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"If you are a K-12 student in the United States, your challenge is to create a digital 3D model of an object that could be used by an astronaut to maintain physical health on a 3-year mission to Mars. Your design must be intended to be 3D printed and could be used for a range of medical needs including diagnostic, preventative, first-aid, emergency, surgical, and/or dental purposes. While exercise, psychological, and nutritional health are important, they are not priority areas for this challenge. Retired astronaut Scott Kelly�s historic one-year mission on ISS provided insights on how the human body reacts to long duration spaceflight, but the Journey to Mars will take approximately 30 months. What health-related items do you think an astronaut will need on that journey, and why would these items require a 3D printer? It�s time to start flexing your problem-solving and design skills to find a solution � good luck!"

"If I told you your child's teacher was constantly on Twitter, you might, without thinking, react negatively. What a waste of precious time. Aren't there better things you could be doing? How dare you troll around on social media instead of planning my child's next thrilling Common Core lesson. The truth is much the opposite. There is an amazing world out there on Twitter, and for educators, there is much to find and benefit from."

"I didn't know they could think!" an excited high school principal blurted out. The principal was reacting to what he had just witnessed: his 9th grade students engaging in their first-ever Socratic Seminar, facilitated by my colleague and wife Denise a few years ago in a Louisiana district. It was a poignant moment (even though the students might have taken offense), since their chatter and body language made clear that they, too, were pleased with what they had done.

"That computer mouse that fits so nicely in your hand, the way your iPhone reacts to your creative way of spelling, the "so simple why didn't I think of that?" processes you encounter every day -- these are the result of design thinking, a sequential process embraced by innovative companies and entrepreneurs. Design thinking, or human-centered design, is an empowering way to solve problems and design products and solutions by starting with discovery, moving on to ideation and rapid prototyping, then testing, and finally execution. How can this high-level, innovative style of problem solving work in a classroom or after-school program? Quite well, actually. The West Michigan Center for Arts + Technology (WMCAT) engages urban high school students in a best-practice after-school program that is grounded in design thinking. I'll share our journey so that you can find ways to enhance your own learning environment through design thinking. "

"The big day was upon us. Hundreds of man-hours of preparation. Thousands of dollars invested in equipment and supplies. An untested, unproven design incorporating materials not usually found in schools. How would students react? Would we achieve our objective: creating a student-centered, flexible learning space that inspires creativity, curiosity, and wonder?"

"Since I first started my Makerspace at Stewart Middle Magnet School in January 2014, I have received a lot of positive feedback. I've given talks, presented at conferences, and shared about our experiences through my blog and through social media.  Some of the questions I am most frequently asked are: Why should makerspaces be in the library?  Why not just convert a classroom into a STEM lab? In a similar vein, I often hear from librarians who are struggling to get their administration/teachers/community to understand the rationale for having a Makerspace in their library.  Aren't those kids just playing?  Shouldn't libraries be quiet and clean?  How does this tie in with the curriculum? How we react to these types of questions are crucial in our advocacy for our spaces.  Here's some ways to respond."

Livebrush is a drawing application. It employs an easy-to-use brush tool that reacts to your gesture. By combining simple motion controls with brush styles, Livebrush offers a fun and unique way to create graphics.

A PicoCricket is a tiny computer that can make things spin, light up, and play music. You can plug lights, motors, sensors, and other devices into a PicoCricket, then program them to react, interact, and communicate

I love using this commercial as a parting thought after my workshops. Sometimes there is so much info covered I'm sure that this might be the way some people react the next time they see me! ;-)

"What does 'the internet of things' mean, anyway? It is a term that I've heard periodically over the past few years but explored little and never wrote about here, as it doesn't specifically refer to education and there are so many other (specifically) relevant things to share and talk about. The short explanation is that the Internet of Things refers to the interconnectedness of devices of all types - especially 'smart' devices that can react, anticipate, and adapt as necessary. In short, this interconnectedness and advancing technology is expected to simplify automation in so many areas of our lives."

""While we're at it, maybe we should just design classrooms without windows. And, hey, I'll bet kids would really perform better if they spent their days in isolation." My friend was reacting (facetiously, of course) to a new study that found kindergartners scored better on a test of recall if their classroom's walls were completely bare. A room filled with posters, maps, and the kids' own art constituted a "distraction." The study, published last month in Psychological Science [1] and picked up by Science World Report, the Boston Globe, and other media outlets, looked at a whopping total of 24 children. A research assistant read to them about a topic such as plate tectonics or insects, then administered a paper-and-pencil test to see how many facts they remembered. On average, kids in the decorated rooms were "off task" 39 percent of the time and had a "learning score" of 42 percent. The respective numbers for those in the bare rooms were 28 percent and 55 percent. Now if you regularly read education studies, you won't be surprised to learn that the authors of this one never questioned, or even bothered to defend, the value of the science lessons they used - whether they were developmentally appropriate or presented effectively, whether they involved anything more than reading a list of facts or were likely to hold any interest for 5-year-olds. Nor did the researchers vouch for the quality of the assessment. Whatever raises kids' scores (on any test, and of any material) was simply assumed to be a good thing, and anything that lowers scores is bad."

"You may have already heard about PhotoMath, the new iPhone app that lets you point it at a math problem on a textbook and then solves it while showing all the work involved. Some are immediately reacting by citing it's potential use in "cheating," while others cheer that it might force math teachers and textbook publishers to be more creative in how they teach math. In some ways, it may force them to do what some of us in other subjects have been looking at - creating unGoogleable questions. Here are some useful posts about the app, along with a video. "

"A recent MindShift article highlighted some things teachers should be aware of if they're bringing mindfulness into their classrooms. Students may have experienced trauma that makes sitting silently with their eyes closed feel threatening, and teachers can't assume it will be an easy practice for every child. That awareness is important to create an inclusive environment, but it doesn't mean that teachers shouldn't cultivate their own mindfulness practice or use some techniques with students. Often mindfulness is used as a way to help students build self-regulation skills and learn to calm down when they become frustrated or angry. Cultivating those skills can be powerful for students, but many teachers say mindfulness is crucial for themselves, helping them take an extra moment before reacting to students. "The best way to practice trauma-informed mindfulness is [for teachers] to have their own practice and interpret the behavior of the youth through a trauma-informed lens, even if they never do mindfulness training with the kids," said Sam Himelstein, a clinical psychologist, trainer and author who has spent most of his career working with incarcerated youth. He's received a lot of questions about how to be trauma-informed while still using mindfulness in classrooms since the first article. He suggest nine guidelines for teachers that he uses to make sure mindfulness practice with youth is helping, not hurting."

"In my post earlier today about tools for creating book trailer videos I mentioned a couple of sources of free sound effects and music. Picking the right music or sound effects can have a drastic influence on how we react to a scene in a video. Here are some places that you and your students can find free sound effects and music to download and use in video projects."