Innovation, Education Technology, 3D printing in the classroom and beyond.
February 19, 2015
I introduced the microscope project to my class some time ago and I was really excited about it. That project has languished due to other pressing projects. However, we have not given up and I am happy to report that we have printed our first original microscope. Of course, you rarely get it right on […]
January 10, 2015
This has been a really fun week with regard to education technology in my classroom. It was just one of those weeks where things have fallen together. It started with Wednesday’s writing prompt in which I asked the students which tools they would bring with them if they were going to be spending time on a space station. They […]
January 1, 2015
HOW DID I MISS THIS!? I’ve mentioned before how I am excited to download and print the files that have been printed on the International Space Station. I was looking for the site where the files will eventually be available again when I came across Future Engineers. The website introduces a contest for students in K-12 […]
December 18, 2014
We are in the last week of school before winter break and my students are ready for it. Let’s be honest, so am I. The week before any break is always an interesting time. This week we have taken a trip to the ballet to watch a couple of our students perform in The Nutcracker, […]
December 10, 2014
For the last few years I have been reading a book to my class called Greetings from Planet Earth by Barbara Kerley. It’s a good story about a boy who is really interested in space and struggles with losing his father in the Vietnam War. I probably like it even more because I have many connections […]
November 20, 2014
Twitter can be a really good learning tool. I’ve known that for awhile, and I have learned much from my own Twitter account. I have even used it as a learning tool in some college classes that I have taught, but I have avoided it in my fourth grade class. That has changed this year. […]
November 20, 2014
I suppose it was inevitable. Once I started tinkering with 3D printers in my classroom I would need a more purposeful MakerSpace than a box in a cabinet. That box in the cabinet that was becoming quite unruly. It was full of soldering irons, LEDs, pipe cleaners, glue guns, and a hodge podge of leftover […]
November 6, 2014
My students are in the midst of making mockumentaries on the 3D printed insects that they have “discovered” in our classroom ecosystem. It has been nice teaching this for a second year in a row. Teachers always do it a bit better after the first time. This year I also have the benefit of a […]
October 22, 2014
Sometimes curiosity is the best teacher. Admittedly, most of the time curiosity is a much better teacher than I am. However, understanding and using the curiosity of my students actually makes me a better teacher. If I can get my students curious about a topic and structure a lesson that gives them an opportunity to […]
October 9, 2014
One of the best things about maker education or education technology is how they can push kids who are used to having school come easy to them to a place where they have to work. Nobody likes to be frustrated and too much frustration will make a person want to quit. But it is those […]