I'm starting to collect pictures of innovative ideas to share with my students for inspiration during Innovation Hour (also known as Genius Hour, 20% Time, or Independent Study). My husband and I had walked to the beach in Evanston, Illinois, while waiting for our car to be repaired. We saw this at an intersection without a pedestrian light. A slight problem for us ~ the side of the road we were on did not have any red flags available to carry across the street. They were all on the other side.
I think I would share this photograph with my students, and discuss several things: How does this method of crossing the street compare to pedestrian lights, crosswalk signs, pedestrian bridges, and intersections with no signs. What types of intersections would be best for each method? I would ask for potential problems with the method used in this photograph to see if they could image the problem I experienced. I would then ask how the design could be changed to prevent my experience from happening to others. Finally, I would ask for their original ideas to allow pedestrians to cross the street safely. Students could consider these factors and implement them if they were designing a city as mentioned in yesterday's post.
Have you found some interesting signs in your travels?
While in Chicago, we stopped by the Chicago Architecture Foundation and discovered the Chicago Modeland the LEGO Design Studio, where families can build a representation of a current architectural piece, or create an original design. While my husband and daughter sat down to build, I started taking pictures, thinking this would be a great addition to my Makerspace. While the exhibit featured white architectural LEGO pieces exclusively, I think it would be feasible to use whatever color of LEGO pieces you have available.
The exhibit featured pictures of famous architectural buildings in Chicago that visitors could replicate. In a Makerspace, you could display pictures of famous buildings from around the world for students to reproduce.
Santa Fe Building
Other visitors had created original designs to be left on display, including buildings, boats, dragons, and furniture. As students build pieces in your Makerspace, you could display them as inspiration for other students.
Building with lots of windows
Boat and Buildings
Pianos
Star Wars Pieces
In one section of the Design Studio, visitors could add to the "growing city" by drawing a building on a long piece of paper that covered a section of the wall. This would be another great thing to add to a Makerspace ~ either a paper version, a LEGO version, or a cardboard/recycled materials version. Students could work collaboratively to build a replica of the city you reside in, a city you are studying, a city from an historical time, or an "ideal city" your students imagine. The additional prompt of "What does every good city need?" can get your students thinking beyond buildings to parks, roads, transportation, and infrastructure.
I love to gather ideas from places I visit. Chicago has provided a lot of inspiration for me this past week. Where have you been inspired for your Makerspace?
Last week my daughter attended a STEM camp at Loyola University in Chicago. Each day we stopped in the lobby of the Institute of Environmental Sustainability building, where we saw these rain barrels:
While it would be neat to make and decorate a rain barrel as a class, it might not be financially feasible, depending on your classroom budget and access to materials. Another environmental awareness option could be trash cans. In Missouri, the Department of Conservation offers the "No More Trash" Contestto encourage students to fight litter. Classes decorate a thematic trash can and enter it in the contest. Check out the 2016 winning classes here.
I think a school building could also have a trash can decorating contest to encourage students to reduce, reuse, and recycle. It could be held at the beginning of the school year, or in conjunction with Earth Day in April. It could certainly be a Makerspace-friendlyproject, where students could repurpose materials to creatively decorate the trash cans.
At an elementary building where I taught, one of the 7 Habits Leadership Groups collected paper recycling from each classroom once a week as part of their environment project. Classes who recycled correctly were awarded student-made badges for their recycling bins. It was a win-win situation for the students, teachers, and custodial staff.
What ideas do you have to promote environmental awareness with students?
Last week my daughter attended a STEM camp at Loyola University in Chicago. As we walked through the Lake Shore Campus, we found many signs that described the landscaping design. I plan on sharing these examples with my students during Innovation Hour. They are eye-friendly infographics that explain in clear language the thought process that went into an eco-friendly design.
As innovators, we want our work to begin with empathy. Students need to understand the audience for whom they are designing, while also considering the impact on plants, animals, and the environment.
