Today is our final day in brick-and-mortar space as we prepare to embark upon our writing marathon tomorrow. This means that the walls we have come to call home over the past three weeks will go back to being the neatest classroom on U of I's campus, even without our presence. The space itself has provided a number of great opportunities to fiddle with technology, reach out and collaborate with people around the country, and share our ideas with our peers. But tomorrow we will really play with the ideas of how space affects process and output by traveling to different sites around campus. It has been a wonderful institute, and we are looking forward to closing in style.
Before launching into his teaching demo over imagination and play in the Common Core era, Tomas took the time to read us the children's book Tadpole's Promise. Although beautifully written and illustrated, the ending was a tad polarizing (rimshot). You should check the book out and see what you think.
You're probably not surprised to learn when looking at this picture that we all would like to be magically transported Tomas's classroom immediately. Consider Tomas's contentions:
If you tuned in to yesterday's conversation with Paul Prior, you probably recognize some of these ideas. But even if you have read Vygotsky, Dewey, or other sociocultural theorists in your educational training, this probably makes a lot of sense. The world is a playground, after all. So why do we keep seeing these tenets squeezed out of classrooms? Thanks, Tomas, for reminding us of the importance of keeping play in our classrooms.
This was such a wonderful and refreshing way to end our teaching demonstrations. We finish galvanized and ready to ask our students to use their imaginations in their learning.
You're probably not surprised to learn when looking at this picture that we all would like to be magically transported Tomas's classroom immediately. Consider Tomas's contentions:
- Having to teach to the Common Core Standards doesn't mean I can't have fun with my lessons.
- Giving students experiences that require imaginative play makes school fun and gives them positive memories
- I can teach my students what they need to know, while having imaginative play a part of the classroom.
If you tuned in to yesterday's conversation with Paul Prior, you probably recognize some of these ideas. But even if you have read Vygotsky, Dewey, or other sociocultural theorists in your educational training, this probably makes a lot of sense. The world is a playground, after all. So why do we keep seeing these tenets squeezed out of classrooms? Thanks, Tomas, for reminding us of the importance of keeping play in our classrooms.
This was such a wonderful and refreshing way to end our teaching demonstrations. We finish galvanized and ready to ask our students to use their imaginations in their learning.
Don't forget to join in tonight's Twitter chat at 6pm EST. We will be using the hashtag #clmooc. We will also be hosting a #slowchat for those people who feel that the regular Twitter chat moves a little too fast. If you are interested in pre-loading a little of your discussion tonight, here are the questions we will be asking:
- Q1: what resources do we draw upon for inspiration, persistence, and response to frustration, esp. working in an unfamiliar medium?
- Q2: How does your answer from Q1 reflect on yourself as a learner / writer / composer?
- Q3: How have a medium’s affordances & constraints provided potentials (and pushback) during your making?
- Q4: How does (re)mediating bridge to both the Connected Learning principles and the classroom?
The afternoon may have been the coolest session yet, as Suzanne and Virginia came to visit us from the Fab Lab to help us make Arduino bots. Arduino, which is an open-source platform (though a donation is appreciated), takes the making process to a new level by bringing applied mechanics into the making space. Check out this cool video of Yoda and Darth Vader dueling to the death.
For our final make, we harnessed the power of engineering to come up with some pretty nifty stuff. Thanks to Suzanne and Virginia for spending the afternoon with us!