Create Make Learn Week Long Making extravaganza

Create Make Learn 2021

I signed up for Create Make Learn to help myself get some new inspiration for creating in the classroom. I am always looking for more ways to get students to use their creating thinking caps to help get them engaged with math.

Day 1 - Monday

best things

• soldering
• name tag from bit of wood - marker and Dremel
• shape your world
• Project bags?? Grocery bags
• class cellphone holder as tool/material storage & display
• the noun project​

setup for other learners

• setting up for kids
  • Invitation to make if things are put away then they will not be used.
  • not many colors together. Too much stimulation makes it harder to see what goes where.

svg vector graphics on a #chromebook​

• Gravit
• Laser Cutter

Lucie reminded me of my favorite motto for math class

Low Floor, High Ceiling

Low threshold, high ceiling, wide walls - Lucie

Daily Quote

Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right...
— Henry Ford

Sometimes our hands know before our minds know.
— Jay Silver

My ideas for big project

• Blog for students. Something nice for students to share and see what others share, or maybe just curated for students by me for a weekly reading assignment.
• Using TinkerCad? for teaching geometric transformations

Day 2 - Tuesday

Today I brought in a bunch of stuff to share. Some 3d printing ideas, and a 3d printer.

bringing in lots of stuff to share.

coding outside - we did some pseudocode ideas as a game

  If eyes = blue

  then do jumping jacks

  else wave

Created a rock paper scissors game

https://boskind.tech/code/rockPaperScissors/

Click that link. It is worth playing. 👆

Here is the Javascript file.

pinbox 3000 - cardboard pinball machine to show some type of content.

tinkercad code blocks

3d-Printed the wheel.

Now I want to take the time to print 3 more and turn it into a car. But how will I make the car? Laser cutter? 3d-Printer? Something else? I dunno, Ill do that tomorrow.

stuff to share

I brought in my 3d printer so others could see it. I also talked about the bigger vinyl cutter that I have. For tomorrow I should wear a shirt that I had students make for me.

3d Printer

Vinyl Cutter

Quote of the day

The human mind and body are truly extraordinary. They are the quintessence of excellence in motion. We talk, touch, see, hear, taste, smell, and feel. We dream, aspire, and become. All that we are is mind and body and spirit-that is our universe.
— Lorii Myers

2021-08-11

Create Make Learn Day 3

Morning slideshow

Cuddly Drones - kids making special drones. Teddy drone that shoots candy out of its mouth

• Community event. Parents and kids are excited about showing off.
• Consider who
  is invited?
  feels welcomed?
  shows up?
  is empowered?

Vinyl cutter ideas

Microbit

Lower barrier of entry. Chromebook connected
- alligator clips are tricky but less intimidating than lose wires and breadboards
- make a rock paper scissors game

Mike Harmon meeting lunch

Tinkercad

• using only cubes build something that had a total of 20cm. You can use partial cm cubes, but the total but be exactly 20.
• code block spiral staircase
  spiral slide spring then move 1 up and makes a slide
• added Mike's twitter and YouTube​
• created classes in tinkercad for students. Marked some lessons for kids.

Daily Quote

Meaning is something you build into your life. You build it out of your own past, out of your affections and loyalties, out of the experience of humankind as it is passed on to you... You are the only one who can put them together into that unique pattern that will be your life.
— John Gardner

Is there a more profound lesson than taking pride in creating work of importance and beauty for a real audience?
.... Ron Berger (Beautiful Work)​

2021-08-12

Day 4 of Create Make Learn​

Cool Stuff

• Scrappy Circuits Nice easy switches
• Makey Makey sounds. Everyone makes a switch and has to play their sound when they chose hit their switch.
• I made a scratch equation of a line game starter. Here it is
  This is a cool way to show movement on the coordinate plane, while also working with a little bit of conditional logic and variables.

• Domino Computer. Here it is

Reflections

What are you most proud of doing during this week?

I am most proud of all the knowledge sharing that has happened in class so far this week. I have learned from my instructor and my classmates and I have had the chance to share my knowledge with others. I really like that I have had a chance to learn new ways to extend the tools that I already use in new and exciting ways.

• Helping Mike work with wood was a lot of fun. He has never worked with wood before.

3D-Printed car

My 3d printed car finally came off the printer after almost 12 hours of total printing. I don't think I will have time to finish it during this class. I want to create an inner hampster wheel that will spin to provide rotating lights inside the car.

Daily Quote

We do not learn from experience... we learn from reflecting on experience.
— John Dewey

It is easy to sit up and take notice, What is difficult is getting up and taking action.
— Honore de Balzac

2021-08-13

Day 5 (last day) of Create Make Learn​

interesting stuff

• First activity - cardboard and pvc - find and fix a problem or at least make a prototype and explain your idea of how to fix your problem
  Glue gun stand idea
• Maker meetups. Everyone shares a prototype or idea or their maker mindset
• Maker Fridays - If we get the whole weeks work done in 4 days then friday is maker day.
• podcast for create make learn​

Podcast

What design thinking problems do you have:

• I want a compost bin that doesn't get disgusting
  Mike needs a box of trash bags for Christmas
• Hear examples of lessons and units, and not just a success story with zero buzzwords
• not just a compilation of studies that support the idea of steam. We all already know STEAM is good. I want to know examples of what works to build ideas from.
• The perfect opening statement:
  Here is a perfect unit. This is what we did and this is how you do it for under $100

How might we...?

How might we create a podcast episode and to what for who?
Whose problem is this going to solve? .... us
What do we need to find?

• Problem students will empathize with.
• Short and focused enough that students will maintain focus.

How might we create a podcast episode to show a complete unit on design thinking for a class that will help Junior High teachers.

But Why?

Making is more important if the why is explicitly part of the making

• Welcome and Invite making as a means for learning and developing proficiencies
• Creates evidence of learning and means of self expression and reflection that can become part of a student’s personal learning portfolio
• Be filled with stations for students to explore complexities of objects as integrated systems of parts and functions
• Provide opportunity for students to explore new materials and processes that increases their capacity to communicate and solve problem
• Build interest/curiosity leading to questions about phenomena (using a variety of methods from instructor lead activities, students exploration, to design challenges)
• Allow guided facilitated make (and take) sessions that build confidence and competence with tools, materials, and processes that serve as foundations for communicating, solving problems or creating products that add value to our lives
• Scaffold students through thinking routines and problem solving processes practices such as Design Thinking
• Increase possibilities for designing project based learning that connects curriculum to community and prepares them for responsible and involved citizenship
• Naturally shifts the role of the teacher to support authentic student choice and voice (via open makes and more self direction in projects and project based learning)
• Expand dimensions of communication (2D to 3D) and provide authentic practice for developing clear and effective communication skills
• Offer numerous opportunities for creative and practical problem solving using design challenges and creation of personally meaningful products/projects
• Provide students with hands on experiences creating models as evidence of integrative and informed thinking
• Provides self-assessment of personal interest and aptitudes for personal learning plan

Meaningful Making

What does it mean to be a meaningful project?

• Solves a problem
• Helps us when we need it
• Benefits others
• Completes an objective that it was designed for
• Reminds you of something important
• Has personal meaning
• Evokes emotion
• Looks nice
• Takes effort to make
• Something you want to do
• Help with daily problems

Daily Quote

Stress is like a pulse, if you have it you are alive.
— Steve Maraboli