Reading these signs made me wonder what impact our decades-old school buildings have on the environment. What steps could we take as a class to improve the environmental impact of the current building design? Are we affecting plants, wildlife, or the air quality in our neighborhoods? These questions would be great ones to pose and address as part of an environmental study PBL or as part of an independent study project. It would also provide an opportunity to connect with community-based organizations that focus on environmental topics.
Have you found infographic examples that demonstrate empathy in the design process to share with your students?
Two years ago I converted my classroom to a Makerspace environment. In preparing for a couple of professional development sessions we are presenting this summer, I have been reflecting on what has helped the Makerspace concept be successful in my classroom. Here are some tips!
Makerspace Tips
M - Make learning meaningful. Makerspaces are full of opportunities. Students can "make" to show their learning on a topic, demonstrating how they are meeting the learning standards for your district. They can "make" as part of genius hour/passion projects/independent study/innovation hour. They can make in response to a teacher prompt. Or, they can make as part of a PBL project.
A - Ask for donations of supplies. Give parents, staff, and the community a list of materials you would like to add to your space. I have received LEGOs, wood and foam scraps, sewing supplies, art materials, and more. People are very generous, and are often looking for a place to donate things they no longer use.
K - Keep it organized. I use tubs to sort cardboard, plastic, and Styrofoam. I put picturesin LEGO kits to help keep the pieces in the right place. I sort materials by the type of supply. Ikea has fun and inexpensive containers, and the dollar spot at Target is a great place to visit. (Okay, Target in general is a great place to visit.)
E - Expand the possibilities of your space. Find open-ended supplies that will enable students to do a variety of different things. Some examples include Makey Makey, Green Screen, Raspberry Pis, Circuit Stickers, Squishy Circuits, and Roominate.
R - Robotics. There are some really cool robots available to add to your space, in a range of prices. I have added Ozobot, Wonder Workshop's Dash and Dot, Cubelets, Snap Rover, and LEGO WeDo.
S - Start with what you already have. I started with the art supplies that had accumulated over 18 years of teaching. My first summer, I saved cardboard tubes from toilet paper and paper towel rolls. I collected cardboard boxes, plastic lids, Styrofoam from packages, and plastic containers from food items. If you have an iPad, you can download a stop motion animation app and be on your way. Kids can take apart old technology to see how it works, then repurpose the materials to make something new.
P - Passion Projects. If you run a genius hour/innovation hour/20% time, students can use the materials in your Makerspace to create "answers" to "problems" they have identified.
A - Add materials over time. Start adding materials in your classroom budget. Write proposals and grants through websites like Donors Choose, Think It Up, Kids in Need, and local foundations.
C - Challenges. There are so many challenges out there. Use your Makerspace to participate in the International Cardboard Challenge, LEGO creative uses challenge, Wonder Workshop Robotics Competition, Hour of Code, Rube Goldberg Challenge, or Google Science Fair. Watch social media channels to spot additional challenges ~ they pop up all the time!
E - Even more ideas. Play with polymers. Use 3D Doodler Pens. Try claymation. Solve a problem in the world. Complete a STEM challenge. Learn to program. Just tinker!
Many names - similar purpose - a time when students are allowed to independently (or collaboratively) investigate topics of their choice. In my classroom, it is the highlight of every grade level of students I work with - first through eighth. They love the chance to delve deeper into their passion areas.
The best video I have found for launching this part of our day is The Time You Have (in JellyBeans). It helps students realize the importance of focusing on something they are passionate about.
After viewing the video, and thinking carefully about the limited amount of time we have to focus on things we are truly passionate about, we brainstorm a list of things we want to learn more about.
During the next session, we try to narrow down our focus of study (knowing that this is always flexible). Most of my students have two or three different projects they are working on, and will move fluidly between them. At first I worried about this, but after reading Steven Johnson's Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation, I realized that an innovator needs to let an idea simmer in the back of the mind for a while (maybe even for a decade), waiting for it to connect with the missing pieces of the puzzle before it can be acted upon.
