Podcast: Checkpoint and Twitter

In this episode, we talk about the second checkpoint assignment, our new district Twitter chat and the preparations for the upcoming student TED Talks. Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes and follow us on Twitter @dayankee (Don) and @melissahellwig (Melissa).

Happy Monday!!

Just a little happy for your Monday!  Embrace the "weirdness" of all your students.  This is our little shark attacking Eckert during our outdoor classroom. 

20% Time in the News

One of our kids brought this comic strip in about 20% time they saw in the newspaper.  Too funny!

Doodling

Before school this morning, Fiona came in and asked to use the 3D Doodle Pen. She had an idea and she wanted to see how well she could execute a design. The design was traced out on paper and so she plugged in and went to work. Many of the kids have tried the pen this week and found out that it is tougher to use than they thought. It really does take the steady hand of an artist to create something cool. Well, Fiona nailed it this morning. Here is the execution of her design. She is very happy with the way it turned out.

Podcast: Student TED Talk Prep

In this episode, we talk about the preparations for student TED Talks and the new checkpoint assignment for the kiddos. You can subscribe to our podcast on iTunes. Follow us on Twitter @dayankee and @melissahellwig4

EVERY Student Has Their Own Genius.

This was a video originally shared with us by our Assistant Superintendent, Dr. John Simpson.  The minute I saw it, I wanted to share it out.  What an amazing five minutes of truth! This supports our entire educational philosophy and why we are determined to help begin the movement for a much-needed change in education. Our kids are growing up in a different world than we did.  It is a world where standardized test scores do not begin to define a student or their "genius".  Every student has genius and we as teachers should be trying to find out every student's genius. What is their passion?  What do they love?  What makes them tick?  What makes them want to learn? What ignites their inner motivation? We cannot continue a one size fits all education and expect that all students will preform the same on tests, assignments or projects.  We can no longer ask students to memorize facts, regurgitate information or play the "school" game and expect students to go out into world and be successful.

Let's put students in the driver's seat of their own learning.  Let's help them ignite their flame of motivation and help them become self-motivated learners. When you can tap into a student's passion, you will tap into their genius.  You will unlock the intrinsic motivation that every child needs to become a life-long learner. School and education have become two different things and there needs has to to be a change if we want to prepare students for the world they are growing up in. Just listen and watch. I want every one of my students to say the words, "I am genius!"  How about you?

Blockhead Building Project

One of our student groups got turned on to coding when we participated in the Hour of Code a few months ago. Since then they have been coding and creating almost daily. At school, we have Chromebooks and they have been using those pretty well. Now, they believe they need a machine that can handle some more heavy-duty coding. The boys have put a grant on gofundme.com and are asking for any support possible. The details are below! To view their blog, click the link here Blockhead Building Blog.

Blockhead Building GoFundMe Project Page