"I am convinced that the best learning takes place when the learner takes charge…" –Seymour Papert
Why is it that the older children get, the less play seems to be connected with learning? Personally, I think the two concepts are nearly synonymous. Sometimes I read things that imply that play is great for young children but not so great for older, more serious students. Often, the notion is that all children... Continue Reading →
Here is an excerpt from an interesting blog post called The Invented History of 'The Factory Model of Education.' Schools might feel like highly de-personalized institutions; they might routinely demand compliance and frequently squelch creativity. But they don’t really look like and they really don’t work like factories. I disagree. I do agree that there was... Continue Reading →
Give it a try. Google "how to learn." I was expecting to see various learning theories from psychology or philosophical discussions of ways that knowledge forms and develops in the mind. Surely something like assimilation or accommodation would be somewhere in the list...? Google provided me with various links to online courses or articles promising... Continue Reading →
Last year I posted an article called Turn the Hour of Code into the Year of Learning. This year, I wanted to share a few ideas about how you might do that. After checking out some hour of code activities with your students (this year, officially, December 4 - 10), take a look at the... Continue Reading →
This blog is a reflection on a Scratch project I have been working on. I wanted to capture, at an overview level, my thinking and progression through this project. The purpose of this post is exploratory and preliminary. I’ve started a collaborative inquiry with one of the teachers I am working with this year, and... Continue Reading →
During the summer of 2016, I read this book (left) edited by Yasmin Kafai and Mitch Resnick. I was inspired by Chapter 4 (called Learning Design by Making Games). In it, Kafai described her study in which a group of 4th grade students spent one hour per day (over a six-month period) writing, designing and... Continue Reading →
Okay... indulge me! Try this experiment (and try it with your students, too!): Activity #1 - Think of a topic in which you have a strong interest, and broad, expert knowledge/skill. Then, search the web and find three really good sources of information for that topic. Activity #2 - Think of a topic in which... Continue Reading →
I received an email from a teacher colleague last week and it contained a single sentence--a question: "I wonder if you might give me your definition of modern literacies?" I was intrigued, not only by the question but also by the reason behind asking it (which she explained in a later email). In any case,... Continue Reading →
Where is the math in coding? As much as I think that the connections between coding and mathematics are obvious, I think that there is a process involved in noticing and noting when mathematical concepts are demonstrated--some are clearly in use in students' code and are easy to notice; other concepts are also in use... Continue Reading →
Thanks to Jonathan So for the provocation: https://twitter.com/MrSoclassroom/status/900529785591431169 In my own mind, I prefer to think of my list as realizations that defined me as a teacher. Teaching grade one made me (professionally speaking) I have spent a total of six years of my career teaching grade one or a one/two combined class. My very... Continue Reading →
Making things... Learning Things 