Category: Teaching Tools

Art, Creative Thinking, Education, K-12, Philosophy, Student Products, Teaching Tools, Websites

Zen Pencils Design Challenge

Terri Eichholz
1st Entry in Zen Pencils Design Challenge
1st Entry in Zen Pencils Design Challenge, by Nasrin Lin

Not long ago, I mentioned on this blog that I am a huge fan of Gavin Aung Than, creator of Zen Pencils.  If you have not seen his work, you should definitely check it out.  He is a wonderful illustrator, and creates fabulous cartoon representations of inspirational quotes.  Recently, he posted a fantastic graphic about Bill Watterson, creator of Calvin and Hobbes.

In coordination with Than, the Just Start blog  is sponsoring a Zen Pencils design contest asking students to submit their own cartoons illustrating the following Nelson Mandela quote, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”  The first submission is pictured above.  The deadline for submission is Oct. 1.  The top 5 will be featured on Than’s website.

It’s fun to look at Than’s archives, where you can see all of his cartoons in order of creation.   You might want to use some of these as inspiration for your students if they plan to participate in the challenge.  (Preview all artwork before showing your students, as some of the pieces use language not appropriate for young children.)  Teachers might be interested to know that Than recently posted a cartoon version of Taylor Mali’s fabulous poem, “What Teachers Make.” (Click here if you have not had a chance to view the video – meant for adults, not children.)

Here are a few you might want to show your students:

“The Important Thing” – Albert Einstein

“If You Want to Build a Ship” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery

“Make Gifts for People” – John Green

“The Winds of Fate” – Ella Wheeler Wilcox

 

Behavior, Creative Thinking, Education, Independent Study, K-12, Motivation, QR Codes, Reading, Research, Student Products, Teaching Tools

Blast Off to Genius Hour!

Terri Eichholz

For many of you, today may be your first day of the new school year.  If so, I hope it’s a great one!  My goal is to make it an unforgettably fabulous year for my students.  In the immortal words of Kid President,

Kid President - Awesome Year

Update:  *As of 1/2/14, you can now download all of my current Genius Hour resources in a bundle on Teachers Pay Teachers for $5.  Or, you can still download them separately (for free) by clicking on the Genius Hour Resource Page. 

That’s my plan, and one of my strategies for achieving this is to offer Genius Hour to my 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade GT students.  (In the past, I’ve only offered it to my 5th graders.)

Over the summer, I developed some new resources to use during Genius Hour.  I’ve already shared some with you, but I just created some more:  Suggested Genius Hour Mission Sequence, Genius Hour Mission Planner, and Genius Hour Mission Log.  Each of these can be found, along with the other resources, on my Genius Hour Resources Page.  You can also find links to explanatory articles and some outstanding resources (that are definitely not mine!) on that page.

Here is a breakdown of the new pieces I just added:

Suggested Genius Hour Mission Sequence – this page is a very abbreviated list of recommendations for the teacher on how to conduct Genius Hour using the resources provided

Genius Hour Mission Planner – this is a planning sheet for students to fill out before each Genius Hour project

Genius Hour Mission Log – this is a reflection sheet to be completed at the end of each Genius Hour

If you’re new to this blog, you don’t want to miss out on the Genius Hour Trailer, Genius Hour Bookmarks (QR Codes), and Challenge Cards (which also include QR codes) – plus a bunch of other supporting materials.

Make this year awesome for your students by including Genius Hour in your lesson plans!  They will never forget it!

partial screen shot of Genius Hour Mission Planner
partial screen shot of Genius Hour Mission Planner
Apps, Critical Thinking, Education, Fun Friday, Games, K-12, Math, Parenting, Student Response, Teaching Tools

Questimate

Terri Eichholz

Questimate is a free mathematics app available for the iPad on iTunes.  The free version only allows you to reach a certain point, offering in-app purchases that allow you to purchase more “quests.”  There is also a Pro version that is $7.99 on the app store, but $3.99 for educators.  If you visit this page, you can get information for requesting a sample of the Pro version.

I first saw Questimate on the Technology Tidbits blog, and downloaded it immediately so I could try it later.  I do this a lot – and then I forget that I downloaded the app.  Then my daughter, who gets all of the apps I download on my personal device on her device as well, will say, “Hey, mom, what’s this app for?”  And then I (instead of admitting I have no idea) use my best teacher voice to say, “Well, why don’t you try it to see what happens?”  It doesn’t take very long for her to tell me if the app is a waste of time.

That didn’t happen with Questimate.  I started playing it by myself, and after I cheered a couple of times when I got something right, my husband drifted over to see what was going on.  Then my daughter entered the room, and pretty soon we were all giving input.  That’s when I decided that I definitely needed to feature Questimate for Fun Friday this week!

Questimate allows you to design your own estimation questions using their supplied options.  I’ve loaded a sequence of pictures below in a slideshow to show you the process for one question.  Once you create a question, you are given a screen for making your guess.  In this example, you use the number-line to choose.  Some of the other questions have you type in a number or actually resize pictures to show the general comparison between two objects.

