Tag: makered

Creative Thinking, Critical Thinking, Education, K-12, Parenting, Teaching Tools

My List of Lists That Can’t Be Missed

Terri Eichholz

Shockingly, I’m not the only person with the idea of making gift recommendations during this time of year.  I’ve run across a few other great lists in the past few weeks that have helped me to add to my own growing wish list.  Just in case you don’t spend as much time combing the internet for more lists, here are some you should definitely check out:

I can't believe I haven't added this littleBits kit to our classroom inventory yet.
I can’t believe I haven’t added this littleBits kit to our classroom inventory yet.  Check out TKSST Guide for more great suggestions.  
3-12, Careers, Creative Thinking, Education, Parenting, Problem Solving, Science, Student Products, Teaching Tools, Videos, Websites

Curiosity Machine

Terri Eichholz

Curiosity Machine is a wonderful resource for educators and parents who are interested in cultivating a love for S.T.E.M./S.T.E.M. as well as making.  The site aims to cultivate “curiosity, creativity, and persistence” to help children succeed by offering hands-on engineering challenges.

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The challenges are in a vast array of topics from aerospace to food science to satellite systems.  One topic that interests me is biomimicry, as my 2nd graders are currently studying the physical adaptations of animals.  All of the challenges walk students through the design process, something that has become increasingly recognized as an educational necessity for citizens of the future.

Educators, parents, and students can access the challenges by getting a free membership.  Educators are able to create class groups, but students must join first before being invited to a group. If students are under 13 years old,  parents must first complete a consent form.  However, educators and parents can join themselves to access the materials and use them without the need of student membership.

There are also paid memberships, These include mentors (professional engineers and scientists) on student projects , training for parents and educators, and online support.

To get some great ideas for building, inventing, and problem-solving, visit Curiosity Machine and explore its wealth of resources!

Creative Thinking, Education, K-5, Parenting, Student Products, Teaching Tools

Gifts for the Gifted – Magna-tiles

Terri Eichholz

Around this time of year I post a gift recommendation each Friday as part of a “Gifts for the Gifted” series.  The title is a bit misleading, as it might imply that the gifts are only for children who have been endowed with the label, and that is certainly not true. Just as with any gift, you should select a product that suits the interests of the receiver.  These lists of potential gifts that I provide are ones that I feel will be engaging for children who enjoy problem solving and/or creativity.

I recently did a post about how Magna-tiles are a great addition to a makerspace.  This magnetic building tool is incredibly versatile and fascinates students of all age levels in my elementary school.  I’ve given Magnatiles to young children to play with as I conference with their parents and the older Maker Club students for building challenges.

Just yesterday, some of my 5th graders were trying to add some “flair” to one of their missions in the Wonder League Robotics Competition, and decided Magna-tiles would be the perfect prop to include in the video.

Photo Nov 19, 10 20 48 AM Photo Nov 19, 1 46 45 PM

The first architectural marvel turned out to be a spectacular failure. (I’ll try to share the video later today.)  The second one has potential but needs a bit more programming.

What I’ve learned, though, is that Magna-tiles really encourage children of various ages to use their imaginations – especially when they are collaborating with others.  They can also be combined with other projects.  Try using them with LittleBits (lighting up the clear colored set from within might be a nice challenge) or Legos, for example.  If you do decide to gift them to a young person, remember that it’s important to show interest and give them suggestions.  You can find some Random Building Challenges here.

For more in the Gifts for the Gifted series, check out this page or my Pinterest Board.

gifts

Creative Thinking, Education, K-12, Student Products, Teaching Tools

Random Building Challenges

Terri Eichholz

We have all sorts of building materials in B.O.S.S. HQ (Building of Super Stuff HeadQuarters) – from Legos to Magnatiles.  During the first quarter of our after-school Maker Club adventures this year, the students rotated through different building materials each week.  To make things interesting, they were given building challenges.  I wanted to make the challenges a little bit of surprise, so I grabbed ideas from all over the internet and put them in to one spreadsheet that was a template from Flippity.net.  You can make a copy of the Google Sheet template here. After you make your own copy, you can plug in whatever random ideas you have on the first worksheet.  Then, go to File-Publish to Web, and paste the link you are given on to the 2nd worksheet in the space provided.  Flippity.net will give you a link for the your new random chooser.

