Essential Question: How have you , and will you continue to “Learn the 21st Century” and allow your students this experience in your classroom?The first thought that came to my mind this week related to the end of my post last week. "Teachers are the last adults in the industrialized world to use computers" (Martinez & Stager, 2013). With this in mind teachers who want to incorporate new ideas or devices become the "pioneers." They are the first to try these things and often are criticized for it. These educators are not of the norm and this can be hard and lonely for those educators to endure. Another big setback is that many educators did not grow up with the technology that is available today. This means they must learn a whole new set of skills. "It is impossible to teach 21st century learners if you have not learned this century" (Martinez & Stager, 2013). So my next thought became what exactly defines a 21st century teacher? Luckily there are many list but I really like one written by Palmer (2015) on Edutopia. She came up with 15 characteristics of a 21st century teacher.
I used Twitter chat in a class last fall. I found that the class that used Twitter increased their test scores more than the class from the previous year. However, this was a small set of data and would need more testing to confirm but it is encouraging. PBL is something that I try when I can. It is such a challenge because I usually have 6 different classes I teach everyday. I don't have time to develop and prepare lessons like this for each class. This year scheduling is different and I won't be preparing for as many classes. My goal is to work with one class (Earth Science) and shift my teaching methods to student centered. PBL is at the top for one of the ways I could do this. Encouraging research has shown that teachers who use PBL report that students in their classes are experiencing more content that requires the student to use critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, and communication. (Boss, 2012) How can they do all of this? Boss (2012) indicates some common learning experiences in a PBL classroom:
Coding is something that I am only beginning to dabble in. It is not something I feel like I could incorporate in my classroom without understanding at a basic level. Because, to be honest, I don't really understand how it works and would have no idea where it would fit in my science curriculum. Rushkoff (2012) suggests codeacademy to learn some basics. I have looked at their stuff and now I will have to look at it more. I do have to pick another elective class to teach and maybe I could try out coding. I see that codeacademy has the ability to set up a classroom. Rushkoff (2012) argues that coding is so important because "code literate kids stop accepting the applications and websites they use at face value, and begin to engage critically and purposefully with them instead." He says that "when we acquired language, we didn't just learn how to listen, but also how to speak. When we acquired text, we didn't just learn how to read, but also how to write. Now that we have computers, we are learning to use them but not how to program them." If we know the basics of code we can start to interact more and use the internet to fit our needs. We don't have to accept what is given to us. Overall I think 21st century learning is about changing how we view education. We have to try new things. We also have to be willing to let students teach us a thing or two as well. If students and teachers enter into a partnership where both parties share responsibility I think students will be more likely to feel empowered to learn at a deeper level. Sources
Boss, S. (2012, May 2). How Project-Based Learning Builds 21st-Century Skills. Retrieved July 28, 2016, from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/21st-century-skills-pbl-suzie-boss Martinez, S. L., & Stager, G. (2013). Invent to learn: Making, tinkering, and engineering in the classroom [Kindle]. Palmer, T. (2015, June 20). 15 Characteristics of a 21st-Century Teacher. Retrieved July 28, 2016, from http://www.edutopia.org/discussion/15-characteristics-21st-century-teacher Rushkoff, D. (2012, November 13). Code Literacy: A 21st-Century Requirement. Retrieved July 28, 2016, from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/code-literacy-21st-century-requirement-douglas-rushkoff Essential Question: Why does “YOUR SCHOOL NAME HERE” need a makerspace?"Traditional direct instruction focuses on content knowledge, while maker-centered learning orients around the learner's context. It's a framework for learning that can be applied to any content. It allows the learner to actualize his or her own ideas" (Chang & Ratliff, 2016). This means that students are learning things, and they see how their learning fits into the world. This is a skill that traditional learning does not afford students. "We, as teachers, have the opportunity and responsibility to design engaging learning experiences that address the needs of our youth, and maker education is easily accessible, widely applicable, and highly adaptable to educators and learning environments of all kinds. At its best, a maker curriculum is interactive, hands-on, youth-driven, and open-ended" (Chang & Ratliff, 2016). There is not much direct research on the maker movement, but much can be derived from previous research. Here are a few key points I found in my research on the topic:
