Intro: Welcome to the #LifelongKDG twitter book club chat. Please introduce yourself with name, location, role, and what you hope to get out of participation in the book chat
Hi everyone! Melissa from Nebraska, 11-12 ELA. I love talking shop, creativity, getting kids excited about learning and making it meaningful. #lifelongKDG
YAY! I've been waiting for months to chat with likeminded folks about the #lifelongKDG book by @mres - The book is so affirming to me as it speaks so loudly to my beliefs as an educator (and a human!). Welcome!!
Q1: According to Sir Ken Robinson, creativity is as important in education as literacy and that we should treat it with the same status. Do you agree? How are we doing in this area? How can we improve? #lifelongKDG
Hello from Brooklyn! I work on partnerships for #CSforAllNYC. I'm excited to learn from this emerging community and discuss how we might make sense of #lifelongkdg for teachers and students in NYC.
Intro: Welcome to the #LifelongKDG twitter book club chat. Please introduce yourself with name, location, role, and what you hope to get out of participation in the book chat
My name is Steve Isaacs. I teach game design and development to middle school students in NJ. I am most interested in getting great ideas and perspectives from everyone in the chat. So much great stuff to talk about and so many great people to learn with and from! #lifelongKDG
Hi everyone! Mandi from WV, administrator in PA. In the face of high-stakes testing, I'm trying to encourage my staff to trust in the value of the 4 P's. As always, trying to fill my toolbox with knowledge and experiences. #lifelongKDG
A1: Honestly, this one is hard for me. I know pre-readers can learn computational thinking and the future jobs and society will depend on computational literacy, but I'm not quite sure "creativity" by itself is as important as literacy. #lifelongKDG
Q1: According to Sir Ken Robinson, creativity is as important in education as literacy and that we should treat it with the same status. Do you agree? How are we doing in this area? How can we improve? #lifelongKDG
A1: That's quite a statement for this ELA teacher. I'd have a hard time completely putting creativity and literacy on the same level. I see the need for both as hand in hand, though. Creativity needs the vehicle of literacy #lifelongKDG
👋 all! Erica from NJ here... Interested in (video)games, game design and pedagogy... especially hearing about how others incorporate it into their classrooms! Studied it for my dissertation (defending in 3 weeks!!!) #lifelongKDG
A1: I do believe creativity is as important as literacy. Obviously literacy is important but I feel strongly that we need to embrace and encourage creative thinking - in fact, I believe creativity encourages literacy #lifelongKDG
👋 all! Erica from NJ here... Interested in (video)games, game design and pedagogy... especially hearing about how others incorporate it into their classrooms! Studied it for my dissertation (defending in 3 weeks!!!) #lifelongKDG
Q2: “Friedrich Froebel conceived of early education as a kindergarten because he understood, as gardeners do of plants, that children flourish best in certain conditions” - what conditions have you seen children flourish under in your classroom? #LifelongKDG
A1) I think creativity often takes a back seat to compliance. It can integrate into all subjects when students are given voice and choice. There are so many ways to show what you know. If we can embrace that notion, we give creativity equal status. #LifelongKDG
A2: Allowing students choice, self-pacing, giving them parameters but not strict boundaries. Allowing for failure and encouraging them to give it another try #lifelongKDG
A1 or A2: But does anyone else find creative thinking gets a bad rap? If my students have fun in my class, parents don't think they are learning. #lifelongKDG
A2: First off Froebel Rocks! In my classes I have found that a choice based learning environment helps students find their areas of interest and it's AMAZING to watch them flourish as a result. I feel like I get to see it every day! #personalizedlearning#lifelongKDG
👋 all! Erica from NJ here... Interested in (video)games, game design and pedagogy... especially hearing about how others incorporate it into their classrooms! Studied it for my dissertation (defending in 3 weeks!!!) #lifelongKDG
SO WELL STATED! I think @iwearthecrowns and @alicekeeler would agree. I have to admit that there was a time when I thought that kids who came from Montesori didn't know how to sit still and that was a problem. The problem was the rest of us! #lifelongKDG
A1) I think creativity often takes a back seat to compliance. It can integrate into all subjects when students are given voice and choice. There are so many ways to show what you know. If we can embrace that notion, we give creativity equal status. #LifelongKDG
