Thinking Education

A blog about teaching #kindergarten, empowering #modernlearners and understanding each other.

[thinkingeducation]

It's summer and my off-season #stem research team is already at it. ;) My pedagogical approach: "Here boys, build and program something, I'll be back in 10 minutes." #legowedo 2.0 is great for this. I introduced the system to my 7 year old twin boys once before, and now they are exploring the app, following instructions and improvising with the #code We'll go back and forth between me guiding and them tinkering. My 6 year old triplet girls are next! #ontarioteacher #steamed #STEM #robots #girlswhocode #boyswhocode #programming #coding #stemeducation #robotics #legorobotics

[thinkingeducation]

Something happens when we kick the tires of technologies: we build the capacity to innovate. #modernlearning #steamed #STEM #coding #edtech #peel #ontarioteacher #ontarioteachers #masterlearner #robots #girlswhocode #boyswhocode #programming #coding #stemeducation #moreonthatlater

[thinkingeducation]

Year in review, Part 2 - #drawing meets #coding with help from #lego and #dash #wonderworkshop #makewonder #techbuddies #kindergarten #grade4 #modernlearning #steamed #STEM #robots #girlswhocode #boyswhocode #programming #coding #stemeducation Maybe next year we'll get the creative kit to hold and centre the marker like I saw in #ISTE18 posts, but the #problemsolving opportunity was a blast.

[thinkingeducation]

Year in review: we made some leaps in our coding program this year with #Dash #coding challenges #problemsolving #robots #stem Looking forward to innovating next year even more. Check out the #dash drawing challenge at the end of the video! @wonderworkshop #wonderworks #ontarioteacher #kindergarten #grade4 #techbuddies #modernlearning Maybe next year we'll make it out to #ISTE18 and exchange ideas.

[thinkingeducation]

We were filling up the water table with #orbeez and wondered... what if we put them in a bottle and closed the lid? With the help of timelapse photography to slowdown and visualize what was happening, we can see exactly what happened! Teacher, we used a free app I've been using for years called #imotion (iPad). It's free, and might actually already be installed on most iPads in your board. It's great for getting a new perspective. What will your kinder kids observe next with #stopmotion or #timelapse #ontarioteacher #kinder #kindergarten #fdk #stem #playbasedlearning

[thinkingeducation]

Here's a new use for that class set of #miras we have just been using for symmetry! Now: They are Secret Decoders! We've been writing secret codes using highlighters (they work best). By day, the message is unclear... but my Mira.... revealed!! Just like those secret messages on the side of your transformers packages from the 80's. (I'm dating myself). This idea came to mind as an extension activity while filling in for a grade 4 class the other day. I plan to take the learning back to the kinders to further the exploration, and of course ongoing writing of secret codes!!! Perhaps we'll also see if we can dig up the science behind the code breaking! The grade 4's and I discussed how the red Mira filters (refracts) some colours and not others. #FDK #kindergarten #kinder #ontarioteacher #literacy #science #primary

[thinkingeducation]

In the works for next year... #Sphero Chariots! It was a weekend of lab tests not too long ago and this is what me and my children whipped up! Challenge your students with hybrid design/build/code challenge with project wood and MDF wheels. What can sphero pull? Make something similar out of Lego or cardboard and compare! This is also a great collaborative project for kinders to do with their older grade 4 tech buddies! #mentoring, #cooperation and #skillbuilding #competition #edtech #kindergarten #fkd #ontarioteacher #stem #stemeducation #coding #engineering

[thinkingeducation]

Just building an interactive, cooperative, digital... light table. #waitforit #stem #kindergarten #kinder #FDK #FDKathome #ontarioteacher

[thinkingeducation]

At minimum, our certainty that the only thing we can claim about the future is its uncertainty provides reason enough to prepare students to be diversely skilled, nimble-minded and technologically savvy citizens.

