Just couldn’t resist sharing this. Here’s to all the makers out there! Not sure what to wear on Halloween? Let these super easy props and costumes inspire you to make something great. Source: 14 Last Minute Halloween Costumes and Props | Make:
It’s Raining Bats and Frogs!
Halloween is almost here, and along with creative opportunities for scary story writing (see here and here), come some silly-story options as well. I’ve written previously about Halloween parodies of favorite tales. I also love the story of Delia the witch in It’s Raining Bats and Frogs. When Delia is frustrated by rain on the … Continue reading
Students as Questioners 3: Ask A More Beautiful Question
One of the books that has helped pushed questioning to the front-and-center of the education agenda is Warren Berger’s A More Beautiful Question. A More Beautiful Question is not a book about education specifically, but a book about the way raising questions changes human learning, interaction, and invention. This is a book focused on innovation, … Continue reading
Imaginary Musical Instruments: Hearing the Sounds in My Brain
Curating a museum of imaginary things could be an interesting challenge. What, of all that the human imagination can call forth, would be included? For Deirdre Loughridge and Thomas Patteson, the answer was a museum of imaginary instruments. The co-curators’ collection is not all light-hearted fantasy. The Museum of Imaginary Musical Instruments is a serious examination … Continue reading
Students as Questioners 2: Make Just One Change
Dan Rothstein and Luz Santana’s book, Make Just One Change, suggests the one strategy that will transform education is teaching students to ask their own questions. Interestingly, their journey to this conclusion began, not with students, but with parents. Working with parents in a dropout prevention program in the 1980s, the authors repeatedly heard from … Continue reading
Something Rotten: A Shakespearean Rock Star
Was Shakespeare a rock star? He was popular in his time, but what if his reputation then paralleled celebrity today? That’s one of the questions underlying the current Broadway musical sensation Something Rotten, the story of Nick and Nigel Bottom, would-be playwrights stuck in the shadow of the Bard of Avon. The sound track is … Continue reading
Students as Questioners 1: What’s a Question?
Questions. We ask them when we need directions. We ask them when we don’t understand. Sometimes we ask questions in outrage, other times we ask them in curiosity and wonder. Sometimes questions are rhetorical, other times they are urgent. If we want to help students be questioners, we need to help them understand the types … Continue reading
Color Changing Milk: Think Like a Scientist
Teaching students to “think like a scientist” is a tricky thing. Many of us have experienced science classes that required memorizing seemingly irrelevant from ancient textbooks. On the other hand, other activities include spectacular demonstrations or hands-on activities, but do not lead students to scientific understanding, operating more than a magic show than a lesson. … Continue reading
Questions in School: Powering Learning and Creativity
Questions are in the air, it seems. One of the most talked-about books this year is Warren Berger’s A More Beautiful Question. September’s issue of Educational Leadership focuses on questioning for learning. It seems a good time to think about the role questions play in creativity—and learning. Questions, it almost goes without saying, lie at … Continue reading
Dot and Cardboard Celebrations
This is the time of year for celebrations of creativity that may not show up on traditional calendars: Dot Day and the Global Cardboard Challenge. I’ve written about both before (Dot Day, Cardboard Challenge), but if you haven’t had a chance to celebrate yet it doesn’t hurt to have a reminder. I’m grateful for the … Continue reading
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