Design Challenges In Math Class

Upon going back to the classroom this year, I promised myself I would continue some of the things I started doing as an instructional coach.  One of my must do's this year is Design Day.  One day a week, we have a design challenge in our math class.  The purpose of these challenges is:

• to connect design thinking into the mathematics classrooom
• to provide opportunities for my students to "fail" in a low stakes environment
• to connect maker activities to learning mathematics 
• to encourage problem solving, critical thinking, risk taking 
• to provide meaningful reflection for students as they process their successes and challenges
• to remember that we are designer-ish and that means some days we end up with a pile of nothing

The goal of our first two challenges was to provide the students with a task that would be challenging and provide many opportunities to fail and start again, to persevere or give up, to step out of their comfort zone and feel challenge and possibly failure.

Inevitably, there is always a group or two who end up with a pile of nothing at the end of the time.  This becomes an opportunity for the whole class to consider how and why this happened.  We discuss what went well and what did not.  It also provides the opportunity to explain to the students that in the end, everyone learned something - some learned how not to do it, other learned one way to do it.  When we do a class gallery walk, the students learn there are many possible outcomes and ways to complete the challenge and learning takes place in every one.

Interesting Insights:

• It amazes me how quickly the students give up their paralyzing fear of failure and are willing to jump in and take risks, an example:
• a group of high achieving eighth graders copped out of the first challenge by building a structure that was one inch high.  They struggled as they tried to make the tallest structure and there was no way they were going to have a pile of Popsicle sticks at the end of time, so they built a stable and very short structure.  They were not willing to take a chance and fail so they were happy with partial completion rather than total failure.
• Fast forward to the Week 2 Challenge - these same students let go of their fear of failure and were all in.  They took risks and persevered and completed the challenge successfully.  In one short week these students shifted their mindset and embraced the possibility of failure.

Here are our first design challenges.  The first two gave students the opportunity to take risks and prototype quickly with the possibility of inevitable failure always looming.  After the first two tasks, I connected the challenge to our unit of study - proportional relationships.  The students spent the next two design days building models of our classroom.  Next is introducing the Design Thinking model (I'm stealing Vista Innovation and Design Academy's process CLICK HERE).  

Our First Challenges:
Design Challenge #1:  Build the tallest free standing structure (can be moved and is not taped to the desk, floor, table etc...) out of 40 Popsicle sticks and masking tape

• students worked in groups of 4
• they had 20 minutes to complete the challenge
• I provided tape as needed
• Popsicle sticks were purchased at Dollar Tree

Design Challenge #2: Build a free standing structure out of straws and masking tape that will hold a box of 24 crayons 4 inches off the ground.

• students worked in groups of 4
• they had 20 minutes to complete the challenge
• I provided tape as needed
• straws were purchased at Dollar Tree

Design Challenge #3: Make a model of our classroom using construction paper and tape.  This first part of the challenge is the jumping off point for the design thinking process.  The students will use their first models to build scale models, then after learning from that process, each student will pick a meaningful object to scale up or down and build.

Photos of our Challenges:

If You Hopped Like a Frog - Fractions

The next few weeks I will be co-teaching a third grade fractions unit with one of the teachers I "coach".  Actually, I think she is now my coach.  I have created this document: click here as a Multi-Media Text Set.  Our goal is to create some enrichment lessons that will provide meaningful and connected activities that also integrate technology in a meaningful way.

I will be blogging about each activity in the coming days/weeks to give some insight to my thinking and possible implementation of these activites.

One of the activities is "If You Hopped Like a Frog" based on the book by David Schwartz one of my all time favorite authors who integrates mathematics into children's books.  The activity helps students start thinking about proportionality.  This activity is a cooperative Google Slide presentation where students will use Google Search to research the proportions in the book.

If You Hopped Like A Frog - David Schwartz -

YouTube Video of the Book - Click Here

• This is a proportional reasoning and Google Search Activity Using Google Slides.
• You will need to go over search methods
• You will need to teach students how to find images that are for non-commercial use

Group Google Slide Deck Template - Click Here

Here is the Instructions Slide:

Here is the Example Slide:

I'll be doing this with my third grade classes in the coming weeks and will let you know how it goes and share any modifications/revisions.

Hour of Code 2016

This month is Hour of Code month.  My Google Calendar is filled to the brim with teachers who have requested me to come in and coach them and their students in coding.  I began coding coaching last year and I have learned many valuable tidbits that will help teachers as they embark on this venture.  I work with teachers in grades TK-8, however it is the elementary teachers (TK-5) who have taken advantage of my coding coaching sessions.  Below I have shared what I have learned.

