I was a middle school teacher for three years before I confronted the reality that teaching public school and financial safety in the Bay Area don’t square up. Especially with a baby on the way. I therefore quit my brief teaching career and enrolled in the most competitive coding bootcamp available. This essay is a… Read more »
Author: David Malpica
United States
David currently teaches Computer Science (Scratch, Python, HTML/CSS, physical computing, and Unity3D) at the The Girls' Middle School in Palo Alto.
Between 2013 and 2016, David ran FabLab@BCS, a FabLab embedded at Bullis Charter School in Los Altos, CA. David facilitated learning in digital fabrication of all types with an emphasis in 3D design and printing. He has worked with children in grades 3 - 12, but focused on 5 - 8. He enjoys live music, video games, futbol, and commuting on his bicycle :D
You can follow him on Twitter @artechsano
How we ran a 3 week engineering design experience for 7th graders
At Bullis Charter School we developed a full-time 3 week Engineering Design experience which I will detail on this post. When it comes to making experiences, it’s hard to imagine a deeper and more rigorous one as offered by engineering. Authors and advocates of maker ed will say that it is about creating conditions for… Read more »
The Problem with Standards in Public K-12
I recently read ‘Measuring What Matters Most: Choice-Based Assessments for the Digital Age’ by Daniel L. Schwartz and Dylan Arena. It’s not about maker ed but its first degree cousin ‘game based learning’. One problem it touches on is the standards, which are also a significant hurdle for maker education in public K-12. The compulsory nature… Read more »
“Making” in California K-12 Education
In schools, “maker” education has been typically known for many years as hands-on project based learning (PBL). While “maker” education continues to deepen its roots in small pockets of the nation’s private education, the introduction and implementation of “making” into California public education still has a long road to go. Efforts are underway to provide… Read more »
Freire and the Classroom
Whenever I read Freire I feel inspired. And then I think about the realities of the classroom… How to implement problem posing education so that it is omni-present in the school environment? Is that even something that he proposed and imagined? Is there a place on earth where this is happening? How do they do… Read more »