iCity

Great News!

If you enjoyed reading about iCity two years ago in this blog you can now download the iCity booklet at the Apple Bookstore for Free.

iCity is booklet number 2 of the Spreading JAM series. Book 3 and 4  (iCelebrate and iLive) will be available soon.

iCity

iTravel

Great News!

If you enjoyed reading about iTravel earlier in this blog you can now download the iTravel booklet at the Apple Bookstore for Free.

iTravel is booklet 1 of planned series called Spreading JAM. Book 2, iCity will be available soon.

QR Codes !!!!

When an opportunity arises JUMP IN!!!!

Imagine this...two students eating lunch, get talking about what they brought for lunch and how it was bought at the supermarket.

The teacher starts paying attention to the conversation. The next thing she knows one is saying:

"- so the woman  at the cashier passes the food on this rectangle that goes beep and this appears on the computer, like magic!"

AHA!!!!!

I jumped in immediately... and explained that she is passing the food over a scanner that translates the barcode on the food for the computer.

We looked for barcodes on their food, and then on their boxes of apple juice, and then we found them on books! Soon, all the children were looking for things with barcodes.

So, the next morning, there were 2-D barcodes (specifically, QR codes) posted at various places around the school. I had downloaded an app onto the class iPad, and the children were able to scan the codes to read them. Of course, I had printed the codes the previous evening, and they contained fun messages for the kids to read! (Yes - to read. Sneaky, isn't it?)

Next step: coded math puzzles!

You never know when the kids will get curious about something, but when they do, it can be amazing how much fun - and learning - you can get out of it!

iCity - STEAM

STEAM in the Classroom

Have you ever heard the word STEAM

Science/ Technology/ Engineering/ Arts and Math

Plus Design Thinking. (see previous post)

The activity combines learning about the world, nature & weather (science); designing and building something (technology and engineering); crafts (arts); and an understanding of spatial relationships, and of shapes (math). The activity is STEAM – all in one!

iCity

Now for something completely different!

Yes, it has been quite a while. I have been reading a lot and inventing a lot.

My latest idea is not an old one or one that other teachers haven't done yet, I also have done models before, but I have never done one with Design Thinking in mind.

A while ago I wrote about iTravel and we end iTravel activities by "returning" to New York. 

and when returning to New York (this year) we will build STEP BY STEP a model (last year we had a cooking show for this Unit)

So, we will move from a global view to a local one.

In Model City, the children discuss the elements of a city (roads, buildings of various types, etc.). They each choose an element that they will make (a crafts activity), and then we build a model city. In building the model city we discuss whether the relationship between the various elements makes sense, and the children can move the elements around until they arrive at a configuration that works. While doing this, we discuss the notion of process (Step by Step is one of our Interdisciplinary units). More broadly, this activity also helps us to practice "design thinking", where we use what we know about the world to come up with solutions, and in the process we identify things we don't know yet (and need to learn about!)

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As I read about Design Thinking, I realize that the process of coming up with this activity did follow the Design Thinking process:
- Discovery: I have a challenge
- Interpretation: What does this challenge tell me?
- Ideation: What can I create that might address this challenge?
- Experimentation: Try it and see!
- Evolution: It doesn't always work perfectly right away - iterate and improve, based on feedback from the children and parents, and our own observations.

The first thing we did last week was to decide where the streets would go, and how big the Model City blocks would be, then each child chose a "building". Once they had their buildings, each child traced its base on their own Styrofoam block, and thought about what they would put on the surrounding part of the block (grass, gravel, etc.). Then we glued our buildings in their designated spaces and painted them white. Next, we started a discussion on what our buildings were going to be - shops, apartments, offices, hotels, hospitals, etc., and why, and what kind of things each of these buildings would have and need, e.g., parking. (We will relate this to the neighborhood walk and eventually connect it to our last Interdisciplinary unit: Where Are We.) 

Each child has its own styrofoam block (18 in total), they are all numbered because they must be put together in a certain way. Every class starts with a discussion, with the challenge, we brainstorm, then the child works on their block alone as they are doing the basics. later they need to work with the friend that has a block next to theirs and sort out their common spaces. This model making is about collaboration, brainstorming, overcoming challenges and finding solutions and above all observing the world around us. one of the pre assignments I gave the students was to do a neighborhood walk so when they start looking at the details they can look at the pictures they took and see if their city has what needs.

And yes, we have a long way to go and the discussions are fantastic!

Because in this process the important part (as in most) is the journey not the arrival.

Social, Emotional and Behavioural Skills

In teaching kindergarten, we spend most of our time on measurable skills - reading, writing, and counting, primarily - and it's easy to forget that the first few grades are absolutely critical in terms of developing the children's emotional skills. Emotional skills include how to interact with each other, with the teaching staff and the school, and especially how to do so when they are experiencing strong emotions they may not entirely understand themselves – and which can become a barrier to their social and academic success. 


I feel that these issues are most easily addressed early in the child's school career: any issues are still relatively overt, because the child has not yet learned to conceal feelings well; few non-constructive coping mechanisms have developed yet; and the children are open to learning coping strategies and tactics that will serve them in later years. 


The teacher's perspective and goals differ significantly from those of a psychologist: while a psychologist is focused on “problem” behaviors, a teacher must address the problems that can arise when relatively “normal” behaviors are triggered in the classroom. Conversely, a teacher should not be expected to - or try to - address serious behavioral problems.


In an international school, where there is an unusually great amount of diversity, there are in some ways more triggers and opportunities for emotional and behavioral problems - which is a good thing, if we hope to teach constructive coping skills early! In addition, from time to time individual children can turn out to be a greater challenge than we had originally anticipated.

As a teacher, I have found it especially rewarding when I can show a child how to deal with confusion, alienation, frustration or anger in more constructive ways – whether the child is simply an over stimulated “normal” child, or a somewhat “hyperactive” one, or even one with an autistic spectrum disorder such as Asperger's.