Last month's Maker Faire drew do-it-your-selfers from across the country to San Francisco to show off their creations. While the rest of us seem content to buy what we need, there is a dedicated community of tinkerers out there that is keeping the American tradition of backyard innovation alive. Why not showcase their work to inspire your students to think more creatively?
I've made the point that schools need to foster creativity to prepare our students for a future that will put a premium on adaptability. Innovation requires both a strong foundation in content knowledge and the ability to apply that knowledge in new ways - usually across a variety of disciplines. And it requires using all of Bloom’s skills from remembering through creating. Creating is not a skill limited to the gifted. It's something that all students can do - think of it as a new combination of old elements.
If you're looking to inspire your students, you might send them online to Maker Faire or it's parent, Make Magazine (or the like-minded site, Instructables.) Even if you're too timid to let them haul in old washing machine parts, you can give them the opportunity to do paper designs of their creations in the style of Rube Goldberg.
In the meantime enjoy The Best of Maker Faire 2008
The Smithsonian collection of photos has become part of the Flickr Commons group and joins the photo collections of other institutions such as The Library of Congress, the Brooklyn Museum and the Powerhouse Museum. The Commons was launched on January 16 2008, in a pilot project in partnership with The Library of Congress. Both Flickr [...]
A recent article in the July/August 2008 issue of the Atlantic Monthly raises an interesting question for educators. Nicholas Carr asks Is Google Making Us Stupid? and he concludes that the internet may be changing the way we read and think. That shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who spends time around students. He [...]
For many years I've used TurningPoint (TP) ARS in my presentations using PC PowerPoint. I'm a convert to Keynote from PowerPoint and I figured out a way to use TP along with Apple Keynote (KN) presentations. I thought I'd share my work-around with others. Software and equipment:I make two presentations – a Keynote talk and [...]
Brian Greene is a professor of physics at Columbia and the author of “The Elegant Universe.” In a June 1, 2008 NY Times Op-Ed essay Put a Little Science in Your Life, makes an eloquent argument for engaging students with the wonder of scientific discovery. He argues that the recitation of facts and technicalities often [...]
I am proud of my life-long career in public education - especially the 25 years I spent as a teacher. For over 20 years, I have worked with school districts, state DOEs, leading educational organizations and companies to improve the quality of teaching and learning. I provide training and consulting services across the United States and internationally.More
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