Tulsa Mini Maker Faire

Today, Kale and I hit the road with my good friends Heather and Jonathan and drove to the Mini Maker Faire in Tulsa.  Earlier this week, I kind of begged Kale to come along because I knew how much fun he would have, and I was right.

We didn't really know what to expect since none of us had ever attended a Maker Faire before, but had read a lot about the Maker Movement.  We each had some questions to ask the makers and some answers we were looking for, and I do think that for the most part, we got them.

What we saw was STEM. A lot of STEM. Other stuff, too, and I'll highlight that as we go.

First, makers can apparently be anyone who "makes" something. Some of the exhibits I was surprised to see were whittlers, homemade soap makers, printers (on all types of media), and model makers. Kale enjoyed the model trains and planes. I hoped for Luke's sake that he didn't decide he wanted to take up a new hobby.

Our first stop was at the static electricity orb. Kale wasn't too crazy about touching it, so I showed him that he had nothing to be afraid of.

We found out that curly hair isn't great at reacting to electricity...

Next, we got to do what Kale had been hoping for. He got to build. This was the favorite for both of us. What I liked about it was that we were given a task (build a two foot tower that would support the bowl, but make it as light as you can), but no directions. It was up to us to solve the problem. Kale's finished tower was 4.95 ounces.

After that, we found a booth of nice ladies that were willing to attempt to teach Kale how to knit. I don't think it will be his forte.

I hadn't thought about how skills like this could be used in the classroom before (with the exception of FACS), but I don't know why. I could definitely see a real, project based lesson in which students might need to add something like this to a finished product.

And then there were robots. Lots of robots. We saw ones that were picking up objects and one that worked under water. 

Kale works the claw to pick up objects and move them.

We saw several 3D printers. Many that were being managed by students. Kale enjoyed the fact that one booth was giving away what they had printed. He admitted as we left that he had helped himself to three plastic robots when they told him he could have a souvenir.

We made a catapult. I'm sure I'll regret that soon.

Kale had the opportunity to be a volunteer for a few science demonstrations.

And he got to design his own airplane and then launch it. (I struggled with this one - needed some directions)

We had a great day geeking out with Heather and Jonathan and were happy that they were able to come along with us. Kale has a new found love for two things now - Whataburger and K'Nex. We will definitely be keeping our eyes out for more maker events in the area.

eSourcing - The Why

Think- when was the last time you needed information, and why did you need it?

Your mind may have went straight to the academic world, and you might have thought about research you were conducting, a paper you were writing, or a report you had to give.  Maybe you thought about a presentation or persuasive argument you had to develop in the workplace. Or maybe you just thought about the last time you needed directions, a review for a restaurant, or product descriptions for a purchase.

Now that you've identified that need, reflect on what that experience was like for you. Where did you get your information, and how did you know the information was accurate?

I'm going to guess that you started here.

If I'm right, why didn't you go to your local city, school, or university library? Why didn't you check the bookshelves you have in your home, stored on an eReader, or in your classroom or office? I'm going to guess your next answer. Because searching online was more accessible. 

This is how the majority of our world obtains information. We use YouTube, blogs, news feeds, and Google searches to find information. We use information literacy skills to determine the validity of these works. When these skills are telling us we need to find information that has been vetted, we seek out different resource obtainment skills and look for information from contributing gurus that our Google searches have turned up. This might mean that we pay for a subscription to a scholarly journal or download a book on our Kindle. Maybe it means we seek a nearby conference we could attend so that we can hear the information first hand. Whatever this might look like, it's differentiated. It's specific to each person, and relevant to their search. 

This is the process that takes place any time a student is asked to write a report. It's the process that takes place anytime information needs to be shared in the workplace. It's also the process that we use when we're interested in something that may have absolutely nothing to do with work or school, but just something we want to apply to our own lives, like breaking a bad habit and picking up a healthy one. It's easy to do because we have so much information readily available to us on the Internet. 

