participate on-line at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/buildingbig/. I hope you've seen some of the videos of these mini-courses!
There are 3 R2D2's taking shape in my room. This is an independent project near and dear to the hearts of three "Robo-Boys" from Ms. Corgill's class. I'll post photos soon. Another independent project is a "Go-To Box" on Disasters being put together (for others to go to) by a team of students who see me on Tuesdays.
Friday afternoons are taken up with Celebrate Science, a competition for student science exhibitors for the McWane Center. They are SMART foxes - McWane is looking for science stuff that will appeal to students so who better to devise a new exhibit than students?? Our team took 3rd place last year so we are pumped this year! We have a GREAT idea, we think, so everyone is working diligently on creating the reasearch for and the building of our prototype, due to be judged at McWane in early May.
I'm sure there is more but it'll have to wait. So long for now!
Remember: Be Excellent to Each Other! &
Learning is like rowing upstream, not to advance is to fall back. Chinese Proverb
Mrs. Mac

JANUARY 2009 MacRichment Newsletter!

From now on, THIS is where you, parents, will find the monthly NewsLetter. I'll send home a note to accquaint/remind you with the MacRichment Wiki and, hopefully, you will get even MORE information from now on! If it's not in the blog, it may be in one of the other sections!

Well, NOW we've done it! We've begun "It's in the Design!" And two students have already said how much they LIKED the activities! The game plan is that the classes have divided themselves into teams of at least two but not more than four. They have decided on a captain and a "professional" name. Why a Captain?, they have asked. A captain is responsible for the group - if they leave a mess, I contact the Captain. If they aren't getting to work as they should, it's the Captain's problem. This and the fact that they must, upon choosing what activities they want to work on (one at a time, please!), come up with the materials they need. I am hoping they will find new ways to use cast-offs, learn to share responsibility for aquiring what they need, and still have fun doing it! Please be sure to ask your student for a business card! They will also be used to advertise the projects and give credit to their designers. And to pass out to admirers!

Anyway, the plan is to continue with these activities until the end of school. We also plan to hold a Share Fair and will invite you properly when the time comes. At the Share Fair you will see the projects that have been accomplished. There will be friendly competitions, much picture taking, perhaps even refreshments!

Please be sure to take a look at the menus, listed in the navigation box. A vote was taken and the students decided that they would not change teams but wanted to be able to choose from different menus. The Robotics Menus will be on the wiki this week!

I'll be back! Be excellent to each other!