This week, I created a Multi-Media Text Set (MMTS) on Hour of Code as a reference sheet for my teachers and their students.  CLICK HERE

My Goal in creating this resource is to make it easy for teachers to try Hour of Code and have an easy reference to share with students.  This document gives one click options for trying Hour of Code and/or Coding with K - 8 students.

NOTE: I'm still adding to the MMTS

    




Here are some tidbits I have learned by providing coaching for teachers and students for Hour of Code the last 2 years:

• I love using the Code.org Courses especially to start with the younger students because it gives them experience navigating the technology - we use chromebooks.
• The courses have up to 20 stages of learning that allow for continued coding throughout the school year.
• When students login using their Google Suite for Education accounts, their progress is tracked and they can start exactly where they left off from previous sessions.
• For K-2 I like starting with Course 1 before working on an Hour of Code activity as mentioned in the MMTS
• For 3 - 5 I like starting with Hour of Code and then going to Course 2
• Because many of the district students participated in Hour of Code last year, I am having the 4th and 5th grade students do the Star Wars JavaScript Hour of Code activity.
• My preference is no headphones because I love watching the collaboration between the students even when they have their own device - but it is always STUDENT preference as to whether or not they wear their headphones.

This is process that I use as an instructional coach to introduce and support my teachers and students with the Hour of Code.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Changing Teachers' Mindsets one Baby Step at a Time

Last year and this year I have had the privilege of being a STEAM coach.  It was not part of my original job description as a Curriculum Coordinator, but I added it because I missed being with the teachers and students.

Since it is Thanksgiving time, I am truly thankful for the small district I work in and the MANY roles and responsibilities I get to experience.  I have shared many STEAM activities on this blog and on Twitter.  One thing I emphasize with the teachers and students I work with is that they will be out of their comfort zone, like Sylvia Duckworth's sketchnote:

With this sketchnote in mind I have witnessed a growth progression in the STEAM teachers I coach weekly:

(this is only a small part of my overall coaching role)

My Coaching Process:

• Weekly STEAM time with a 5th grade, a 3rd grade, and a 1st/2nd grade class.
• Give students a Maker or Coding Challenge: (CLICK HERE to see what we've done so far this year)
• Create a HyperDoc to accompany our activity: (Included in the link above)
• Get out of the students' way tell them to figure it out and/or make it work (I'm a Project Runway fan)
• Have the teacher walk around and support but NO helping or rescuing
• CLICK HERE for some photos of our work this year

What the Teachers Do:

• See their students' engagement
• See their students struggle and persevere
• See that their students are creative and capable problem solvers and critical thinkers

And eventually they step out of their comfort zone and start creating their own HyperDocs and activities with a risk-taking mindset.

The week before Thanksgiving vacation the 1st/2nd grade STEAM teacher created a HyperSlide on Salmon for her students and had the work on it during our STEAM time so I could support her and the students.  The incredible part of the lesson was when she realized she needed their names and so she told the kiddos that she is learning along side of them and that she needed them to "redo" the form with their names.  It was an awesome example of modeling and risk-taking for a self proclaimed "non-techy" teacher and her students.

International Dot Day 2016 STEAM Style

Auburn Union is celebrating International Dot Day in STEAM style this week.

Here is the link to the HyperDoc I created - CLICK HERE

I'm using the HyperDoc for my STEAM coaching classes and then sharing it with all of my teachers if they want to tackle it on their own.  

I'm letting the teachers do the first two activities without me.  The kiddos can create and color their dots.  The second activity is based on the collaborative classroom mural where you cut each student's dot in half and put it together with another student's dot to create the mural.

STEAM Activities:  (We will use Chromebooks for these)

• For the first STEAM Dot activity, I'm having the students explore Google Draw to create their dots electronically.  The teacher and I will provide little guidance as we want them to explore, create and collaborate with each other.
• The second STEAM Dot activity will be for the students to create a Dot animation using Scratch.  Again this will be an exploration and we will provide information as needed but we really want the students to explore and figure it out.

Happy International Dot Day/Week - ish!

Is There a Time to Quit?

Yesterday after my sixth rejection from the Google Teacher Academy/Google for Education Innovator Academy a thought entered my mind.  The thought/word is one that as a risk taker, problem solver, challenge embracer, failure learner, and determined succeeder (do you like my two new words?) never crosses my mind as I model for ALL in my district.  However, I think I have come upon my time to QUIT applying and putting myself through this process.