"The deepest and most closely held beliefs about learning come not from research reports, but personal experience." (Martinez & Stager, 2013) This makes it hard to give proof for a makerspace, in the sense that proof has been given in the past (data). It is hard to put grades on thoughts, ideas, and experiences. It is even harder to assess 20 different projects or experiences in the same way. Making is about creating things that are of meaning to the learner, and it is hard to assess this with a value or score. So how do we prove learning in a makerspace. The best evidence is anecdotal. This means we need to ask the makers and observers. "At Albemarle County Public Schools, making fosters student autonomy, ignites student interest, and empowers students to embrace their own learning. 'One of the things that we've discovered is that maker education with kids gets them engaged, gets them passionate about the work, gives them opportunities to pursue things that they're interested in,' says Superintendent Pam Moran. 'And as a result, it really raises the level of work that kids are doing, and it starts to make sense. School makes sense'" (Terada, 2016). Here is a short video about Albermarle County Public Schools and a maker education. Some additional anecdotal evidence comes from looking at famous scientists. Take for example Walter, Alvarez ad doctor and physiologist. He sent his son Luis to an arts and crafts school instead of an elite academic school. At this school Luis took industrial drawing and woodworking instead of more "academic" subjects like calculus. Luis Alvarez won the Nobel prize in physics in 1968. "He attributed his success to an uncanny ability to visualize and build almost any kind of experimental apparatus he could imagine" (Root-Bernstein, R., & Root-Bernstein, M., 2013). Is Luis the only one who had an experience like this? The answer is no. Einstein and Swedish biochemist Hans von Euler-Chelpin also experienced success by learning through arts and crafts, which can be a part of making. "Arts and crafts develop such skills as observation, visual thinking, the ability to recognize and form patterns, and manipulative ability. They develop habits of thought and action that include practicing, persevering, and trial-and-error problem solving. They pose new challenges, such as those that intrigued Rood, Ostwald, and von Euler-Chelpin. And they provide novel structures, methods, and analogies that can stimulate scientific innovation" (Root-Bernstein, R., & Root-Bernstein, M., 2013). Even though this only talks about arts and crafts it is still part of the maker movement because a maker movement is really about doing something that makes sense to the learner and this could include arts and crafts. Sources
Chang, S., & Ratliff, C. (2016, July 11). Assessment in Making. Retrieved July 21, 2016, from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/assessment-in-making-stephanie-chang-chad-ratliff Martinez, S. L., & Stager, G. (2013). Invent to learn: Making, tinkering, and engineering in the classroom [Kindle]. Root-Bernstein, R., & Root-Bernstein, M. (2013, February). The Art and Craft of Science. Retrieved July 21, 2016, from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/feb13/vol70/num05/The-Art-and-Craft-of-Science.aspx Terada, Y. (2016, July 18). Why Making Is Essential to Learning. Retrieved July 21, 2016, from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/making-is-essential-to-learning-youki-terada Vega, V. (2015, December 1). Project-Based Learning Research Review. Retrieved July 21, 2016, from http://www.edutopia.org/pbl-research-learning-outcomes Essential Question: What would you need to coordinate a “Maker Day” for your school?
According to "How to Make a Maker Faire" (2004-2016), Maker Faire is an organization that sponsors two large maker faires: one in the Bay Area, and the other in New York. Their goal is to showcase and connect makers. They also allow mini maker faires which are sponsored by others around the world. They have a planning section that seems helpful in considering what goes into sponsoring a maker faire even if you do it on your own and don't set it up with maker faire. They suggest thinking about the following 5 areas:
I think in the future it would be cool to incorporate design thinking. However, to start out with this would be a challenge. No one is used to this type of an event or even the process. Things would need to be more guided to get people on board with the process. I would use suggestions in the Maker Day Toolkit 2 to help accomplish this goal. I like moving toward design thinking because it makes it real. You try to solve a problem while at the same time making, which is really cool.
One last thing is the design of this classroom. It is amazing and makes me want to rearrange my classroom more. Would definitely need a layout for a maker day as well. Maybe this could be a design challenge for students? I have seen posts of others doing it. Students could redesign the layout of the classroom to fit their needs and the class could vote on the best design.
