Studies show that a curious mind is fertile ground for learning, so combining the freedom of play and exploration with more structured learning goals is a more powerful formula than a 100% teacher driven approach to lessons (Gruber, 2014). If you can set aside your notions about what a classroom should sound, smell or look… Read more »
Ten months ago, I left the familiarity of the formal classroom setting in pursuit of practices in constructionism, free of the tyranny of standardardized testing and a one size fits all curriculum. While driving from coast to coast and back again, I visited some truly inspiring makerspaces. From the woods of New Hampshire, to the… Read more »
Ask…. and ye shall answer your own questions “I hope to apply a strong focus on place-based making and science while here in Atlanta…I also noticed that this year’s research panel was very program and project focused, or more practical in nature. This gives me hope that higher education is stepping up to the plate… Read more »
Introduction In previous blogs I have written about my students engaging in a spring hard problem each year. After learning new tools, material science and the basics of patterns and structures, these projects are a deep design challenge that students engage in for an entire semester in teams of four to five. The level of… Read more »
Every learner deserves a space to go to every day that will expose them to the beauty of the world and the intrepid explorer that they truly are. How can learning spaces cultivate this goal while encouraging constructive autonomy in the youngest of learners? Two spaces that I have had the pleasure of visiting have… Read more »
In response to a literal call for #HELP on Twitter, I pulled together three blogs from various resources. This is blog 3 of 3 to help construct my own knowledge on the topics of making in schools and the two learning theories constructivism and constructionism. Constructionism, a Learning Theory Centuries in the Making Standing on a foundation… Read more »
In response to a literal call for #HELP on Twitter, I pulled together three blogs from various resources. This is blog 2 of 3 to construct my own knowledge on the topics of making in schools and the two learning theories constructivism and constructionism. Constructivist Science The idea that each individual should learn through direct experience rather… Read more »
In response to a literal call for #HELP on Twitter, I pulled together the following three blogs from various resources. This was not as easy of a task as I was hoping, but I continue to model the use of constructionism with materials like words to force me to better understand, aka construct my own knowledge on… Read more »
We Live in a Material World How often do you take the time to examine the materials that the world around you is composed of? It is not a practice that we are accustomed to doing consciously. Once we learn the names of things – that stuff is plastic, that is metal, that is wood… Read more »
Hillbrook’s 5th grade, the class of 2019, has embarked on this year’s spring hard problem, a semester long deep project in science that addresses rigorous research practices, as well as a challenging engineering and design prompt. What makes the spring hard problem so hard? In the spring students are asked to apply everything they have… Read more »