I am constantly prowling Kickstarter for new products that I think might be good for my students. Lately, two STEM-related toys aimed particularly at girls have been on my radar. The first, “iBesties,” only has 3 days left in its campaign as of today. They are very close to reaching their fundraising goal of $50,000. … Read more
Yep. You read that correctly. How have I not heard of this before?!!! Problem-based, standards-based, project-based…. All familiar to me. Zombie-based? Not so much. The only reason I know about it now is because of another of Edutopia’s fabulous 5-Minute Film Festivals. This one, posted on 7/17/15, is about inspirational teachers. I scanned the list … Read more
Brainspace is a quarterly magazine for kids aged 8-14 that is published in Canada. U.S. Subscriptions are also available (about $30 for 4 issues). The magazine topics in the issue sent to me for review ranged from dinosaurs to speaking French to whether or not you can get sucked out of an airplane toilet (not likely, … Read more
“Are we going to do Share Time today?” “Yes.” “When?” “Soon.” 5 minutes later… “When can I share?” This 5th grader was super-excited, and completely determined to make sure I didn’t forget to give him his 5-minute sharing opportunity. In my GT classroom, students can earn different privileges for certain achievements, and this was a … Read more
The following pics are of creations that students made using our new Makerbot 3D printer. Mrs. Lackey, our librarian, guided a small “pilot” group of 5th graders through the City X curriculum. In this curriculum, a story is weaved about a fictional city on another planet that has problems that need to be solved. The … Read more
String art fascinated me as a child. Creating circles out of straight lines of thread seemed so delightfully oxymoronic that I would mesmerize myself for hours doing it over and over again. Since the only string art projects I did came from kits bought at the local hobby store, there wasn’t a lot of creativity … Read more