Sources
Crichton, S., & Carter, D. (2016, January). Maker Day Toolkit 2. Retrieved July 14, 2016, from http://innovativelearningcentre.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/MakerDayToolKitver2reviseMay31e.pdf How to Make a Maker Faire. (2004-2016). Retrieved July 14, 2016, from http://makerfaire.com/global/ Maker Challenges. (n.d.). Retrieved July 14, 2016, from http://www.makerspaceforeducation.com/ Martinez, S. L., & Stager, G. (2013). Invent to learn: Making, tinkering, and engineering in the classroom [Kindle]. Essential Question: Can you teach more than you know?I think the better question is are you willing to let students learn more than you know? "Continually ask yourself, 'What can my students do instead of me doing it? How can my students be agents of change rather than objects of change?'"(Martinez & Stager, 2013) I think this is a challenge for any teacher. I know personally it feels hard because the situation is out of our control. Students are required to meet standards and if we, as teachers, don't help students meet these standards we aren't doing our job according to the state. When you give control to students they learn, maybe even more than we could teach, but it may not relate directly to a standard. It may be hard to show what students have learned, and this is where it is hard to encourage more individual learning paths that involve giving students a say in their education. From the readings this week I learned some strategies that may be of use to help you be able to teach more than you know:
We aren't asking students to help with the learning process because we believe we know what is best. If we ask students what they want, they would be glad to tell us what apps are "in" right now. Then we could incorporate this into projects or class content to help build connections that match student interest (Hudson, n.d.). Students tend to believe in themselves and work harder when the interest level is high. This leads to a growth mindset allowing students to experience failure and take it as a learning experience, rather than to believe they have failed. If we can imagine schools in a new way where student opinion is valued and incorporated, "schools can become places where students learn to identify their own challenges, solve new problems, motivate themselves to complete a project, engage in difficult tasks, work together, inspire others, and give advice and guidance to their peers" (Hlubinka et al., 2013). The key to remember is that "it’s not the technology that engages or empowers, it’s the outcome of students (or anyone) doing meaningful work. Meaningful to themselves and to the community they are in. Empowering because someone trusted them to do something good and they shouldered the responsibility. Engaging because their passions are made real...If you never allow a student to make an independent choice, you will certainly not end up with empowered students" (Martinez & Stager, 2013). If we can find ways to incorporate technology into curriculum in meaningful ways then students will be able to learn and show us things that we never though possible. Sources
Hlubinka, M., Dougherty, D., Thomas, P., Chang, S., Hoefer, S., Alexander, I., & McGuire, D. (2013). Makerspace Playbook School Edition. Retrieved July 7, 2016, from http://makered.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Makerspace-Playbook-Feb-2013.pdf Hudson, H. T. (n.d.). Do Your Students Know More About Technology Than You Do? Retrieved July 07, 2016, from http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/do-your-students-know-more-about-technology-you-do Martinez, S. L., & Stager, G. (2013). Invent to learn: Making, tinkering, and engineering in the classroom [Kindle]. Essential Question: What are the rules for your makerspace?Here are the rules I have come up with. However, I would guess these rules would evolve after testing this with a group of students. I have tried many projects and some things need to be spelled out for students. I tried to create as few rules as possible while still covering what I feel to be the essentials. I modified and took ideas from all of the sources assigned this week.