A2: when they’re challenged, engaged, feel meaning in their efforts, feel socially connected to peers, when felt understood by the teacher-bottom line when you know your students and provide what they need #LifelongKDG
A2 unfortunately I see my G&T kids flounder when i offer the chance to explore their passions. It's taken months to coach them back into it. We stifle them from k, and its hard to reverse. Empower them ALL THE TIME! #lifelongKDG
This makes me sad! And quite honestly I don't think ANYONE would question that in your class and I do believe the kids are having fun. Keep doing what you do and don't be afraid to take risks. (I know you're not!) #lifelongKDG
A2) When students have access to a variety of media and materials, they can tinker and explore their interests and talents. Creativity soars when students take risks and embrace failures. #lifelongKDG
Start the year (and continue) with activities (personal narrative, etc.) where students can express who they are. Also also choice in summative/formative assessments to give expression-movie, essay, presentation, PBL, etc. #LifelongKDG
Q3: Mitch Resnick notes that it is not the time spent using tech that we should be concerned with but rather what kids are doing with technology. Can you provide examples of digital technologies or other learning tools designed to facilitate creative thinking? #LifelongKDG
Hey I just you pop up on the feed and had to join in-didn’t know there was a chat, but #LifelongKDG suits my personal philosophy fairly well-Hope you and the family are good
I agree! I have made it my mission to provide a great variety of resources for my students to enrich the learning environment and help them find their passion. #VR#AR#gamedesign#coding#stuchoice#lifelongKDG
Q3: Mitch Resnick notes that it is not the time spent using tech that we should be concerned with but rather what kids are doing with technology. Can you provide examples of digital technologies or other learning tools designed to facilitate creative thinking? #LifelongKDG
Geez - and we have such an opportunity with G&T kids because the idea SHOULD be to provide great opportunities for enrichment, interest driven learning, out of the box thinking (not always the case clearly) #lifelongKDG#edreform
A3: My focus is on content creation with tech - game design, app design, writing reviews, coding, etc. so I believe with creativity and critical thinking at the core we demonstrate effective use #lifelongKDG
A1: Totally agree! I think that schools "talk the #21stcenturyskills talk" but "walk the standardized testing walk". Until we lose that, not a lot will change IMO. #lifelongKDG
We are great! Do you have the book? We are running this as a 6 week book study twitter chat :) Were you at the #CSTANYC meeting with @mres where they gave everyone a copy of the book :) :) :) #lifelongKDG
A3: Love this sentiment. I try to offer creative choice whenever possible. I think some of the most creative apps are basic ones--Google Drawing, for example. So much can be done with it #lifelongKDG
A1 I always struggle with the importance of creativity not education because i feel i need to assess it.... instead of creativity i like inspiration .... what inspires me is different than others but really important to a class culture #lifelongKDG
Sad, but far too true :( Hopefully we can make strides to change that. I know our #games4ed Tribe are pushing the envelope. Let's bring the #lifelongKDG conversation to the masses!
A1: Totally agree! I think that schools "talk the #21stcenturyskills talk" but "walk the standardized testing walk". Until we lose that, not a lot will change IMO. #lifelongKDG
A3: Students researching civic actions is not the same as liking a friend’s lunch photo-not all internet is equal. #DigitalCitizenship instruction, #GBL, digital storytelling, or digital art tools are great for creativity #lifelongKDGhttps://t.co/1R18c15t3N
Q4: Chen, president of Tsinghua speaks of A students (those who get high grades) & X students (those willing to take risks / try new things). How can we help young people develop as creative (X) thinkers so that they’re prepared for life in this ever-changing world? #LifelongKDG
A3: Students researching civic actions is not the same as liking a friend’s lunch photo-not all internet is equal. #DigitalCitizenship instruction, #GBL, digital storytelling, or digital art tools are great for creativity #lifelongKDGhttps://t.co/1R18c15t3N
Ah - nice! Didn't they license #minecraftedu for the entire region? #lifelongKDG I was in Belfast for @minevention over the summer. It was lovely - Got around the country a bit!
