Today 4th graders at Korn School played in the sandbox. No, we didn't bring sand into the library (although that might be fun). Our tech integration teacher and I shared a new app with them and let them figure it out. We talked with them about some C words: Creative, Critical thinking, Communication, Collaboration (P21.org poster) and the folks at Fablevision added Compassionate. We loved talking about thinking outside the box too! A final thought before students got to work was the idea of Failure - not giving up and trying again in a new way to solve the problem. We believe that these are key ideas for 21st century learners. 

We want students to use these 5 C's as we use the 3D printer from Makerbot in our library in the next weeks. Students will be using the Blokify app to create designs that we will print. We cannot wait to see what they create!

Students and teachers in Regional School District 13 showed a little courage and a LOT of excitement December 9-15 during Computer Science Education Week. Trying something new that most knew little or nothing about was a big challenge. But the Hour of Code was a huge success! 

Students and teachers in grades K-12 participated. Some used code.org to get to the Angry Bird/Zombie tutorial and learn some basic computational thinking. Some used iPad apps such as Kodable, Light-bot, Daisy the Dinosaur or Cargo-bot. However they did it, these newest coders loved it and wanted to do more. Watching kindergarteners, who, when asked if they thought they would be good at coding said, "NO!", grow big smiles on their faces and try again and again when they got stuck, was an absolute pleasure. Fourth graders jumped right in and helped each other when they were puzzled about what to do next. They were all building stamina and the ability to persevere, even when things got tougher. 

Teachers were taking risks here - big ones! It definitely made them feel better when they were reminded that they really didn't need to know what to do - the kids could do it! When teachers tried it, they LOVED it! Many confided that they became a little addicted themselves. 

The Hour of Code provided a way to show just how essential computational thinking and coding are for the future of these students. I think it truly helped teachers, who had little or no experience with coding, to understand students for whom this is a passion, a little better. I can't wait to see where this excitement takes us next!

Click HERE to see 6th grade coders on Channel 30 news.

Click HERE for article in The Town Times (see pages 14 & 19).

We have our copy of The Dot by Peter Reynolds. The playdough has been purchased. The iPads are being updated with the Press Here! app and Colar app (for amazing 3D dots!) We have plans for paint too! Tomorrow is the first of my 2 Dot Days: first Brewster and Thursday at Korn. We are so excited! It is amazing to see the excitement, wonder, and fun that goes along with Dot Day. This year close to 1 million participants will be exploring how to "make their mark". 

In addition to our Dot Day at school, we will continue to be inspired as we connect the dots with schools from around the world. Check out the map below. Some will be old friends, but many will be new. We will share stories and things we did on Dot Day. Stay tuned for updates, pictures and more in the next week or 2.

How will you make your mark this year?

I have a burning desire to know and understand things. All kinds of things - so I read. A lot. That's a subject for another whole post. But I have been curious lately about what books people love - those books that as an educator, you just find yourself turning to over and over again for inspiration, ideas, and a desire to understand. Here are the ones I have been attached to in the last year or so. What others do you have that you cannot live without?

Toward the end of the 12-13 school year, I talked with the 2nd graders at Brewster School about what they could share about their school since they were moving on to Korn next year. They had lots of ideas as you can imagine!

But then I asked them to consider something new: audience. Who would they be sharing with and how did this change what kinds of things they would want to share? After much discussion, we figured out that there were 3 general categories of people with whom we would be sharing: new kindergarten students, faraway friends from the Skypes and connecting we do, and friends & family.

2nd grades thought that the new kindergarteners would want to know about where things were in our school - the lunchroom, the gym, the art room, music, library and who the teachers are. They thought faraway friends might be interested in what specials we have (important stuff to 7 and 8 year-olds). Friends and family would want to know about the favorite parts of Brewster. While some of these overlap - it was an interesting and important discussion to have with them.

First students planned out what they wanted to include - some used a storyboard and some sketched it out on paper.
We used the iPad app Creative Book Builder to create eBooks. It took a little longer than I thought to plan them out, so many of the books are not finished, but they are pretty neat! Students quickly became experts at adding photos, headings, captions, text, and a few even tried using a Table of Contents, since part of my goal was to have them include some of the informational text features we had explored this year.

Below are a few of the books we created. Please note, in order to see them, you must use an iPad or device that will read .epub. For more of our books, please visit the Student Work page.