An example of a student project:
Writing, casting, acting, directing, and editing a movie. On the side, developing a plan for a natural grocery store, creating advertising, and analyzing potential revenue and expenditures.
Check-in Process:
As part of our check-in process, each student briefly shares what he or she worked on that day, struggled with, or had questions about. It is through this process that we discover how we can be the "missing pieces" for others. In the student example above, one classmate stepped in to sew the costumes for the actors in the movie, one stepped in to create the special effects, and one stepped in to help design the props. While each student was working on their "individual projects", they discovered that they could use their area of passion to help each other be successful.
Providing Inspiration Along the Way:
As the year progresses, I share inspirational stories and video clips about innovators from around the world. I watch for features about students and adults who have worked to solve problems through innovation - in a variety of fields. Kids need to know that regardless of their passion area, they can make a contribution to the world. TED has a playlist of 8 Talks to Inspire Projects With Kidsthat is a great resource to encourage students to tinker, make, and innovate.
Final Products:
In our room, we share our "final" products when they are individually done. We don't have a set deadline for the class. Each student works at his or her own pace, and I help guide, nudge, and encourage them along the way. Some students work on one idea in-depth for the entire school year. Some work for a semester, a quarter, a month, or just a week, then move on to another area. Each student is allowed great control over the length of time they spend on a topic, and can abandon it or set it aside for a while as needed. I honor student voice in this way, because I am noticing, documenting, and visiting with them about their interest areas, attempts, success, and growth as a learner. Through this process, we have had had a wealth of products created and shared. These include: models of businesses, creation of original stuffed animals, toys designed for pets, plays written, polymers investigated, original games coded, languages studied, vocal ranges increased, blogs created, public service announcements produced, movies made, chess studied, programming languages learned, websites developed, commercials made, and music composed.
Innovation / Genius Hour Symbaloo Webmix:
(A living document that will be edited and updated)
The top purple area links to ideas for launching a genius hour
The pink portion comprises innovator resources
Teal represents foreign language links
Greenlinks to kid-friendly search engines
Grayfocuses on compassion connections
The other shade of purpleis for video conferencing
Blueis presentation tools
The Next Step:
We have started to add a global compassion connection to our independent study time. It consists of connecting each student and their passion area to a person in a different country, who has a similar passion area. This project is in its infancy, but I will be blogging about it in the future!
We were able to visit Kennedy Space Center in late May. Since I had just finished reading Space Caseby Stuart Gibbs(Truman Nominee by the Missouri Association of School Librarians), I was intrigued by the space technologies, and how Gibbs had enhanced them for his futuristic novel. Three things that Stuart emphasizes in his story that I was able to see first hand: sleeping in space (the characters in the story sleep in pods in the wall), spacesuits, and space toilets (always a student favorite - toilet humor).
Strap yourself in while you sleep so you don't float away.
Spacesuit
Space Toilet
I discovered the term "NASA Spin-off"when I spotted the Space Blanket in the gift shop. It was developed in 1964 by "vacuum-depositing a very precise amount of pure aluminum vapor onto a very thin but durable, film substrate. This technical process forms a "perfect reflective barrier" that captures and helps to retain and focus over 80% of a person's radiated body heat." It is used by militaries, medical personnel, disaster preparedness and relief agencies, and search and rescue groups.
It is small enough that it fits in one hand when you open it.
NASA has a publication and a website to highlight technologies "that are benefiting life on earth in the form of commercial products". This would be a great launch pad for innovation studies.
If you have a chance to visit the Kennedy Space Center, be sure to check out the Space Shuttle Launch Experience, which simulates what it is like to blast off. The best description I head was "it is like driving down a gravel road at 80 miles per hour". Also fun, the Kennedy Space Center Bus Tour, which takes about an hour, and gives you views of the launchpads and buildings. And be sure to check out the Space Shuttle Atlantis Exhibit.