A4: One of my favorite ways for this is #PBL since it challenges those A students to think in new ways and allows X students and those discouraged in class an accessible less-stress entry point #lifelongKDGhttps://t.co/iGcVOmULlH
Definitely grab a copy of the book and join us for the next 5 weeks as we continue the #lifelongKDG book study. @mres shares the ideas in such a common sense manner.
A3: @MyStoryball! Can't wait till this gets out! It's an Israeli #edtech startup. A screenless console. "An immersive sound experience that bridges virtual games and the real world around us" https://t.co/q4nzZOOcyN#lifelongKDG
Q4: Chen, president of Tsinghua speaks of A students (those who get high grades) & X students (those willing to take risks / try new things). How can we help young people develop as creative (X) thinkers so that they’re prepared for life in this ever-changing world? #LifelongKDG
A4) We have to let them "practice" like any other skill. If they feel they can try it, and not face consequences for failure, it may be less intimidating. The culture of the classroom and school has to support this mindset. #lifelongKDG
Q4: Chen, president of Tsinghua speaks of A students (those who get high grades) & X students (those willing to take risks / try new things). How can we help young people develop as creative (X) thinkers so that they’re prepared for life in this ever-changing world? #LifelongKDG
A4: We need to get away from grades. Plain and simple. I'm not gradeless, but I do grade less. More student reflection on learning, more conferencing. It's more time, but when using student-paced learning, it's totally doable. #lifelongKDG
Q4: Chen, president of Tsinghua speaks of A students (those who get high grades) & X students (those willing to take risks / try new things). How can we help young people develop as creative (X) thinkers so that they’re prepared for life in this ever-changing world? #LifelongKDG
Q4: Chen, president of Tsinghua speaks of A students (those who get high grades) & X students (those willing to take risks / try new things). How can we help young people develop as creative (X) thinkers so that they’re prepared for life in this ever-changing world? #LifelongKDG
We could, but that's hard to quantify. Hard to assess equally across the nation, it also takes work, thinking differently, and time. Time that our adult fears aren't necessarily willing to let us have. #lifelongKDG
A4: I love the stories in the book about @mres and Chen meeting at LEGO - where better to meet? I believe putting resources and much of the learning in the hands of our students helps to nurture creativity through choice and passion driven learning #lifelongKDG
Make sure you share the answers if you find some :) Really it comes down to relationships--they'll take risks the more they know their grades don't rely on perfection #lifelongKDG
and it really is ok - but sometimes i don't think the sentiment is as widely accepted as we think / hope. We need to really drive that point home! IT IS OK to fail. We learn from it! Yet our system doesn't always honor that #lifelongKDG
Thanks. Definitely going to join. Will try and pick up the book soon. #lifelongKDG . It will be a pleasure joining as this builds on what I learned @TuftsECT
Expert = one who may know more than others, one who can communicate it well, preferably with humility, one who mentors and yields the floor; creating other experts in the process. #lifelongKDG
A5: Genius Hour / Passion Driven Learning allow us to honor and embrace creativity- It is important to go beyond the learning and into the application - let students demonstrate their understanding by modifying an existing product, create something new #lifelongKDG
Agreed. I've even had some parents get mad that I've allowed retakes for their own child. Just today a student of mine was working grammar on line and bombed it...but through that he figured it out and got a perfect score the next time! #lifelongKDG
I also think the book did a great job of laying this out by calling it creative thinking and not creativity. I thought that was a small but significant shift that might help people think it's a skill rather than a trait #lifelongKDG
YES! The iterative design process provides opportunities to further develop our ideas and understand that things change along the way based on feedback, testing, etc. #lifelongKDG
A5: You can teach the an iterative design process which gives a structure for creativity and then provide opportunities for creativity-open-ended questions where neither the answers or the tools needed to find them are obvious/singular #LifelongKDGhttps://t.co/X2FTvLhhIw
A5: To some extent, you can't force Ss to be creative. But we can take away high-risk grades and recognize when risks are taken, even if they don't work out.
