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"My journey into exploring the power of making continues for a 3rd year with two added goals. First,I plan to expand the depth of learning that goes with "making" by creating Maker Connection Logs where students write, take photos, and record short videos to show their thinking while making connections between curriculum areas and their creations. The goal of the "Maker Logs" is for students to be able to give me insight into their creative process, thinking and provide a way for reflecting with the hopes of improving the future process of "making." IMG_3496.JPG My second goal, which I recently accomplished, is to create an "Un-Maker Space." Simply put, a space where kids can take things apart. So many of the creative geniuses I met at the Bay Area Maker Faire two years ago spoke of taking things apart when they were kids. Watching my 3 year old son recently take apart his toy vacuum really solidified this idea for me. We all have this inner drive to create an understanding of the world around us. This is founded in the desire to answer all the "why" and "how" questions in our thoughts. Why did that little wheel spin when I pushed the play button on that cassette player? How did the electricity get from the cord into the monitor and then create a picture? How can I take this apart? So my students will have a space to dissect all the discarded and unwanted items and to ask those questions. In this un-maker space they'll have the chance to explore the possible answers."

"3 Reasons Why Faculty Meetings Are a Waste of Time By Peter DeWitt on April 10, 2015 6:50 AM Faculty Meeting.png Many school leaders walk into a faculty meeting with a single idea of how they want to move forward and walk out with the same idea. That's telling... John Hattie talks a great deal about the Politics of Distraction, which means we focus on adult issues, and not enough time...if ever...on learning. That is happening around the U.S. for sure. Recently the Assembly of NY State only furthered those distractions, which you can read about here, which means that school leaders and teachers have to work harder to maintain a focus on learning. Quite frankly, well before mandates and accountability, school leaders focused on the politics of distraction and not on learning. Compliance is not new in schools. Faculty meetings were seen as a venue to get through and something that teachers were contractually obligated to attend. During these days of endless measures of compliance, principals can do a great deal to make sure they don't model the same harmful messages to staff that politicians are sending to teachers. Jim Knight calls that "Freedom within form." In Talk Like Ted, Carmine Gallo quotes Marissa Mayer (CEO of Yahoo) when he writes, "Creativity is often misunderstood. People often think of it in terms of artistic work - unbridled, unguided effort that leads to beautiful effect. If you look deeper, however, you'll find that some of the most inspiring art forms - haikus, sonatas, religious paintings- are fraught with constraints. (p. 190)" Clearly, constraints have a wide definition. There is a clear difference between the constraints of compliance and the stupidity of the legislation just passed by the assembly in NY. As we move forward, principals still are charged...or at least should be...with the job of making sure they offer part...inspiration, part...teacher voice...and a great deal of focus on learning. There is never a more important tim

"Yesterday I read Pernille Ripp's post, "Administrators, Please Inspire Us At Back to School." I started thinking about videos I've seen that have inspired me. I realized that the very best ones? They all have something in common. They are kids. What if this year, our schools, our teaching, and our learning became about kids once again? Kids we ALL have in our classrooms, hallways, and schools. Kids who have, right inside them, a chance to make a difference, to change the world. Kids who are already wanting to change the world and kids who are waiting for us to bring that out in them. Kids who need someone to believe in them, or kids who believe in us. I watch each one of these videos and see the things "school" and "learning" should be about. Passion. Believing. Dreaming. "

"For those of you who haven't heard of it, TED is an incredible free service that filled to the brim with informative videos from special TED conferences - sometimes motivational, sometimes de-motivational, and often about science or psychology. The TED conferences are all over the place, and if you aren't able to attend, TED makes them available for free on the Web and in a great free universal app for iPhone and iPad. When I have fifteen minutes and I want to watch something, I often watch TED videos, and very usually fill my rare days off with them. The app is a great way to experience these videos, but is it perfect? Read on to find out how TED's service could get even better after its recent update to iOS 7."

"I support the technological efforts of a few hundred teachers and thousands of students within my school district. I know there are others that perform roughly the same function as I do around Michigan, and the United States. I figured there might be a few more of us out there trying to provide support for iPads and other iOS devices. I've been creating "how to" videos for iPads every week since the start of this school year, and I though it might be a good idea to create a how to video of how I'm actually making the iPad videos. "

"I'd like to offer up a video playlist to remind all of us about the power of empathy, kindness, and human connections. It's always a good time to practice gratitude for the relationships that sustain us all -- for the people who have taught us in a school setting and beyond, and for the young ones we are able to nurture and inspire. I was also thinking about how many of us are living out the paradox of being ever more plugged in, and ever more aware of what's happening in our community via social media platforms, while at the same time, face-to-face interactions are less frequent than ever before. We are in constant touch, but barely touching. Watching these videos made me remember the importance of re-connecting, treating people with kindness and respect, and being generous and compassionate to both loved ones and strangers. If each of us pledged to do more of that, we'd make a better world for all of us to learn and grow in."

We've done the hard work for you by collecting the best instructional videos about using popular software programs and Web 2.0 tools, and brought them together in one place. Every video has been watched and vetted by the site's reviewers to ensure the quality and content make it one worth watching.