Sources
Hlubinka, M. (2013, September 02). Safety in School Makerspaces | Make:. Retrieved July 01, 2016, from http://makezine.com/2013/09/02/safety-in-school-makerspaces/ Martinez, S. L., & Stager, G. (2013). Invent to learn: Making, tinkering, and engineering in the classroom [Kindle]. Rules and Policies. (2016, June 26). Retrieved July 01, 2016, from https://dallasmakerspace.org/wiki/Rules_and_Policies SLO MakerSpace Rules and General Safety. (2013, December 26). Retrieved July 1, 2016, from www.slomakerspace.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/SLOMakerSpaceRulesandGeneralSafety.pdf Essential Question: What stuff will you stock your making space with, what’s the cost, and how will you fund it? This is definitely a hard question to answer and even harder when I can't just go and inventory my classroom. I have so much stuff that I rarely order things until I need them. There just is no place to put extra stuff. I have a lot of cabinet and storage space that just needs to be reorganized. Much of the stuff that could be used for making is locked up and other materials that aren't so good for making are readily available (plastic containers, old projects, extra school supplies, etc.). So a major reorganization is a must when I get back to school. I just never have time. I have been so overwhelmed with just cleaning and organizating in the 4 years I have been in Toksook Bay. I think I have thrown out at least 2 truckloads of just junk or old unusable kits and books. Below I came up with a list of things that might be useful for a makerspace if I ever get the chance to set it up. I probably forgot a lot of things. I feel like I never know what I need until I need it. But making is all about trial and error anyway. In "Invent To Learn: Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom" by Martinez and Stager (2013), they suggest to build basic stocks in the following areas areas: Electronic parts and tools, computers, cameras, software, craft and art supplies, building materials and traditional tools, junk for recycling into new products, and a library. I used all of the categories except library because our library is almost nonexistent and materials are very out of date. I think an initial budget of about $300 would be a good start. I did not pick any high end devices because Hublinka (2013) suggest to "get simple and affordable tools ahead of advanced and expensive ones." I would like to start out simple and see where that takes students. If they request things they find online I would certainly try to find a way to get it. My budget is about $200 but I added additional for maintenance and other items that I may have left off as Hublinka suggests. To get funding I would try to use local organizations like CVRF or donors choose. According to" The Beginner's Guide to Makerspaces", Barker (2016) suggests that "you do not need to look far to find potential donors." Many of the organizations she lists are not available in bush Alaska. CVRF has helped fund projects for our Yup'ik class and has talked with the school about funding opportunities. Another good source for funding is donors choose. She lists this site just below the local funding. I have used donors choose and great success with receiving funding for all 4 projects I have posted. Sources
Barker, A. (2016, February 14). The Beginner's Guide to Makerspaces. Retrieved June 25, 2016, from http://libraryschool.libguidescms.com/content.php?pid=669125 Hlubinka, M. (2013, August 21). Stocking up School Makerspaces | Make:. Retrieved June 25, 2016, from http://makezine.com/2013/08/21/stocking-up-school-makerspaces/ Martinez, S. L., & Stager, G. (2013). Invent to learn: Making, tinkering, and engineering in the classroom [Kindle]. Essential Question: What is the relationship between teaching and learning?Wow!! this week was a lot of material to take in. Not sure if anyone else feels the same? Here is my best attempt at picking out what I found important. What is the best way to learn and why? "Constructionists believe that learning results from experience and that understanding is constructed inside the head of the student, often in a social context" (Martinez & Stager, 2013). If this is true, and I believe it is, then we as teachers are responsible for creating the experiences that students need to learn. In the opening of Ch. 5 Martinez & Stager point out that learning isn't the result of being taught and that teachers can't just spew out information and expect that students have learned. There is a lot more going on in a students brain than just listening to an information dump. Students "identities (or voices) construct very different individual discourses as they are represented in diverse reactions and negotiations" (Park, 2008). In other words students personality makes up another factor. This is not necessarily a bad thing according to Park. On many occasions the students different personalities allowed the students to cooperate, negotiate, and work alongside each other to achieve the goal. Students have their own personality or identity. "Identity is not a stagnant property, but rather an entity that changes with time, often going through stages, and is continuously modified based on the surrounding environment. It has been described as “being recognized as a certain kind of person in a given context” (Brownell & Tanner, 2012). This identity involves both the teacher and the learner. As a teacher "the development of a professional identity is not unlike the development of a personal identity but is situated in the context of a discipline and thus framed by the 'rules of membership' of that discipline" (Brownell & Tanner, 2012). The biggest reason I can see as an educator for this philosophy is that "research suggests that teachers who use more progressive or project-based learning techniques are more satisfied in their roles than teachers who use traditional instructional techniques" (Martinez & Stager, 2013). Taking all this into consideration how do we create experiences for such a diverse group? How do we implement a constructionist or constructivist philosophy? Instruction is most useful when it will only take a moment to