Today was an interesting day. I wanted to interview some students for our podcast, but they were both sick so I decided to interview a pair of 1st grade students. It is really interesting to think about the quote above as I listen back to the recordings of our conversations. They both were authentic conversations…
Category: collaboration
The next step…
After my last post on creativity and being open to new ideas, I wanted to stretch my thinking and dive into the creation of a podcast. I didn’t want this to be any old podcast, but one that focuses on student voice, kindergarten to 5th grade. With this in mind, I began to compile resources…
Confusion leading to Creativity
I came across this wonderful quote this morning : You can’t be creative unless you are willing to be confused ~Rick Wormeli Think about all this quote has within it….. To be confused leads to creative thought. To be confused leads to great questions. To be confused leads to being curious. To be confused can…
Ideas Floating Around
I sit in the twilight of morning wondering what kind of ideas might be heard today. As dark as our world is at times, I know there are ideas floating around in the minds of our students, just waiting to see the sunshine. How will those ideas come to see the light of day when…
Planning..With…Students
This year has been one of the most difficult years I’ve had as a teacher. Moving towards a more collaborative based structure with my students as planners has been a real struggle. Behavior and the ability to self reflect does not change in one year, yet I’m more than happy to take on that challenge….
Comics: The Power of Design
Calvin is having a problem. He’d like to get back to Earth safely. Design a way for him to return to Earth using only 3 items. What do you notice about the above comic? How might we use design thinking along with this comic? What ideas would you or your students have to help Calvin…
Small Cubes, Huge Opportunities
Throughout the last year I have been experimenting with the game based creation tool called Bloxels and I have been blown away by the possibilities. What amazes me the most are the attitudes of the students as they receive feedback from their peers and revise their game creations. These little blocks pack an amazingly powerful…
Do I have to work with them?
Think about that question in the title. What is that student really saying when they exclaim, “I don’t want to work with them!” Is it because students don’t want to share their ideas? Could it be that students don’t feel safe? Could it be the learning environment is not set up for collaboration? I really…
Caring and Sharing
Why should our students care about their own learning? How can we facilitate learning that is embraced by all students? When will our students begin to look at their learning as their own and not teacher directed? Who directs learning each day? What kind of classroom environment do students need that creates a culture of acceptance…
Thinking Differently
Throughout the day we have opportunities to think differently, to value thought patterns that might not be our own, and ask questions from different viewpoints. The question that I have been wondering about is how often do the adults think differently so that students can think differently? We are in a profession that is helping…
Collaborative Curiosity
Collaborative Curiosity…. what is it? I’ve been thinking recently about what this might look like in our classrooms and have decided this might be one of the most important pieces our students are missing. Imagine you have a question about a flower and you find the answer by googling it. You have the knowledge and you…
Collaboration, not just with adults
To learn in just one way is to do a disservice to what learning truly is. Think of all the different ways that people learn, visually, online, books, social media, making, and more. If we were to just choose one way to learn, would we be better? Would we be where we are today? Those…
Curiosity, Exploration, Wonder 