Imagine collecting all the best free educational videos made for children, and making them findable and watchable on one website. Then imagine creating many, many more such videos… WatchKnow-as in, "You watch, you know"-has started building this resource.

"I learned a little trick for creating screencast videos from my iPad and I thought it might be useful for many of you who have a regular need to demo apps. If, like me, you are working on a Mac, you probably already know how powerful your QuickTime Player is for making impromtu videos or desktop screencasts and exporting them.  (Of course, you can do any fancy post production in a video app later, but QuickTime is sooooo handy.)"

"32 million people watched the Season 3 World Championships for the video game League of Legends this year. 8.5 million of those people watched at the same time. To put that in perspective, 13 million people watch a typical NFL game on Sunday. Last years' World Series drew 18 million viewers. 8.5 million viewers at one time is really impressive when you realize this was accomplished without a large TV contract and almost no marketing. The impact of these gaming tournaments has created billion dollar deals in the field of video streaming. It is big business. Competitive video gaming is nothing new. Game designers however, have figured out a formula that not only makes games that have mass appeal to players, but to those watching as well. Games are no longer just for sale as a leisure product, they are a sport. Games like League of Legends, Starcraft II, Counter Strike and Dota 2 are putting up millions in prize money and salaries to top players."

"YouTube is the premier destination for music videos today, which also makes it one of the most popular music streaming services. If you use YouTube to listen to music, the experience can be a whole lot better with the right extensions or web apps. We've previously talked about some of the best YouTube music players, but things have changed a bit since then. Browser extensions now give you lyrics with each video, while some apps and extensions will save bandwidth by playing only the audio without video. The bottom line is that anyone who uses YouTube for music needs to check out these cool tools."

"Do you have a great picture on your Mac within Photos app that you want to share? Photos for Mac makes sharing pictures, videos, and other images very easy, and you share a picture from the Mac directly to another user through messages, email, iCloud, social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr, or locally to another nearby Mac or iOS user through AirDrop. You can share any picture this way as long as you have the image, video, or picture stored within the Photos app on Mac. Whether the pictures were copied from an iPhone or camera to Photos on Mac or imported into Photos on Mac doesn't matter, the pictures just must be contained within the Photos application in Mac OS. It's worth pointing out that we're focusing on sharing pictures here, but the Photos app also holds videos and Live Photos, which can be shared the exact same way."

"Forget the image of a sulky video gamer alone in his bedroom with a computer and three days' worth of pizza boxes. Now that esports - live video game competitions - are a high school sport, young game enthusiasts might be moving into the spotlight. These kids aren't just taking over high school computer labs across the country; they're changing what it means to be a student athlete. And while you may not relish the idea of your kid spending even more time playing video games, pro gamers can make big bucks - and top student esports players can even win college scholarships."

"Most people who are Mac users would probably be familiar with iMovie. It's an easy to use app for making professional looking movies to share with others or for students to show their understanding of a concept or issue. iMovie is great, however, it is not the only app for making and editing movies on the iPad. There are numerous apps that do this job admirably - why don't you find one that matches your workflow or the learning styles of your students. Here is a small selection; "

"For May, we celebrated the power of makers with the themes of media making and DIY. We featured great tools for creating presentations, videos, and podcasts, as well as articles about best practices for student self-publishing, remix, and tutorial making. "

""Making the Case" contains resources that demonstrate the impact of the maker education movement and provide inspiration for what's possible. These stories, articles, reports, videos, and other information may help funders, administrators, fellow educators, facilitators, and community members see how making in education affects learning for all. The resources below are listed in alphabetical order, as a default. They are also organized into subcategories, accessible by the tabs at the top of the grid. When hovering over each box, keywords provide a simple description and glimpse into the content of the resource, which is accessible by clicking on the arrow in the upper right-hand corner."

"The first day of tinkering was just awesome. Within a matter of minutes, Kearn had the MaKey MaKey connected to Play Doh and was controlling a train simulator on the computer. Ludwig controlled the horn and Kearn drove the train. Kearn wanted to make a video to show what he had done, so we pulled out an iPad and made an impromptu video which he wanted to add to his Youtube channel. He also started following my blog and even left a comment about how much he loves the makerspace. Both students were completely independent and were perfectly capable of dreaming, tinkering, and making on their own. I was available for support as needed, but they really just wanted a space to explore. As they continue, I want to connect them with some experts that might mentor their ideas and curiosities, but for now, they just need to tinker. "

"What it is: Book Writer is a great app for the iPad (and iPhone or iPod Touch). This app makes it a snap for kids to create books that can be read directly in iBooks. With Book Writer, students can create their own ebooks with photos, video, audio and links. Images and video can be annotated over in the book. Finished books can be shared using iTunes and E-mail. One of the best features of Book Writer is the huge number of applications that books can be shared through including: iBooks, Nook, Instashare, Bump, Evernote, Dropbox, and Send Anywhere. This makes Book Writer wonderfully flexible no matter what apps your school uses regularly."