Archives: Food for Thought

The Art of Tinkering

I’ve spent Winter Break devouring the book, The Art of Tinkering.  It was created by Tinkering Studio at the Exploratorium in San Francisco.  The book description is this:

The Art of Tinkering is a celebration of a whole new way to learn by thinking with your hands, working with readily available materials, getting your hands dirty, and, yes, sometimes failing and bouncing back from getting stuck. The Art of Tinkering offers a fascinating portrait of today’s maker scene, as well as beginner activities for you to try on your own. Make circuits out of playdough, film a time-lapse movie, fuse plastics into beautiful fabric, and much, much more.

Even the book itself can be hacked!

I can’t wait to incorporate some of these activities into our Makerspace programs.  If you are interesting in the Making/Tinkering movement, check it out!

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Math Class Needs a Makeover

I absolutely love this guy, Dan Meyer, and his push to develop “patient problem solvers.”    He suggests that math teachers should:

1.  Use Multimedia.

2. Encourage student intuition.

3. Ask the shortest question you can.

4. Let students build the problem.

5. Be less helpful.

Here’s his TED Talk.  Love it!

Take a look at his blog too! http://blog.mrmeyer.com/

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Just One Thing

 Mike Fisher created which this presenation which answers the question, “What is just one thing teachers need to know about instructional technology?”  I love it, and it’s so true!! (Hint: Click on the play button and then use the forward arrow to move through the show.)

Here’s the text:

You don’t have to be an expert…

to affect student achievement.
to motivate your students.
to establish a digital pedagogy.
to move from rote to refreshing.

You don’t have to be an expert…

to integrate technology in multiple ways. 
to be Effective

It could be this thing. 
Or this thing. 
Or any one of a multitude of technological things that will make a difference in your classroom and for your students!

You don’t have to be an expert…

if there is such a thing

You just have to be willing.

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Blooms Taxonomy Tutorial

I ran across a Blooms Taxonomy Tutorial from the Colorado Community College System Colleges Wiki page on Blooms Taxonomy in my delicious network feed.  I thought it might be helpful to teachers as you design your lesson plans. I love the second of the animations that suggest activities for each of the levels, with a focus on digital technology. The text is a bit hard to see embedded in this blog, so use the links below each one to see them full screen.To see this tutorial full screen, click here.
To see this tutorial full screen, click here.

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