by Krissy.Venosdale | Sep 17, 2016 | Uncategorized
When you make broth, it’s easy to stir. So easy, you pour it from the can and nothing splashes. You gently stir it, barely getting a spoon dirty, and warm it on the burner. When you eat broth? You’re barely filled up. It’s like food, but not the satisfying kind.
When you cook a turkey dinner, you destroy the kitchen. Specks of mashed potatoes on the wall. Stuffing mixed and scraps of veggies cut up on the counter. It feels better when you have help. Someone to add in their ingredients and cook a few of the dishes along with you. Green beans to snap and steam. A kitchen filled with different smells. A meal served with something for everyone. Delicious… and afterward? Satisfaction. It tasted good, you’re full, and you need to step away and digest all the goodness.
At the end of the week, I looked around the classroom and saw piles of prototypes, giant pages with ideas and blueprints drawn across them, devices charging, LED lights in small piles that had been sorted based on brightness to become part of constellations. It felt like a turkey dinner had taken place. The cooks had returned all the tools to their bins, the ingredients back on the shelves. Recipes were tucked away and the room fell silent. I turned off the lights and headed out for the weekend, satisfied… and ready for a Saturday afternoon nap.
Last year, when the classroom space was new, we started with making broth. I was pouring things onto the tables and kids were stirring. It felt so good to get going, but we kept working toward a more satisfying meal. It was a good way for us to learn to use the stove, navigate the kitchen, and begin to eat together. But we were still just making broth together. Our starting point.
Now, this? The turkey dinner? The kids are doing the cooking. Their ideas. Their designs. Their spices in the mix. And honestly, when I look around our messy kitchen and watch the cooks share their meals with each other, there is so much joy. It’s not because of anything I added to the dish, it’s because we had the courage the courage to let them cook it up themselves and we navigated to elevate their thinking, to stoke the collaborative fires, to question their ingredients, and to support them in their struggles. We celebrated with them and reminded them of resilience when the time was right. Feeding their minds and feeding their hearts at the same time.
It feels like school, exactly the way it’s meant to be. Regardless of the where, when, or how. Regardless of the name of the space or the title of the teacher. It’s learning and not only does it fill the kids up, it fills up the teachers, too.
by Krissy.Venosdale | Sep 3, 2016 | Uncategorized
Every kid that passed through the doors of our classroom this week said something similar. There was “Whoa, it’s different,” and “It CHANGED.” Perhaps my favorite comment from a tiny learner was, “It was epic last year, and now it’s epic-er!”
We talked about the changes, I took suggestions for ideas to improve. Best of all? We talked about how the room is a prototype of a classroom. It’s a work in progress. Their work. There’s a cart that kids want to recreate into a dragon with giant teeth. There’s a station that some suggested be an ice cream shop sewing station. A few kids even had an idea for a light up sign outside our door.
Classrooms should evolve. They are places where living, breathing people have organic experiences.
It’s so easy to get caught up in the “Maker Movement” that’s filled with gadgets and people selling stuff. But, I find myself caught up in something else this week. Our prototype room, building a community, drawing out the creativity in each kid’s unique way. It’s not about the stuff or the space, it’s so much better than that. This week I saw it. Last year was epic, but this year, that kid was right, it’s going to be epic-er. Because what’s in front of us is a mystery, a gift, a journey… one that will unfold authentically between cardboard piles and collaboration. Together. Every teacher. Every kid. Every learner.Epic-er.
by Krissy.Venosdale | Sep 2, 2016 | Uncategorized
by Krissy.Venosdale | Aug 27, 2016 | Uncategorized
Bring On the Possibilities.
When I think of books that inspire us all, Peter Reynolds amazing art work comes to mind. Going Places (by Paul & Peter Reynolds) is one of my favorites. It sums up everything I believe about what school should be… what life should be. A place to go above and beyond. I’m not a fan of “kits” in the maker movement, but that’s another post for another day. In this book, two kids take the kit to another level. They think outside the box and rely on teamwork to make it happen. All great things to build a classroom on. You can see a movie of the whole story HERE or watch the trailer below.
Support Collaboration
Kids need practice with collaboration. Great modeling, great discussions, and reminders of how to participate in the give and take of a good compromise. Design Thinking naturally has all of these things built in, but as teachers, we have to support it. As I went looking for some fun resources this morning, I came across this commercial for riding the bus… it’s perfect. Teamwork in action…
Develop A Power Clean Up Routine
Fresh off a summer visit to a Stanford Design Thinking workshop, I loved how we did a Power PickUp at the end of our creation time. I’ve decided to implement this in our learning space as a way for us to pick up efficiently and not use precious learning minutes looking for supplies or taking too long to reset the room. I’m going to use music that ends when time is up and we’re going to practice this clean up and see how fast and efficiently we can make it happen. A faster cleanup means more time to CREATE, MAKE, and LEARN! This routine is not focused on compliance, but rather focused on the acronym POWER as in the poster. Since empathy is a huge part of design thinking, it only makes sense that we ask our kids to empathize with others who will use our shared learning space. How does it feel when YOU have to search for scissors? How can we help our younger students in the space? I’m hoping that I’ll have some interested students to create a clean up song with Garage Band… but that will have to wait for another day. For now, I’ve just created a timer using Keynote where the word RESPONSIBILITY slowly builds in a 3 minute time period, set to music. Simple and will be easy to cue up for classes.
A great year is ahead of us and I can’t wait to get it started… I feel like I’m sitting in the rocket facing the sky, while the engines are rumbling… the countdown is underway and on Monday morning, a kid is going to press the launch button to kick things off…
and I couldn’t be more excited. My seat belt is fastened and I’m ready.
by Krissy.Venosdale | Aug 21, 2016 | Uncategorized
Ok, I have to say it, the word FAILURE has become overmarketed and trendy. It’s NOT about the failure. It’s about the bounce-back after. It’s about the resilience. I’ve been thinking of ways I can celebrate these moments of learning in the classroom, ways that any teacher can. So often we hang posters that say “Failure is not an option,” (I do love NASA afterall.) But when we truly choose to celebrate and empower kids with the idea of the bounce-back, overcome, redo, rethink, try again, and keep going? Resilience is the answer.
I don’t know what it’s going to look like yet, maybe I’ll have some students build it… but there’s going to be a bell in our classroom so that when students make a mistake, experience setback, and overcome, they can ring it loud.
Ring it loud.
Ring it clear.
A bell of joy for all to hear.
Not because of a setback, but because of something more…
The resilience that I chose to show opened a new door.
Because THAT is what learning is about. I’m not going to say FAILURE is welcome here. FAILURE is negative, defeating, the red F of doom too many of us are familiar with from our school years. But the ring? It’s sparkly, fresh, new, a sound to celebrate. Because the sound of making is louder than failure… and resilience needs to be heard.
Inspired by Mindset for Learning. A great book to read if you want your classroom to be all about JOY.
