The Gifts of Making

This holiday season, and in particular, holiday shopping has me put me in a reflective whirlwind. I don't particularly enjoy shopping. The crowds, the noise, and the pressure can be a real downer. When I do stretch my shopping legs, I like to do so with creativity and purpose. My teaching interests bubble to the surface as I look for just the right game, toy, or kit for inspiring thinking while providing fun, interactive learning experiences. I can hear the kids in the background, "I just want to play."

What was your favorite toy or game while growing up? Why was it your favorite?

Are some of your favorite toys the same ones that stretched your thinking and creativity? Here are several memorable toys received as Christmas gifts while growing up.

Several of these toys survived years of play and were passed down to my kids. My parents, grandparents, and yes, even Santa Claus understood the value of playing, creating, tinkering, collaborating, and making. Bud, my younger brother, and I got to enjoy makerspace experiences decades before the term became fashionable in education circles. We spent most of our childhood playing outside, but many a rainy afternoon was spent creating and building things in our home-based makerspaces. Bud is artistic and very handy at fixing and building things. We are both adept at tinkering in the garage, or around the house when the opportunities present themselves. I think our skills and interests are a direct result of the thoughtfulness of our "gifters", namely our parents.

So, as I wait in the checkout line at Hobby Lobby, I've come to the realization the impact playing and making has on our lives. Minecraft, Meccano, and Sphero are vivid illustrations how modern games and toys are very different from what we grew up with, but the engagement, creativity, and collaborative powers are still evident if you know where to look. In this season of giving, consider the learning experiences and long-term value of your generosity. Gifts of making provide enriching experiences that keep giving for years to come.

How can we provide empowering experiences with long-term impact on the learners in our schools?

What Teachers Can Learn From Effective Coaches

In my educational world teaching and coaching involve the same processes. The people that impacted my own learning most significantly were coaches. Could it be that great coaches were ahead of their time with respects to instructional best practices? Let's take a look at ten coaching practices that thankfully have found their way into the classroom. http://www.coachwooden.com/files/PyramidThinkingSuccess.jpg Standards-based Grading - coaches aren't concerned with arbitrary measures of success such as letter grades. Great coaches identify a requisite set of skills that are necessary for advancement and success. Promotion and achievement are based upon clearly identified levels of skill mastery. Authentic assessment - coaches are looking for their athletes to demonstrate their skill mastery under game-like situations. The best coaches incorporate game simulations and competitive, game-like drills into their practices. Winning coaches will use the contests as assess

Board Games in the School Library: 3 Reasons Why It's a Winning Play

"Play is the highest form of research." - Albert Einstein “Play is the work of the child.” – Maria Montessori In our recently remodeled school media center, we have a space dedicated to active engagement in fun learning activities. Part maker space, part literacy lounge, board games are being incorporated to promote a culture of joyful learning. Whether it's a game of Rummy , Yahtzee , or Scrabble , family game night serves as a communication elixir and solidifies our domestic climate of togetherness. Shouldn't similar opportunities for interaction, challenge, and fun exist somewhere in our schools? Broken families, cultural fragmentation, and poverty are impacting opportunities for children to play. As we unpacked and tagged our new media center games, I was more disappointed than shocked by the number of students who had never played Monopoly , Boggle , or Sorry . One skeptical teacher commented, "Oh great, now we're letting students pl

Self-Directed vs. Self-Determined Learning; What's the Difference?

"We need to move beyond the idea that an education is something that is provided for us, and toward the idea that an education is something that we create for ourselves." - Stephen Downes In this age of abundance of information, shifting classroom pedagogy isn't nearly enough to make learning in school more relevant and authentic for the learner. Self-directed learning ( andragogy ), and self-determined learning ( heutagogy ) are the ideals necessary in making students " future ready " to live and learn in a web-connected world. While original research applied these concepts to mature learners, it has become apparent that even young children have an abundant capacity for recognizing and directing their learning. Anyone who has observed toddlers learning how to walk and talk understand the motivation and skill development that quickly develops during these processes. Considered by some to be on a learning continuum, self-directed learning, and self-determined

Nocking the Arrow

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