Design Thinking with 1st Grade

In this unit, students learned about the external parts of different animals that help them meet their needs and survive in their specific environment. These parts help animals see, hear, grasp objects, protect themselves, and move from place to place. Their parts also help them seek, find, and take in food, water and air. The goal of the unit was for students to design and create the “ultimate” animal that can survive in any environment.  They used the design thinking process to develop a problem sentence, find a solution to the problem, and prototype their solution. The process involved students asking questions, making observations and gathering information on external animal parts. They used their findings to sketch out possible solutions to their problem sentence. Finally the students created their ultimate animal and proposed their solution to a “zookeeper.”

Special thanks to Nalisha Keshaw, Brianna Bedessem, Ara Cho, and Chris Bernhardi, and the whole 1C class for making this unit possible!

Annotate Videos with Zaption (Great for Teacher Feedback)

Zaption allows you to annotate video by:

• Inserting text
• Adding an image and resizing it
• Drawing or writing on the video
• Asking open response questions, multiple-choice questions,and checkbox questions

Upgrading to the Pro version allows you to:

• insert drawn responses, discussion boards, and numeral responses.

Special thanks to Lyra for her work sample, as well as Kevin MacLeod for his music ("Local Forecast").

"Minecraft in the Classroom" Book - Unboxing

Special thanks to Colin Gallagher for making this book happen!

Link to the volcano unit video.

Link to purchase the book. 

Moto360 Unboxing: Teacher Edition

Wix Tutorial: Create a Professional Classroom Website

5th Grade Students Using Arduino Uno

"The Power of Quiet": Partnership of Introverts & Extroverts for Creativity and Innovation

Multiple Intelligence Test: How my Intelligence types influence my pedagogy

Yesterday I took a multiple intelligence test. I found that the results were pretty accurate and noticed how my intelligence types influences my teaching. Here is what I found.

Multiple Intelligences Test Findings

The results of the multiple intelligence test shows that my intelligence comes more from bodily-kinesthetic activities. I also enjoy logical-mathematical and spatial-visual activities to learn content and skills. The test also revealed that I do not enjoy linguistic and musical activities.

Reflection on the Accuracy of those Findings and How the Findings Affect My Teaching

The multiple intelligence test was accurate in showing how I like to learn content and skills, and how I like to demonstrate mastery of content and skills. The test indicated that my prefered intelligence type is bodily-kinesthetic. I enjoy playing sports and my dream career was to become a professional sports player. I also enjoy using my hands to create things because of the physical experience and movement. I learn by doing! My second intelligent type is logical-mathematical. I enjoy using teaching approaches that allow students to create their own process and devise their own strategies to accomplish tasks. I have used project-based learning in the past, but now I am integrating the design thinking process with 1st and 4th grade classes, and will work with 5th grade in the coming weeks. This process helps students create creative products to problems that they find. My third intelligent type is spatial-visual. I am obsessed with they way information is presented. I focus a lot of my time making my website, presentations, blogs, educational videos, and infographics aesthetically pleasing. I love the creative process of making my information easy to perceive and understand in a visually pleasing manner. I scored the lowest in Since I enjoy using visual and spatial perception in education, I have implemented Minecraft, a 3D world simulation game where you can build structures and craft items through the resources you find, in many units.  For example, in science I had students create volcanoes and plate boundaries, develop simple electrical circuits, and calculate speeds of objects. I also had students create their own communities to teach civic competence. This game is great for students who have the same intelligence type as me.