I put a positive spin on my first few failures, no rejections.  I learn from failures because failures provide meaningful feedback and enable a person to make tweaks and improvements.  As a standards based grading enthusiast, I turned my students so called "failures" into learning opportunities and pushed the kiddos to work on the specific areas needed to improve.  I gave my students daily feedback on their understanding so that they could make adjustments and improve instead of waiting until the unit test.

As a STEAM coach and Instructional Technology Coordinator, I model taking risks and failing forward daily for the teachers, students, administrators, and parents.  An example is the straw towers we are building this week in 1 - 5th grade classrooms: This photo is from a 2nd/3rd grade class

One of our new comer students who speaks little English built the structure that can be reversed and still hold the golf ball, can you pick that one out?

I differentiate between rejections and failures because of what I have learned from the rejections.  Because there is no meaningful feedback on the actual application, I have tried to revise and iterate without knowing what I have done well and not so well and tried to base those improvements by researching those who have been accepted.  When I look at "Famous Failures" (CLICK HERE to watch the video I show my students) they all succeeded because they had determination and feedback to drive their growth.  Even Jose Hernandez the astronaut who failed 12 times before getting in to the space program received feedback that got him one step closer after each failed attempt.

Because I like to model for my learners, it is time for me to QUIT and turn this rejection into an opportunity to model guiding our students and teachers to succeed by providing meaningful feedback and support.  I embrace failure because it really does provide for incredible learning experiences. 

My son asked me if I was going to quit trying last night.  He told me he is not a quitter and I told him I am not either.  So, this morning on our drive to school, we will have a wonderful discussion on if/when there is a time to quit and why I have chosen to do so in this instance.

Again, Google for Education has given me a GIFT in this rejection.  I have realized that everything I do as an educator is to keep my learners from giving up and quitting.  How ironic, I have what would have been my next project: Using Google Tools and Technology to Keep Learners from Quitting.  

As the Late and Great Rita Pierson said, "-18 sucks the life out of a kid, but +2 says they're not all bad"

I love Google, I love Google for Education, I love being a Google Certified Trainer, I am lucky to have many Google Certified Innovators and Trainers as friends and colleagues and I have the highest regard and respect for them all. However, to quote Samantha from Sex in the City: "I love me more."

Toothpick Structures STEAM Activity #2

Our first activity Straw Building was a sort of pre-assessment for our STEAM classes.  It enabled us to get a glimpse of the students and how they ARE in an environment that is open-ended, unstructured, and driven by inquiry.  We gave the students 30 straws and tape and let them build, create and struggle.  Most students embraced the lack of constraints placed upon them, however, there is a select group of students who struggle in this situation - the compliant, rule following, success seeking students.

The STEAM activities at the beginning of the school year expose those students who are used to succeeding with little effort and/or risk taking.  These students crumble in an environment that is open.  They play it safe and know exactly what to do to "get the A" in a traditional setting.  Outside of the classroom, these kiddos can be extremely creative, but in class they want to know exactly what and how to do everything.

At the same time STEAM activities are extremely freeing for those students who struggle to comply in a traditional classroom setting.  The open-endedness provides a no holds barred situation for the kiddos who feel confined in the traditional setting.  That being said here is our next lesson:

Toothpick Building CLICK HERE to access HyperDoc

First and Second Graders

From now on, our STEAM activities will have a HyperDoc or Multi-Media Text Sets to engage and inspire and push the students thinking.  I am gathering the lesson on this spreadsheet so that the AUSD teachers and all others can easily access the lessons etc... CLICK HERE to access STEAM Lesson Spreadsheet.  Have  a great week!

Sphero Art with a Chromebook

Our Paint Covered Spheros

For our final STEAM Parent Day in Chelsea's class we finally created a Sphero Art Mural:

Here are the instructions to save frustration when using Chromebooks with Spheros:

STEP 1: Enable the Bluetooth and connect it to a specific Sphero and have your students remember which color code they are connected to. (We had 6 spheros connected to 6 Chromebooks in the small space yous see in the videos with no problems or conflicts).

STEP 2: Add the Sphero Blockly Chrome App to your Chromebooks (I am our GAFE Admin so I added it to all of our student and teacher accounts).

STEP 3: Have the kiddos open the app and make sure they have their Sphero chosen:

STEP 4: Have the students practice using the Sphero Blockly App to code their Sphero (if they are not familiar with block coding you made need to do this with them a few times before you let them paint)

STEP 5: Find or build a box that will contain the Spheros and the paint and remind the students that they may need to put constraints on their programs.

Coding Spheros with Chromebooks is not the same as using the Tickle App on an iPad, however, it works nicely and the students get a great experience.  Oh and the paint washes right off!

Our next challenge will be Sphero Golf with the Chromebooks!