explain or when there is little to no benefit of you doing it yourself. To do this focus on the big ideas, and follow this up with time for students to experience the big idea. This all comes from the idea that "the longer you delay students from getting to the 'making' part of the design cycle, the more students will disengage and the longer it will take to learn the lessons" (Martinez & Stager, 2013). Keep with and iterative design cycle. "Iterative design cycle is about continuous improvement, keeping what works, and dealing with what doesn’t. This is learning, not failure" (Martinez & Stager, 2013). Why wouldn't we implement this philosophy if it can be so beneficial for both the learner and the teacher? In K-12 education, "Studies show that teachers have concerns about their own ability to provide the required scaffolding for students that can’t be found in the back of the textbook" (Martinez & Stager, 2013). At the post secondary level feeling are almost identical. "In terms of training, many faculty have indicated they feel ill-equipped to change the way they teach and thus would like access to structured, formal training" (Brownell & Tanner, 2012). But even after post secondary educators are trained and get hyped about a new strategy they are met with resistance from colleagues they work with according to Brownell & Tanner. If that is not enough think about how fast we forget what we learned. If you don't practice it you lose it. According to both Brownell & Tanner and Martinez & Stager, this happens to many, and inevitably, the teacher falls back on what they know or what they experienced. And to make matters worse "research has shown that interactive teaching, as compared with traditional lecturing, typically takes more preparation time: (Brownell & Tanner, 2012). With all of this how are teaching and learning connected? We all, teachers and students, come to class with our own perspective. The role of the teacher is to help the student find ways to learn the material. I believe constructionism and constructivism are ways of helping students process their learning. They make sense of this learning in their own way, which also allows the teacher to learn new things as well. This is such a great philosophy but so hard to implement if you are on your own. Teachers need help in learning how to teach most effectively. Without proper support little change will occur. Sources
Brownell, S. E., & Tanner, K. D. (2012). Barriers to Faculty Pedagogical Change: Lack of Training, Time, Incentives, and…Tensions with Professional Identity? CBE Life Sciences Education, 11(4), 339–346. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3516788/ Martinez, S. L., & Stager, G. (2013). Invent to learn: Making, tinkering, and engineering in the classroom [Kindle]. Park, H. (2008). “You are confusing!”: Tensions between Teacher’s and Students’ Discourses in the Classroom [Abstract]. Journal of Classroom Interaction, 43(1), 4-13. Retrieved June 13, 2016, from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ829005.pdf Essential Question: What project could help me integrate my content with making?
I struggle the most with my earth science class. Partly because it is not my area of expertise or interest, and also because the students in this class become a mix of new 9th grades and "forever" 9th graders (students who refuse to participate or do work). It is a challenge to get new 9th graders to realize they are not in middle school anymore. For "forever" 9th graders it is hard to get them motivated. They are in the fixed mindset, thinking that they will never make it, so why try? The project I am envisioning would start out with a guided module to explain content. Then I think I would take it one step further and have students create something to explain to their community why it is important to preserve fresh water and what are some steps people in the community could take to preserve fresh water for the future. I want to add the project component because "the best way to construct knowledge or understanding is through the construction of something shareable, outside of a student’s head" (Martinez & Stager, 2013).
Project "The High-Adventure Science Water module has five activities. In this module you will consider the question: will there be enough fresh water? In this guided activity, you will explore the distribution and uses of fresh water on Earth. Explore models of porosity and permeability, run experiments with computational models, and hear from a hydrologist working on the same question. You will not be able to answer the module's framing question at the end of the module, but you will be able to explain how humans can preserve supplies of fresh water for the future."
How will this project encourage making? There are 8 qualities of a good project listed by Martinez & Stager (2013)
First off, "making is any activity where people create something, often with their hands" (Vanderwerff, 2014). Students would create something to share with their community. This would be the making. According to Vanderwerrf (2014) making is important because "we all construct our own meaning of the world around us; Making just gives us a context to construct our understanding in." This allows students to apply their understanding in more than one context. Another way of putting this is that hopefully students will be able to apply their learning to many situations rather than just the classroom. How can I implement more than 1 unit/project? After reading Designing Multidisciplinary Integrated Curriculum Units (2010) I realize I have a lot to do if I want to implement this as a whole classroom philosophy and not just one unit. I have always know this but this guide really gave me a how to and I am excited to try this with my earth science class, to start with. If all goes well I would like to implement this in all classes. Th checklist below will be a major part of my planning process. A lot of planning will have to be done on my end to figure out what topics I am required to teach by the district and then aligning it with the standards. Then I will be able to see where and what type of project I might be able to incorporate.
