Genius Hour to Maker Ed

This has been a crazy, amazing, exhausting and exciting year, and it's only been 70+ days! My kids and I began the year working on Genius Hour projects, feverishly polishing up research and getting presentations ready. It was good and it was how I envisioned the beginning of my year. However, I knew it wasn't going to stay the same for long. What if there were tools and wood scraps? What about a hand saw? What if there was tape, cardboard, MakeDo Kits, tubes and marble run walls? And, what if this was all tied together with Design Thinking? What if Genius Hour was really Maker Time in room 26?







The Start
Getting the kids amped about working independently on a project of their choosing was more difficult than I thought. I jumped from 1st grade to 3rd grade and the difference was noticeable. After some work thinking big with a WonderWall (huge thanks to @bertoson81 for the inspiration) the kids started to get that when I said, "Go forth and learn about anything" I meant Anything. Like all Genius Hour's, some were great, like a perfect cup of coffee in the morning. Others, were not so good (gas station coffee?). Guiding 3rd graders through a less than structured learning process is hard work, but can be done when high standards and expectations, mini-lessons and check-in meetings are put into place.


Starting to Change
"If you don't like change, you're going to like irrelevance even less."
—General Eric Shinseki, former U.S. Army Chief of Staff

I will admit, the move to MakerEd was strategic. Our district had raised money for a Maker program and I was excited. I was totally on board. I had no idea where Maker would take my class, but knew it was an idea that would lead to countless learning opportunities for my students. It was hands on, engaging, a little messy and "mostly safe" (@pgoetz6). I couldn't pass it up. So we made stuff.

We started with the Design Thinking approach and made some Maker Journals to start. Then the kids started getting into cardboard prototyping (cheap and fast model that functions). We crushed tape- it was ridiculous. (We got Make Do kits and life has been better ever since).

We made a lot. There were planes, a stool, a chair, wrecking machines, boats, stuffed animal houses. The room was messy, but learning was taking place in each nook and cranny. (How did I know? This blog will have to be next up.)

The Big Shift

About a month ago I had the privlege of visiting the The Cove School to see what we might want to copy/steal as we move forward with a bond. (Watch a video about the school here). While there, I learned about the Making they are trying to implement with their students. Tinker. Make. Do. While Tinkering, students are playing with materials, experiencing and experimenting with motion and force, adhesion, overall design or aesthetics. When Making, students are actually creating something. This can be a prototype, or an actual functioning thing. Do- this is where I'm a little foggy, so I just made this up with my students to fit our needs and classroom culture. If you are Doing, you are focused on a big project, perhaps writing a play, researching Ice Cream (back to Genius Hour) or how planes fly. For me, this was a big "ah ha". I can offer my students a developmentally appropriate Maker time that includes hands on learning, collaborative problem solving, highly engaging work that each student chose to tackle, very rigorous standards of completion and high expectations. 

This Scooter rack filled a need at our school. Created by students.
Note the prototype in green. Fully functioning as I write this. 

Making the Maker Ed program for a classroom or school is never really done. The iterative step in Design Thinking allows for testing and retesting, always looking for a better way to learn, teach and think. I leave school most days thinking about change in big and small ways, searching for new ways to engage students and create more and more learning opportunities. Putting Maker Ed and Genius Hour together seems to work, so I suppose that won't change for now. 

Maker Project 1- The Wrecking Machine

Over the summer I had the unique opportunity to create some maker curriculum for my district (Kentfield School District). I was really intrigued with the NGSS and knew that I was going to start the curriculum by touching on some of the new standards, but also knew that my district was ok with some freestyle making for the sake of making. So, off I went into my own personal workshop (garage) to play and experience some making of my own. I build a desk. Tried to build a table and I visited Lighthouse Charter School in Oakland to learn how they do what they do (If you get the chance, go to one of their PD's). This all culminated with my colleague, Beth Espinoza, and I ordering maker carts and materials for our school (shout outs to Peter Goetz and Peter Zingg). We were fortunate enough to benefit from fundraising that our fundraising machine (KIK) raised and PTA donated to better fund these carts. 

Fast forward to the beginning of school and kids are finally getting their hands on the materials and curriculum. I even had parents making things during Back to School Night for their kids! We played with the Marshmallow Challenge to get us started, which resulted in total failure from all groups. No sweat, we will be coming back to this in a few weeks to apply what we are learning. 

Yesterday the kids took on their next big Maker Challenge- Make a machine that can knock another object down. In this case, the 'other object' was a wall made of wooden blocks, and the machines were as varied as the kids themselves. They used fabric, styrofoam, cardboard, clothes pins, dowels, wheels, corks and string, to name a few materials. Initially, they got organized by making a quick sketch and creating a shopping list. Once at the maker cart, they loaded up their carts with goodies (careful not to overdo) and were engaging with peers about possible designs during this time. While in the midst of the build process, the kids were able to prototype and refine continually, going through the iterative process throughout the 50 minutes they had to create this contraption. They were collaborating like mad with classmates, both within their group as well as crowd sourcing ideas to gain a creative edge.

In the end, only one group was actually able to knock down the wall, but each group was successful in design conversation and engaging with peers to problem solve, rapid prototyping and gaining a great understanding of force and motion. Each group also came away with a new plan for the next build, now with a further understanding of creating something that is heavier and larger in order to generate more force to knock down the wall. 

Next week, more walls will come tumbling down in room 26.        

The Day the Kid Threw the Lego Spaceship & 61 Tries

April 23rd- This was one of the best experiences of my teaching career. Granted I've been teaching for 7 years and hope to have more moments like this and better, but this one was special. Genius Hour has created a developmental divide in my class where some children are investigating bugs and Capoeira, and others are tinkering away and creating. I have enjoyed watching this evolution happen and feel confident that deep learning is happening at both ends of the divide. Some need to make and build, others need to create, some start a movement and others want deep learning.

For the builders, a hot topic has been rapid prototyping and the test-retest cycle of iteration. JR took some time to create his spaceship model and claimed he was 'done'. "Great," I said. "Test it." He wasn't quite sure what that meant. It can't fly to the moon, this was obvious, but it did have to be quite strong to make a possible journey. So, I suggested he do the throw test. It's a pretty simple test for strength. Step 1) take object/ship/thing. Step 2) throw in a safe direction. Step 3) assess damage and rebuild to address weakness. The thing is, I can't believe he actually chucked the thing! He had so much pride in his initial build, I was sure I'd get some flack. But he has trust in this process and he has trust in the class culture of creating and innovating.

I'm coming to realize that Genius Hour isn't a thing or a kit to be made available. There isn't a formula for all. Rather, it is a frame of mind that a curious educator can embody. This is a time and place for educators who believe in self-led learning, wondering and creating to show trust in their students ideas and passions. Teachers can learn with students, coach their efforts and help them to make their learning or creation the ideal of what the students wants.

The girls tried 6 more times. 

April 30th- LP and EL worked together today to perfect a chain reaction using dominoes and a few other items. They worked feverishly and carefully for over 90 minutes, continuously knocking their reaction down accidentally (or not). When all was said and done, they didn't have a thing to present after Genius Hour came to a close, instead, they shared their experiences and wisdom after failing so many times. What did they come up with? Rapid prototyping worked well, they figured out what worked (some dominoes) and what didn't (too many is a problem). They wanted to use clay next time as well as more marbles. They shared eloquently and with some frustration. They were loud and proud. The class was proud of them, constantly telling the girls, 'we saw it or heard it work', as if to say- we've got your back, it's happened to us, too. If this isn't grit x perseverance= awesome, I don't know what it...