If you don’t want to build your own random chooser, you can just use mine.  This tool from Flippity.net is supposed to help you choose student names randomly, but it works for anything you type into the spreadsheet cells.  I just happened to want building ideas.  On my Flippity page, all the students need to do is choose the random icon, and they are given an idea for building. (Be sure to click on the “Single Name” tab at the top rather than using the Spinner tool.)

Builder Challenges
Building Challenges on Flippity.net

I’ve found that it helps to have a bit of a focus for activities like this, as students sometimes find the challenge makes them even more creative, and they enjoy seeing how other students solve the same problem.

For more Makerspace articles, check out my Makerspace Essentials page!

 

Apps, Computer Science, K-12, Teaching Tools, Videos, Websites

Code Dread

Terri Eichholz

Last week I gave a presentation called, “Code Dread,” at a tech conference.  I’m not sure who had more dread at the time – the attendees who hadn’t tried coding before, or me, the teacher who can only speak publicly in front of people 10 and younger.

My target audience was people who are interested in using coding in the classroom but have some reservations like:

  • I don’t know how to do this.
  • I don’t have time to learn how to do this.
  • I can’t fit this into my curriculum.

Here are my recommended solutions:

  • Pretend you’re pretending you don’t know how to do this because that’s what’s best for your students; it will make them better problem solvers.  This has the added benefit of being true. (Not the pretending part – the better problem solver part.)  If you don’t know how to do it, you won’t feel tempted to rescue them too quickly.
  • Learn along with your students.  You don’t have to spend time during the weekend learning it.  Just put it in your lesson plans and jump in.  It will be messy and chaotic, but learning will happen.  You’re modeling a growth mindset, and showing students that it’s okay to make mistakes as long as you learn from them.
  • Once students know the basics, there are all kinds of ways coding can be used as part of your everyday curriculum.  For example, Sphero provides lessons that connect to math.  With Scratch Jr. you can teach Kinders how to program while they learn their sight words. And I taught my 1st graders geography with Dash and Dot.

Here is the link to my presentation – though it may not make a whole lot of sense without my narration.

Hour of Code will be here soon (12-7 thru 12-13).  The Code.org site provides extremely user-friendly resources and tutorials.  They just announced their newest tutorial yesterday – Star Wars!  This is a great way to dip your toes into coding and find out that it really isn’t that intimidating.  Here is a simplified scope and sequence I offered to our faculty last year (with a few updates for 2015).

But don’t stop there!  Your students will love being able to code on a regular basis – especially when they are able to create games or art with their programming.  You can find many resources in my Code Dread presentation.  I also have a “Programming for Kids” Pinterest board.

So, jump on in.  Who cares if you don’t know what you’re doing?

I certainly don’t.  Know what I’m doing, I mean 🙂

Take a risk, and get rid of your

Code Dread

Careers, Education, K-5, Student Products, Teaching Tools

Mighty Dolls

Terri Eichholz

Do you happen to have some dolls who are in drastic need of a make under? Sonia Singh, the artist behind Tree Change Dolls, found a way to give new life to dolls who might be ready for a less flashy lifestyle.  She has made several YouTube videos describing the process of removing the manufacturers’ face paint from used dolls and giving them a fresh, clean look more suitable for healthy lifestyles than for dancing in clubs.

Inspired by Singh’s creations,  Wendy Tsao decided to take the idea to another level by modeling the recycled dolls after heroic women like Jane Goodall and Malala Yousafzai.  Tsao’s “Mighty Dolls” creations will be auctioned off on eBay, but it seems like this could be a great idea to “remix” in a makerspace or at home.  With the help of Singh’s videos and guidance from an adult, a child could choose any inspirational figure to fashion as a reminder of the attributes he or she most admires.

With so many consumers begging for toys that promote creativity without demeaning women, it might be time for us to stop relying on the manufacturers, boycott the toy aisle, and start making our own dreams come true.

image from: timlauer on Flickr.com
image from: timlauer on Flickr.com