Institute for Studies in Education

[thinkingeducation]

We've been using #Stem #Robotics activities to stimulate discussions and collaborative art and map making. #ozobot is a great tool to talk about different types of lines (waves, zig zags, arcs, spirals) to design, create and test maps, plan out routes in everything from rooms to cities, and create stories with an interactive character. (Swipe to see) #fdk #ontarioteacher #kinder #kindergartengraduation #kindergarten #primary #maps #edtech #edtechteachers #modernlearning

[thinkingeducation]

We were working with tops the other day to explore the effects of speed on what we see! How fast does our design (or anything) need to go before our eyes can't keep up, and the pictures become blurry? What happens to different designs at high speed? Can you make a prediction? Does that effect your design? Wait, how does a top stay standing anyways? And how does slow motion affect sounds in the environment? So many questions as we create motion designs! This is a great lead into #stopmotion animation explorations and a study of animation in general! #fdk #kindergarten #primary #education #stem #steam #modernlearning

[thinkingeducation]

Explore your sandbox this summer with #Sphero! We've been building in the sandbox with purpose this past weekend - creating tracks and measuring levels, ramps and acceleration to make a perfect track that suits this robot's abilities. Design, testing, problem solving and creativity all come together. Also, teachers: owning some of the same robots the school board has endorsed is continues to give me freedom to experiment at home and bring that learning back into the class next year. You can't own everything, but the investment is worth it. Go Sphero! #primary #teacher #fdk #kindergarten #grade1 #spheroedu #sphero #fdk #coding #robotics #stem

[thinkingeducation]

How to turn your classroom iPad into a recording studio. We've been taking some steps in my Kindergarten and Grade 3 classes into the world of podcasting. Using a real microphone has created greater student engagement and a much better finished work, which helps encourage more projects that others will enjoy listening too (Think: Student read audiobooks for your school) So here's my suggestions on what equipment to use if you do the same! 1. A microphone and cable (Your school probably already has one for gym presentations) 2. The "Sure Mvi" digital adaptor (This plugs the microphone into the iPad) 3. The "Spreaker Studio" App (Free) Swipe to see more pictures, and try it yourself. #edtech #podcasting #kindergarten #ipad #grade3 #education

[thinkingeducation]

This week we've been walking through the process of creating Podcasts! It's been a great organizing structure for writing scripts and practising our oral language for real world purposes. Our process has been 1. Topic selection (Top 10 things to do this summer) 2. Podcasting teams of two, writing using a graphic organizer 3. Practise using iPads 4. Live studio recording in front of the class with higher end equipment. 5. Post live to a podcasting hosting service (free) ... stay tuned for an upcoming post on equipment and app recommendations.... #edtech #grade3 #podcasting #education

[thinkingeducation]

Apps for Primary - Part 1 : It's spring, let a dancing bear reinforce learning about shapes and patterns! Loopimal is about the craziest patterning app I've come across, but it's proved engaging for my K students. #patterning #precoding #coding #edtech #kindergarten #kindergartenlife

[thinkingeducation]

Yesterday my kindergarten students examined their dominoes using slow-motion! I'm hoping it sparks conversations about time, direction, stability, cause and effect. We'll see where it goes! What inquiry questions would you ask next? #stem #kindergarten #kindergartenlife #playbasedlearning

[thinkingeducation]

Using Coding to support Classroom Literacy.

Our class has Pigeon fever this week so we turned our Dash Robot into the main character from “Don’t let the Pigeon Drive the Bus”. We think he’s a natural fit. We drew him, wrote down his favourite sayings, recorded our voices and programmed him to talk to us!

At the kindergarten level I guide them through visual blocks programming together, but I set up much of the code before hand). Then, we add student voices into the program. To make it even more their own, next we are talking about what else Dash could do to be more like the pigeon (wiggle his body, spin). Dash has a useful feature that turns him towards whoever is talking so he interact with them. Again, some of the more complicated programming elements (Loops / variables) I gloss over for simplicity sake.

Here’s the main goal: Scaffold the programming side of robotics to engage students in using oral language for real purposes (recording their voices to add to a robotic character). Also, to open students up to some of the possibilities of programming.

This is part of an ongoing inquiry around the pigeon books and we’re enjoying integrating and extending it into a number of the STEM explorations we’ve had this year. I think it’s working ;). #coding #kindergarten #stem #edtech