#lifelongKDG
A5: I do teach a variety of brainstorming and pre-writing activities. Students gradually find ones that work for their idea development and ones that don't. #lifelongKDG
We need to value learning and if it takes multiple attempts, then that is often what the student needs. If the final outcome is mastery, what's the difference? and if the argument of time has to keep coming up we have a problem #lifelongKDG
Q6: @mres describes two perspectives; 1) techno-skeptic and 2) techno-enthusiast. Where do you fall on this spectrum? How can we create opportunities to leverage our shared values regardless of our stand on tech? #LifelongKDG
A5) If Ss are allowed to wonder & use their imaginations, they become curious. Curiosity leads to creativity. We can support them in these quests for knowledge and solving problems with a variety of strategies, tools and encouragement. #lifelongKDG
I’m all for mastery grading-the goal is the learning the skill and retaining not immediate ease-often if ti is just memorization and doesn’t require struggle, it won’t stick #lifelongKDG
At the grad level I always allow my students to redo papers and projects (more than once if necessary) until they get the grade they want - meanwhile I watch the iterative process in writing/rewriting transform their learning and mastery of the material #lifelongKDG
At the grad level I always allow my students to redo papers and projects (more than once if necessary) until they get the grade they want - meanwhile I watch the iterative process in writing/rewriting transform their learning and mastery of the material #lifelongKDG
A6: Techno-enthusiast. Tech is a tool...a way of getting beyond physical limitations. Tech is never something we “do” it’s a way of making the impossible, possible. #LifelongKDG
Q6: @mres describes two perspectives; 1) techno-skeptic and 2) techno-enthusiast. Where do you fall on this spectrum? How can we create opportunities to leverage our shared values regardless of our stand on tech? #LifelongKDG
A6: Even though I work on computer science education I sometimes fall on the techno-skeptic sids if only because I think we can teach computational thinking without tech tools #lifelongKDG
Q6: @mres describes two perspectives; 1) techno-skeptic and 2) techno-enthusiast. Where do you fall on this spectrum? How can we create opportunities to leverage our shared values regardless of our stand on tech? #LifelongKDG
Did y'all know I am also hosting the #games4ed chat right after this one :) The chat is aligned with our #SXSWEdu session "What Kids Say About Games...and Can We Listen" - hoping to see good #stuvoice representation in the chat! #lifelongKDG
A6: Definitely enthusiast, but I try to understand and help those who are skeptical and phobic. Usually keeping it to 1 easy way to save them time/effort & still improve their practice usually overcome reticence #lifelongKDG
This is especially resonant for classrooms where tech tools do not exist of where they don't have adequate bandwidth. It's important for them to feel empowered to teach computational thinking too! #lifelongKDG
A6: It may come as a suprise to many of you but I would say I sit on the far side of the Techno Enthusiast side of the scale. In fact I think I weigh the darn scale down. But that's just me :) Creativity embodies the entire scale so tech or not, doesn't matter #lifelongKDG
A5: 1st step - make people realize that creativity is not a "gift". It's a SKILL! Everybody is creative in some way and if you allow yourself to practice, you'll get better at it. #lifelongKDG
Q7: Resnick refers to Big-C Creativity (inventing something) and little-c creativity (finding new ways to use something in existence. How can we encourage both Big C and little-c creativity in our classes? #LifelongKDG
Do you see a lot of teachers in your area teaching computational thinking even with the unplugged activities? Do teachers see the value of teaching without tech or are the unplugged activities usually used in cohort? #lifelongKDG
A6) I'm a tech-enthusiast as long as it's meaningful, resulting in creation, and not just consumption. We can have our own perspectives, but our Ss are digital natives and we can't hold that against them. They "speak" differently and we need to embrace that. #lifelongKDG
We try to encourage unplugged activities at all grade bands, esp as I mentioned, when the tech fails. It's a great back-up but it's also a great place to start #lifelongKDG
A6: Definitely a techno-enthusiast. However, not all things need to be tech. Many options and choices can be created whether tech or analog. Provide the time and materials for both and let students make the choice #lifelongKDG
#lifelongKDG A1. Creativity is as important as literacy. Aimless curiosity is as appropriate as aimless literacy. Both need purpose. Both inspire. Leading to mutual improvements.
