"Recently, the world of virtual reality was shaken up when the popular Merge Cube by Merge VR dropped in price from $15 to just a dollar at many Walmart stores. When using specific apps, these cubes showcase different experiences as you rotate the block around with your hands. If you haven't held a Merge Cube yet, they're made of a soft rubber material that's comparable to a stiffer stress ball. (If you want to test out the apps first, you can print out a temporary paper cube.)"
"While watching the Oscars tonight, I was intrigued to see a promotion that Walmart was running to celebrate the craft of film making. I don't normally pay a lot of attention to commercials, but these ads managed to catch my attention, and I think that they have some interesting potential for teachers who are looking to add some creativity to video projects in their classroom.
Walmart contacted four award-winning directors, Seth Rogan and Evan Goldberg (Superbad, Neighbors), Antoine Fuqua (Southpaw, The Magnificent Seven), and Marc Forster (Monster's Ball, The Kite Runner). They sent each of them a receipt with the same six items and challenged them to make a one minute movie that was centered around the six items on the receipt. You can learn more here, but take a look at the videos below to see what these talented directors came up with…
The three stories are very different, but they would be, wouldn't they? I mean, if you challenged your students to do something like this, the results you got would likely be very different too. Wouldn't they? Because although the parameters are the same for every student, this is still a very open-ended activity that just screams for a creative outcome."
"'It's boring', he groaned, glancing sideways beseechingly. 'Do I have to do it. Why do I need to learn to code?' Part of the year 6 gifted and talented class, this student punched keys, slammed the laptop shut, yanked it open again. His friend offered to help. Desolately he turned back to the coding lessons.
I continue cruising the classroom stepping over lanky legs harbouring slumped socks, dodging flailing arms. 'It's really easy - it's like the games we play. I'm trying to trip it up,' one boy tells me as I watch the psychedelic coloured spinning shape. It reminds me of a rapidly created multi-coloured elastic band ball. He's chuckling with glee. I am amazed.
This was my first coding class as a supply teacher."
