Well balance of affection and learning. Lave and Wenger (1991) state that the importance of the “relationship of masters to apprentices” is more important than the content of teaching itself. Sometimes the teacher can go too far in terms of building a positive relationship and trying to be likable to all the students. Cavallo suggests… Read more »

Teacher as facilitator in FabLab. A teacher in a FabLab has different roles and actions compared to a conventional classroom. The active classroom amplifies a lot of the social interactions in class which teachers need to pay attention to in order to provide appropriate support for students according to their needs. Freedom that allows autonomy… Read more »

The 2014/2015 FabLearn Fellows cohort is a diverse group of 18 educators and makers. They represent eight states and five countries, and work with a wide range of ages at schools, museums, universities and non-profits. Throughout the course of the year, they will develop curriculum and resources, as well as contribute to current research projects. Their… Read more »

I posted a while ago about the line between instructions and letting students figure it all out, and I said I would report back after I taught the telegraph lesson. I started with a design meeting with our lab director and our tinkerer in residence (yes, I know, it is so cool that I work… Read more »

In some ways, National History Day (NHD) is rather “old school,” a science fair style research competition for history. I started requiring my students to participate in NHD because I saw the potential for deep research and thought, a good match with our department history “habits of mind” and a great opportunity for students to… Read more »

My sixth and seventh grade STEAM students immersed themselves in the wonder of electricity this school year. They started out by exploring basic circuits, using blocks that I constructed using the Exploratorium’s ideas from their electricity exploration curriculum.   The overall learning targets for this unit were: Students will learn how to handle and connect components… Read more »

Shaunna Smith, Ed.D. is an Assistant Professor of Educational Technology at Texas State University who I met at the Maker Ed Summit in Arizona last fall. She has been facilitating art + math makercamps for middle school girls with a focus on impacts to their efficacy and visual spatial skills. They use the Revised Purdue Spatial Visualization Tests:… Read more »

Aloha! During Spring Break I spent one week visiting The ‘Iolani School, a K-12 private school with over 1800 students in Honolulu, Hawaii. I was fortunate to be invited by their Head of School, Dr. Timothy Cottrell, to attend some classes, teach a few workshops, and meet with his talented technology team. This school has… Read more »

“Constructionism is not interested in pitting serious against playful, but instead finds ways to live at the intersection of the two” – Paulo Blikstein (2015) In previous blogs I have addressed the role of co-teaching in a maker classroom, as well as the intersection of Reggio Emilia practice and working in a makerspace in hopes… Read more »

Part 2: People and Relationship as Learning Assets in FabLab (Thank you again to Ms. Angi Chau and Ms.Heather Pang for having me to visit and observe your wonderful work at Bourn Idea Lab at Castilleja School.) Looking closely, the physical objects and setting of both the BI Lab or the soap carving classroom is just… Read more »