Imagine trying to learn how to drive a car from a book or from lectures given by expert drivers. You study diagrams showing the position of the accelerator, brake, and clutch pedals. You read about the process of releasing the clutch as the accelerator is depressed. You memorize the appropriate braking distances… When you have … Continue reading
Do you teach about electricity? Do you teach innovation? Either way, Richard Turere can help you. Just a few months ago, Richard was a quiet Masaai boy, living on the edge of Nairobi National Park, in Kenya. Frustrated by the lions attacking his family’s cattle, Richard decided to do something about it. Working with bits … Continue reading
There are a lot of ways to tell stories. These days, a lot of them seem to use speech bubbles. Photo memes are everywhere, from the ever-present talking cats to political commentary. Graphic novels use comic book formats to tell increasingly sophisticated tales. So it occurred to me that adding speech bubbles to photos might … Continue reading
Who would ever guess that one of the videos that brought me the biggest smile this week was from a website called “Physics Central”? Its subtitle, “Learn How Your World Works” is an apt description of the wealth of resources found at the website. Sponsored by the American Physics Society, the website includes three major … Continue reading
Last year I did a post listing Valentine activities for classrooms. Lots of them are good for families, too, so be sure to take a look. But here are 5 more heart-centered activities for the month that will help you create, investigate, and have fun–plus one more I just couldn’t resist. Most of these would … Continue reading
My original plan for today was to post the last link in the Creativity in the Classroom model, linking Creativity and Intrinsic Motivation. But I decided I’d had enough theoretical posting for right now, so instead I linked all the information on the model to a new “Creativity in the Classroom: Why and How” tab … Continue reading
In much of the world, December is a time of lights. December holidays are times for candles and sparkle—not surprising during a month that, for the northern hemisphere, is the darkest time of the year. So, for December, our family fun is all about light. 1. Make a light table from a plastic box. It … Continue reading
Class blogs can be a fabulous way to motivate students to write and to provide families with insight into your class. Sites like Edublogs and Kidblog make it easy to get started. But if students are to blog safely, it is important to have clear and effective blogging guidelines. Luckily, such things are not hard … Continue reading
What happens when you mix Carl Sagan, profound ideas from science, illustration, and video/music remix techniques? Magical things. Recently I came across a video, created as a thesis project at Sheridan College. In it, student Adam Winnik used animation to bring part of Sagan’s Pale Blue Dot to video life. It made me wonder how … Continue reading
September is here, summer is slipping away, and most of the students in the U. S. are beginning the new school year. As promised, I am beginning a first-of-the-month post of creative activities focused on families–after all, we can’t have all our fun in the summer! Many of the activities will be appropriate for school … Continue reading
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