Nocking the Arrow

"Making in the library is about offering students opportunities to move from simply being users and consumers to being creators, by providing them with the spaces, tools, and resources they need."  - Laura Fleming Under what conditions does your best learning occur? Many folks, myself included, say their best learning happens when they create something previously non-existent. Where are the places in your school where learning happens, not through instruction and a prescribed curriculum, but through inquiry and exploration? Where is the central hub of your school learning community? A maker space may be just the thing for breathing relevancy and energy into your school library, or media center. According to Nick Provenzano , aka " The Nerdy Teacher ," these are the four essential reasons why a media center makerspace makes sense; space, furniture, supervision, and access. School media centers provide open, flexible space. Collaboration, interaction, ...

"You do the math. You solve a problem. Then you solve the next. If you solve enough of them you can come home."   - Matt Damon in "The Martian" Astronaut, Mark Watney's crew mistakenly leaves him for dead on Mars. His survival is put to the ultimate test in a series of challenges to overcome with math, science, creativity, and perseverance. My first viewing of The Martian was based purely on the film's science fiction entertainment value. However, after reading Amanda Dykes's inspiring post, " Are You Teaching Your Students to be Martians? ", I decided to see this captivating movie again, this time, through my educator's lens. "In the face of overwhelming odds, I have only one option: I am going to have to science the shit out of this."  - Matt Damon in "The Martian" Watney, a botanist, needs to create a food supply. He needs to use available technology to create a means of communication, and he needs to ...

Wanting a break from last week's IETC conference in Springfield, I decided to walk across the street to the AMC-8 theater to see " Big Hero 6 ". I thoroughly enjoyed my second viewing of " Big Hero 6 " with a big bag of popcorn and a large Coke. If you are a teacher or a student, you will love this movie, not only because it's a captivating story, but also because it features themes currently prominent in learning and education. A box-office hit, here are six themes from this movie that will have teachers and students laughing and cheering from their theater seats. STEM EDUCATION - 14 year old robotics prodigy Hiro Hamada uses his engineering skills to inventively help his heroic friends overcome an evil adversary. Science, math, and technology are featured problem solving tools for Hiro and his robot friend, Baymax. When times get tough, Hiro encourages his friends to find solutions through creativity and innovation. Credit to Disney for trut...