Category: design
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Learning at the March Oklahoma STEM Consortium Meeting
This afternoon for lunch and after lunch, I had the wonderful opportunity to join our 6th and 7th grade science teachers at the bi-monthly meeting of the Oklahoma STEM Consortium facilitated by Anissa Angier (@AnissaSmiles). Anissa is the “K12 STEM Instructional Facilitator” for Edmond Public Schools, and has been helping organize and lead this group…
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Code as Poetry in 4th Grade Scratch Club
The highlight of my Mondays now is getting to co-facilitate an after-school Scratch Coding Club with my wife. Today one of our fourth graders discovered a wonderful Scratch block that simplified a much more complex set of blocks I’d showed him a few weeks ago, and created a simple shooting cannon / animated cannon. I…
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Reflections on Learning from the OU Innovation Hub
This past Wednesday, December 6, 2017, I had an opportunity to participate in a “mini-retreat” with colleagues from Casady School (@casadyschoolokc) at the Innovation Hub at the University of Oklahoma (@ouinnovationhub).This is a group of both faculty and staff, involved in supporting and teaching coding and computer science at different levels at our school. This morning on…
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Podcast458: Reflections and Lessons Learned from STEAM Studio Fall 2017
This podcast features a recorded audio reflection by Megan Thompson (@seeingnewshapes) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) on their co-led fall 2017 “STEAM Studio” class for 2nd, 3rd and 4th graders at Casady School in Oklahoma City. This is an eight week after-school program, and this was the second year for Megan and Wes to collaborate on…
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Developing Computational Thinking with Scratch Coding (webinar video)
Last night I had an opportunity to present a free, evening webinar for the Oklahoma State Department of Education’s Educational Technology Division, as part of a series they hosted to prepare teachers for Computer Science Education Week. The title of my presentation was, “Developing Computational Thinking with Scratch Coding.” The webinar recording is 1 hour and 11…
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Podcast457: Inspiring Creativity and Curiosity with Media
This podcast features an almost-complete recording of Dr. Wesley Fryer’s keynote, “Inspiring Creativity and Curiosity with Media,” on November 18, 2017, in Cairo, Egypt at the second annual EduForum Conference. The keynote description was: “As automation and the disruptive march of technology continues into virtually every aspect of our lives, it is vital we cultivate…
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Minecraft Halloween Challenge: Lessons Learned
Yesterday Dr. Glen Emerson (@emerson_glen) and I, along with four other teachers and my Minecraft-guru daughter, Rachel, facilitated an evening “Minecraft Halloween Challenge” for students at our school. We had 61 students sign up and 59 participated, in two different sessions from 4 – 6 pm and 7 – 9 pm. The kids had a…