Sources
Designing Multidisciplinary Integrated Curriculum Units. (2010, February). Retrieved June 9, 2016, from http://www.connectedcalifornia.org/downloads/LL_Designing_Curriculum_Units_2010_v5_web.pdf High School Earth and Space Sciences. (2013, June). Retrieved June 9, 2016, from http://www.nextgenscience.org/sites/default/files/HS ESS DCI combined 6.13.13.pdf Martinez, S. L., & Stager, G. (2013). Invent to learn: Making, tinkering, and engineering in the classroom [Kindle]. Vanderwerff, A. (2014, May 14). Makers in the Classroom: A How To Guide (EdSurge News). Retrieved June 09, 2016, from https://www.edsurge.com/news/2014-05-14-makers-in-the-classroom-a-how-to-guide Will there be enough fresh water? (2015, August 18). Retrieved June 09, 2016, from http://authoring.concord.org/sequences/98?show_index=true Essential Question: To what extent should we allow students to figure things out for themselves?I think struggling only makes us stronger. However there is a limit to this. If something is too hard then you risk defeat and giving up. Otherwise, when you have to figure out something for yourself you feel more empowered by the information you find. You have this personal connection to it because you worked hard to get it. It has more meaning. Tinkering and making are a good source of healthy struggle. You will be able to figure out something but how far you take it is up to you. Tinkering is more like the way scientists, mathematicians, and engineers complete their work. They have to "follow hunches, iterate, make mistakes, re-think, start over, argue, sleep on it, collaborate, and have a cup of tea." Tinkering engages the learner in making connections and school seems to be so disconnected with step-by-step solutions that seem to be fixed.Tinkering is not neat, but can be worthwhile because the real world is not this clean and easy process. There is no "perfect road map." Students must design and redesign and this in the long run will lead to a better "understanding of requirements, tools, and materials as they make tradeoffs and try to improve their prototype" (Martinez & Stager, 2013). Strauss (2015) discusses essays that teachers wrote about why students should struggle. In all the essays they talk about a common thread of allowing students to make their own meanings and encouraging risk in a safe environment. "We want students to be able to engage with novel material, to be able to tackle new situations with the confidence that they might not know, but they will know." We need to teach students to not give up because they will learn more if they keep trying and continue to struggle. This is evidenced by a study published in the Journal of the Learning Sciences, where Kapur and Bielaczyc, applied the principle of productive failure to mathematical problem solving in three schools in Singapore. They tested 2 classes. Paul (2014) discusses how this study focused on 2 separate groups. One group got intensive instruction with lots of scaffolding and the other group received no instruction and were encouraged to talk with classmates. This group was not able to solve the problem correctly. "When the two groups were tested on what they’d learned, the second group 'significantly outperformed' the first. This is called hidden efficacy." Struggle is all around us. Students need to be exposed to struggle to be able to live in the real world and not just the classroom. Struggle involves making choices. The choices you make determine where you end up. Here is a picture I found on Twitter demonstrating what happens when a student is not motivated enough. The zero net force shows that no learning is going to happen. We need to find the point where students are motivated to learn because if not the students will not grow. Maybe formal tests are not the way to go. Who is motivated for a test? Is this an accurate display of what a student knows? Sources
Martinez, S. L., & Stager, G. (2013). Invent to learn: Making, tinkering, and engineering in the classroom [Kindle]. Paul, A. M. (2014, February 24). The Brilliant Blog. Retrieved June 02, 2016, from http://anniemurphypaul.com/2014/02/when-and-how-to-let-learners-struggle/ Strauss, V. (2015, April 21). What is the value of letting students struggle in class? Teachers answer. Retrieved June 02, 2016, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2015/04/21/what-is-the-value-of-letting-students-struggle-in-class-teachers-answer/ |
Mechanical Applications of TechnologyCategories |