You have 3 lives in a quest, and your estimate has to be within a certain target range of the correct answer in order to not “lose a life.”  You can earn points that can be used for various helpful hints during the game.

Questimate is fun, offers choice, and is educational.  It can be played in “Solo”, “Pass & Play”, and “Game Center”  versions.  Variations to choose from, even the Free version of the game should keep you engaged for quite a long time.

Questimate would be great as a center activity or as a fun game to project for the whole class.  It’s pretty good for family entertainment, too!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Education, K-12, Teaching Tools, Universal Design for Learning

Rows of Desks are SO Yesterday

Terri Eichholz

Remember the post I did on adding a Genius Bar to your classroom?  Well, I decided that I must do exactly that.  So, I have been working on re-purposing an old bookshelf to become the countertop of my Genius Bar.  Have I mentioned that I am not very good at DIY projects?  First of all, I often forget to do a “Before” picture, so I only have a “During” one.  Secondly, it’s possible I killed more than one brain cell while I spray-painted this monstrosity – and that’s slightly ironic considering the fact that I am calling it a “Genius Bar.”   However, I cannot wait until the students see the finished product.  Maybe they will be so excited that they won’t notice my diminished capacity…

My Genius Bar in progress!
My Genius Bar in progress!

I am doing my best to re-design my classroom this year to support the type of learning that I plan to facilitate during the next nine months – lots of collaboration and creation.  I just got some great news – I will be able to use the empty classroom next to me, as well!  I am brimming with ideas.  Unfortunately, I am not not brimming with finances for this endeavor.  I am going to see how much I can re-purpose to create my “Learning Studio,” and then work on getting financing for the rest – perhaps through Donors Choose.  I will keep you posted on my progress.

Speaking of Donors Choose, check out the #RemakeClass Photo Sweepstakes sponsored by Edutopia, in which you can possibly win a gift card from Donors Choose!  If you’re like me, and don’t think you can get it together by the August 25th deadline, you might still want to visit the site to take a look at all of the fabulous photos for some inspiration.  If you are interested in entering the contest, here is a link to the F.A.Q.’s. (Also, here is a link to Edutopia’s weekly giveaways, which also includes a Donors Choose gift card this week for $500!)

For more inspiration, here are a couple of other articles that have great ideas for classroom makeovers:  “How to Make Your Classroom a Thinking Space” by Suzie Boss, and “My Top 10 Learning Spaces – A Universal Design in a Gifted Classroom” by Zoe Branigan-Pipe.

Education, K-12, Motivation, Teaching Tools

Next Year is Here

Terri Eichholz
My goals are not nearly as lofty! from: http://huff.to/19FqEpF
My goals are not nearly as lofty – although, I’ve been practicing for the professional soccer one in my spare time.
image from: http://huff.to/19FqEpF

Near the beginning of the summer, I posted a series reflecting on some of the changes I want to make for this upcoming school year.  It is our staff development week here in San Antonio, and I have been looking back at my resolutions as I begin to plan for the return of the students next week.  I’m glad I wrote these back in June – because many of the specifics of these declarations left my brain about a week after I recorded them.  In case you are interested, and missed the posts the first time around, here are some of my goals for this school year:

Next Year Will Be Even Better – Genius Hour Ideas

Next Year Will Be Even Better – Online Learning

Next Year Will Be Even Better – Programming for Kids

Next Year Will Be Even Better – Skype in the Classroom

Next Year Will Be Even Better – Doodling

I’m a bit concerned about my Doodling goal.  I think I can do the encouragement part – but maybe not so much the modeling!

Now, if I’m really good at this whole self-reflection business, I will come back to this list next June to evaluate how I fared.  Maybe I should ask my students to track these; they have much better memories!

Art, Creative Thinking, Education, K-12, Motivation, Philosophy, Student Products, Teaching Tools, Websites

Advice to Sink in Slowly

Terri Eichholz

With many of us gearing up for the new school year, you might think that I am about to offer you my own advice on how to Sink in Slowly.  However, I am kind of a jump-in-the-deep-end-of-the-ocean-and-hope-there-aren’t-any-sharks kind of person.  When I ran across this post by Maria Popova on Brain Pickings, though, I liked the idea of advice from students for students.

Advice to Sink in Slowly is a website dedicated to the following:  “We help graduates to pass on advice and inspiration to where it can make a difference.”  It’s hosted in the UK, and offers posters designed by graduates in Graphic Design.  The posters are sold as a fundraiser, but the site recently offered some for free to all first-year students in the UK.  However, it appears their stock has been depleted.  You can access the catalogue here, but the posters that can be currently purchased are here.

Many of these would be great to display in a classroom – or even to show to new teachers.  It would also be fun to show a few to your students (but don’t set them loose on the site, as some of the images might be considered questionable for young students), and to see if they can design their own, kind of a twist on the “write a letter to next year’s students” activity.

by Chloe Trundle for Advice to Sink in Slowly
by Chloe Trundle for Advice to Sink in Slowly
by David Plant for Advice to Sink in Slowly
by David Plant for Advice to Sink in Slowly
by Luke Tonge for Advice to Sink in Slowly
by Luke Tonge for Advice to Sink in Slowly