A7: I LOVE the notion of "little c creativity" - Many activities have my students learn something and then modify it to put an original spin on it. I believe that embodies the idea of exercising the little c muscle. #lifelongKDG
I have to say that my over enthusiasm has often led me away from the unplugged activities, but it is important for me to consider the value and not dismiss it #lifelongKDG
For me, it's not about jobs, it's about understanding an ever increasingly technological world. Esp in relation to citizenship & #ethicalCS questions. If students don't understand algorithms they won't be able to question, vote, build policies that are not oppressive #lifelongKDG
A6. I'm an enthusiast, with limitations / reservations. I want the right tech, for the right reasons. Not tech b/c tech companies think we need to have. We need to lead as we know our students best. #lifelongKDG
For me, I've never enjoyed the computer as a primary modality for learning. I like to feel things, build physical models, touch the inputs and see the outputs between my fingers #lifelongKDG
Q8: Kindergarten is now becoming like the rest of school. Resnick argues the opposite should be the case. The rest of school (the rest of life) should become more like kindergarten. What are your thoughts? #LifelongKDG
Being observed next week with my #gamers making Game Release Posters with paper and color pencils in my computer lab. Going to squeeze some tables in for the day so they have room to draw.
#lifelongKDG
A6: Definitely a techno-enthusiast. However, not all things need to be tech. Many options and choices can be created whether tech or analog. Provide the time and materials for both and let students make the choice #lifelongKDG
Mastery is mastery. Hopefully everything is mastered before college / occupation. Otherwise there are remedial courses .... Take out the fear, help them learn #lifelongKDG
Makes sense. And I on the other hand have grown up so enamored by computers and hacking away. #lifelongKDG I do love the incredible overlap regardless of the tech vs. no tech argument.
Q8: Kindergarten is now becoming like the rest of school. Resnick argues the opposite should be the case. The rest of school (the rest of life) should become more like kindergarten. What are your thoughts? #LifelongKDG
Q8: Kindergarten is now becoming like the rest of school. Resnick argues the opposite should be the case. The rest of school (the rest of life) should become more like kindergarten. What are your thoughts? #lifelongKDG
Q8: Kindergarten is now becoming like the rest of school. Resnick argues the opposite should be the case. The rest of school (the rest of life) should become more like kindergarten. What are your thoughts? #LifelongKDG
Maybe I define computational thinking differently and see a nuance to what classes you can learn it in. Not sure you need a separate "coding" class. But in stats or science or ELA you can learn CT #lifelongKDG
A8 - such an important theme in the book - I hope we can really see this and make appropriate changes. We really have lost much of what Kindergarten is and it is such a noble goal to focus on not losing that spirit #lifelongKDG
A school "doubled the amount of lunch and recess time its students get from 40 to 80 minutes a day, with felicitous results: lower absenteeism and fewer disciplinary problems. "
A8 Ugh, kindergarten. I just remember reading, napping and playing outside I think I learned more from board games than elementary school. It drives ok the creativity. #lifelongKDG
A8: Sad but true. Kindergarten is now full of standards, and preschool is the new kindergarten. You have to go there to be ready. We need to embrace the play K-12. That's how we learn best! #lifelongKDG
Q8: Kindergarten is now becoming like the rest of school. Resnick argues the opposite should be the case. The rest of school (the rest of life) should become more like kindergarten. What are your thoughts? #lifelongKDG
I open my computer lab during lunch for a #lunchbunch - mostly about play - it's great to see kids play multiplayer games and feel like they have a cool space to hang out #lifelongKDG
A8) We're doing our Ss a major disservice if we only let them explore their passions & talents in Kindergarten. If we want to keep the spark lit & create lifelong learners, then we need to invite them into driving their future & value the 4P's all the way through #lifelongKDG
