I was reading a book by Ken Robinson the other day that reminded me of this video. I knew I had posted the video on my blog at some point, but didn’t realize that it was three years ago. It definitely bears making an encore appearance.
In this TEDx Talk by Todd Rose, you will hear the astounding story of how the Air Force discovered that designing for the “average” pilot can be debilitating.
Apply this to schools, as Todd Rose does, and you can see why – by trying to help the greatest numbers, we end up helping the least.
The video is 18 minutes long, but well worth watching all of the way through.
How cool is this?!!!! Staples collaborated with students at The Ron Clark Academy to design brand new school supplies. The pupils went through the Design Process to create products that are useful and appealing. You can see the students presenting their ideas in the video below.
Here is a link to the full list of student-designed products that can now be found on the shelves and online at Staples. I am so impressed with the ingenuity of these students, and wish I had some of these items when I was attending school! If you have a child shopping for the brand new year, consider purchasing one of these great supplies. And, if you are a teacher, consider the value of allowing students to come up with an idea and see it through to a conclusion where it impacts people in the real world.
Our elementary school is currently raising money to add a track. Since my 2nd graders are studying Structures, I invited one of the stakeholders to speak to the class about the process of coming up with an idea and following it through.
After our guest left and we debriefed, I asked the class to brainstorm some other structures they think would enhance our school.
“An ice cream shop.”
“A swimming pool!”
“A Large Hadron Collider!”
Confused faces turned to the last speaker. And, yes, my face was included in that crowd.
Everything I know about the Hadron Collider, I learned from Big Bang Theory, and I was fairly certain that my 2nd grader didn’t want to add one to school property so Leonard Hofstadter could bring Penny to Texas for a romantic weekend.
“Maybe you should explain to the class (and me) what that is,” I said hesitantly.
“It throws beams of protons at each other. I watched a special on it last night,” was the proud response.
This resulted in another student declaring that he would like to see a chemistry lab on campus – one that would allow him to “deconstruct dangerous acids.” (This was the same young man who asked our guest if he had considered the “ethics” of adding a track to our campus.)
The Hadron Collider morphed into a “Black Hole Room” with the purpose of helping you to “see and feel what a black hole is like.” My future self-proclaimed geneticist drew a “Biomimicry and Invention Test Center.” One young lady redesigned the room next door (our Maker Studio), specifying it as a Robot Lab instead. She meticulously drew every robot we have and included a child and an iPad as well.
I think more school districts and architects should consult young students on their designs. Maybe adding a Hadron Collider to the blueprint isn’t very practical – but neither is building a school where the only place our students can run is the parking lot.
World’s Largest K’nex Ferris Wheel – created by Austin Granger
I decided to make up a new phrase for today’s Phun Phriday post. (At least I think I made it up.) To me, “Extreme Creating” is when people take something that is usually used as a toy to pass the time, and devote days, weeks, and even months to making something remarkable with those toys. The K’nex constructions made by Austin Granger fall into this category.
The ferris wheel pictured above took 12,000 K’nex to build. You can see more stats when you watch the video on this post from Visual News. Granger’s most recent project, which took over 100,000 pieces, is also featured on the post. It’s a Goldberg-ish type machine that resides in The Works Museum in Minnesota.
My 2nd grade GT students are about to embark on their own K’nex journeys using the Bridges kits for our Structures unit. I think I’ll wait until we finish before I show them how Granger uses K’nex. It would not surprise me, however, if some of them could take it to this level some day.
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!
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!)
Ever since my former principal, John Hinds, recommended a book to our staff, Spaces and Places, by Debbie Diller, I have looked at my classroom with a brand new set of eyes. I’ve tried to break out of the traditional mold, and to create an environment that promotes engagement, collaboration, and curiosity. I still haven’t attained the ideal classroom, but I like to think that I improve each year.
This isn’t about themes or decorating. This is about placement of furniture and learning tools. It’s about visualizing the kind of learning that you would like to see happening, and then designing a space that facilitates that.
My ideal classroom would have mobile furniture, like the one I described here. But, in the absence of that, there are still things that I can do to project the aura of a synergetic learning enviroment. For example, this recent series of videos posted by Edutopia showing the transformation of a middle school teacher’s classroom gave me the idea of adding a “Genius Bar” to my room. (I suppose, if one is worried about the implications of the word, “bar”, “Genius Counter” might be a good substitute.) In the video, it is one wall with a long dry erase board over a counter and two computers at either end. What a fabulous idea! This would help me with my efforts to encourage the students to consult each other to help with problem solving, rather than to immediately refer to me.
Most of us do not have the resources to design a classroom from the ground up, but this is a great time of year to consider getting rid of, or re-purposing, what we don’t need and finding the best placement for what have. I know many teachers who have surrendered their teacher desks and/or filing cabinets because these pieces of furniture no longer serve a helpful function in the learner-centered, 21st-century classroom.
Instead of walking into your classroom and mechanically dragging desks into rows this year, consider what physical changes you can make to galvanize your students to become the kind of learners you have always imagined.
Since most of us don’t have a design team to consult, I highly recommend Spaces and Placesas a more economical alternative. Also, Classroom Architect is an online tool that you may find useful as you plan the structure of your classroom.
