The Teacher as a Learner

A picture paints a thousand words ...

Proof that you are never too old to learn and that a growth mindset is critical in setting up our 21st century learners.  Thank you Mrs Poole for giving me a shove in the right direction. #codingiscoming

Wallets - our designers are hard at work!

The wallets have to house at least three plastic cards

Rulers and scissors a must.  Those without creative and critical thinking need not apply

Joseph shares a prototype.  Happy, he's ready to move on

Skylar and Cailan - the road to success is paved with 'nearly theres'

Nadia works alongside her plan and prototype.  She's nearly there!

Design, failing fast and focusing on the real reason we learn mathematics

How often does it seem that maths is taught in isolation and for seemingly little purpose? Probably more often than it should be. (As adults we might 'get it' but kids don't necessarily understand that maths exists out there in the real world and is all around us all of the time)   Maths is a beautiful language but sings most loudly and clearly when we breathe life into it by applying it to solve real life problems.  Today the maths was the real deal and everyone was excited.

           In Room 2 we have been applying our measurement knowledge through the design of a wallet that can carry an iPhone, cash and cards.   The kids have been given the dimensions of a smart-phone, a credit card and a ten dollar note in order to build prototype i of their wallets. Their final design should be user-friendly, show accurate measurement (in terms of functionality) and look good. 

              Today we discussed the concept of  'failing fast'.  So what does it mean to 'fail fast'? In short it is an acknowledgement that in the process of failing we are one step closer to achieving a more successful outcome; through innovation and improvement a better end product results; through risk taking and not being limited by a fear of failure we can uncover novel design solutions. In short you try something out, and if it doesn't work, you fix it.  We encourage this approach in writing - in fact good editing and reshaping is seen as essential, so by extension, why don't we encourage improvement in design (applied mathematics)?  

            Today some kids realised their first prototypes were too tight, too big or too ugly. Not one kid got upset.  With a positive mindset the kids only see the progress they are making and how much closer they are to achieving their aim.

             Tomorrow the children will continue to refine their designs and start prototype ii.  

Watch this space!

Allie has her measurements recorded and has decided on her initial design

Cailan carefully considers the design brief and ensures his measurements are accurate

Brayden has an innovative design.  The ability to think 'outside the box' is termed divergent thinking.  Divergent thinkers
are able to come up with multiple solutions to a problem with relative ease.

Ishika is working on prototype i.  Newsprint is used initially because it is inexpensive but gives an indication of how well the final product might meet the brief

Failing fast means that problems can be quickly identified and resolved

Brayden works methodically when approaching the brief.  He is careful to ensure all requirements are addressed in his design

Is the Big Orange Splot the best book ever written?

Prolly.

I was lucky, my dad loved books and I was raised in a home rich with reading material. Dad selected books carefully because he thought content mattered, and that books should provoke deeper thinking; I think he was right.  My dad bought me The Big Orange Splot.  Yesterday as part of our exploration of Narrative writing, I introduced Room 2 to The Big Orange Splot.

So here's a basic synopsis:

Mr Plumbean lives in a house where all the houses are the same.  Mr Plumbean lives in a neat street. After a stroke of bad luck, Mr Plumbean seizes the opportunity to reinvent his home and ends up with a house that he explains 'looks like all my dreams'.   The house is painted brightly, there's a clock tower on the roof and a crocodile in the yard.  Naturally, the neighbours go into an uproar, and send one of the strongest opponents over to Plumbean's house with the expectation that he'll talk some sense into him.  The next day this neighbour's house is transformed into a ship styled home...

Get the picture?

The author, Daniel Manus Pinkwater never tells us what is said during the conversation.  As readers we are only told that they stay up all night talking and drinking lemonade.  

SO AWESOME!!!!

The mystery of this conversation is a gift to budding writers. What was said that night?  How did Mr Plumbean convince his neighbour to change his house to look like his dreams?  This was clearly a watershed moment for the neighbour; what caused his enlightenment?

I just love this kind of learning opportunity.   It presents a chance for children to participate in deeper philosophical discussions, and is also an opportunity to explore the importance of dialogue in character development.

In terms of teaching moments, it also provides a moment to explore symbolism.  We talked about how young children might read the book as being about changing houses, but the kids in Room 2 (an insightful bunch) recognised immediately that the house is a really a symbol (or metaphor) for the people who live in the houses.  In terms of mental well-being, we talked about the true message in the book - being true to yourself and celebrating uniqueness.

The kids have now paired up, and are writing scripts that we will act out next week.  What I like about this activity is how broad the appeal is.  It is fantastic for my creative kids but also fabulous for those kids who enjoy experimenting with the intellectual art of argument. .  You know you're on to a good thing when the kids moan when you ask them to put their devices away. ;-)

Follow the link directly below to watch a reading of The Big Orange Splot

The Big Orange Splot

Kids transfixed

Kids are working together on shared documents

Daring to be different

On Inquiry Learning

Why do Inquiry?

Because the skills of inquiry - questioning, investigating and analysing for a specific purpose - are empowering.  Inquiry motivates children by allowing them to own their learning.  It is when children are at the helm that they are engaged and more inclined to become  life-long learners.   The Inquiry philosophy recognises that children are wells to drawn from and not cups to be filled.

“Don’t be encumbered by history.  Go off and do something wonderful.”

This term we will start Genius Hour, an Inquiry that allows children the freedom to explore an area of interest that is not ‘googleable’.  It will require risk taking and an acceptance that ‘failing fast’ is critical in the road to success.

Robert Noyce first developed the microchip.  To do this he had to be prepared to be a pioneer, and to go out on a limb.  He had to be prepared to view his mistakes as critical steps that got him ever closer to his goal. His example, in part, has inspired the development of ‘Genius Hour’.

Be Brave!

During the holidays, I was fortunate to attend a seminar by Anthony Speranzagh who spoke about this type of enriched learning experience.  For those who are curious, feel free to copy this bitly : bit.ly/speranzagh

Mindfulness - What are the Physical Manifestations of Stress?

A feeling of peacefulness is evident when we are relaxed and happy
Our heart beat is slow and steady.

Adrenaline is released when we feel threatened.  This threat could be an attack from a mad dog (something that could really hurt us), or it could be just a Mathematics test.  Our brain does
not necessarily rate the level of threat, and that's why doing a test (even when we know there's no chance the test paper will bite us) can still be an incredibly stressful situation.

Adrenaline is released, and the fight or flight response is activated. When you are stressed you can start to feel hot and bothered.  Your heart starts to race and your palms can start to sweat.  You may feel like running away, or feel aggressive and angry.

At Sunnyhills School we are promoting Mindfulness.   So what is Mindfulness?  

         In short, it's about understanding how your mind and body respond in certain situations (often to events outside our control).  It's about being able to read our body and to respond to its signals in a constructive and 'mindful' way.
        Mindfulness is about being aware of how you are affected by things that you experience. The way we respond to these events is felt in our head as feelings e.g. happiness, sadness, fear etc, but because our body and mind are connected, our feelings stretch out from our mind and reach into our body.  Weird, eh?  

             We worked collaboratively to figure out some of the ways our bodies react when we feel angry, frustrated or threatened in any way.

             There will be a school wide focus on Pause, Breathe, Smile.  These mindfulness techniques will be taught to increase calmness; to improve focus and attention; to enhance self-awareness; help develop conflict resolution skills and to increase general wellbeing.

In order to develop an understanding of how our body and mind is connected, we looked at how our body reacts when it is under stress.