However, in most academic cases, students do not get the opportunity to consider multiple viewpoints, apply skills of information literacy, and use some of the sources that I've described above. Resources students are allowed to use are often limited to what instructors provide to them, and sometimes, that information is delivered in the form of a textbook that may be outdated. Sometimes, the information may be provided in the form of a lecture. Regardless, the information is from one source and it provides one viewpoint. 

This is why, in my classroom, I provided eSources to my students. We used websites, textbooks, scholarly articles written at varying reading levels, live interviews from experts in the field, videos, pictures, and books to help us make meaning. We did this because it was real world, and it allowed students to construct knowledge and create content instead of consume and regurgitate information. This was differentiated, to provide each student with materials that was on his or her level, interesting and engaging to each individual student, so that again, it mimicked the real world. 

Many people refer to this as open educational resources, and there is no shortage of them in our world. Some are free and some are cheap. Some are not. But there is one thing that they all have in common, and that's their rate of refresh. They are all up to date. 

Our students are different today, just like we were different when we were in school. It's because our world is different. There is more access to information, more reference to information, and at the same time, a larger community of those willing to share than there ever has been before. This is why, when we decide to eSource, we find that it is not difficult. Instead, we find that it provides a richer, relevant, and realistic construction of knowledge. 

So if you're an educator, I am going to challenge you to eSource your classroom. To make it real life, teaching students how to apply information literacy skills so they can effectively recognize a hoax, an altered viewpoint, and to question information. I am going to challenge you to allow students to help your classes determine vetted resources by providing feedback similar to how we do on eCommerce sites. This is a huge benefit to your students.

Are you up for the challenge? Here's how to eSource.

Teaching with Fidelity - p365

A great friend of mine recently sent me a message asking me if I'd like to participate in a new diet challenge. It was promised to be a "diet hack that actually works." Here's how it goes. Get your friends together to form a network of healthy eaters. Take a picture of everything you eat throughout the day and share with your network.

I suppose the idea is that you'll think twice about eating that large slice of double layer chocolate cake if you are not only recording the calories, but also admitting to your friends that you ate it. From what I know about dieting, they say you'll do better if you join a network of others that are eating healthy, exercising, and providing encouragement to each other. This diet "hack" has combined the network idea with p365, another program of discipline, in which photographers take a picture everyday and upload to a designated website or share on their social networking sites with the hashtag #p365.

This got me thinking - if using p365 with our eating habits was supposed to make us eat better, could we use the p365 idea in our classrooms to help us teach better? One of the most valuable experiences I have had as a teacher was setting up the camera in my classroom to record a lesson, then viewing and reflecting later. It served as a gauge for how well I was differentiating, engaging students, and monitoring both the behaviors of my students and myself.

The difference between this practice and what I did in my classroom is that I specifically chose a lesson to record. Often, I even chose the class I wanted to record. So I was reflecting, but it wasn't a completely authentic process. But what if I took a picture of my classroom everyday? What would I gain from that experience? Would there be days that my colleagues were patting me on the back with encouragement? And similar to taking pictures of oneself to document and record weight loss, could I look back over a length of time to see how my students had grown and what they had accomplished?

It occurred to me that using the ideas of this diet hack and p365 in my classroom could really be a benefit and a challenge for teaching with fidelity. From my blogpost a few months ago, I discussed that we should be challenging ourselves to "teach with fidelity," to have high expectations for our students, to personalize instruction, provide challenges, and not allowing failure or second best. We get there through rigorous, relevant challenges, providing authentic feedback, and by developing relationships with our students. But I wonder, would there ever be a time, like my picture of the chocolate double layer cake, that I decided I didn't want to take a picture? What would I figuratively be saying to my students if it was one of those days that I decided to skip the picture?

So, as we begin to prepare our classrooms for the start of school, let's also prepare to share what we're doing. Here's the challenge. Take a picture of your classroom everyday and post to Twitter, Instagram, Vine, or ShutterCal with the hashtag #teach365. Develop a network with other participating teachers to challenge students, to learn, grow, and raise the accountability and fidelity of our teaching practices. Just like in our own lives, our kids can't move forward if we take too many "cheat days." And as a bonus, you'll have a visual representation of the journey your students have taken.

Challenge accepted?