Gen Yes from Jeff Darrow on Vimeo.

This student made video is from the GenYES class at Winston Churchill MS, San Juan School District, California. Looks like fun!

Sylvia

Strong National Museum of Play
Rochester, NY
Sunday, Nov 22, 2009
9AM-4PM

The Constructivist Celebration is an opportunity for you to let your creativity run free with the world’s best open-ended software tools and enthusiastic colleagues who share your commitment to children, computing, creativity and constructivism. You might think of this stimulating event as a spa day for your mind and soul!

Best of all, the Constructivist Celebration @ NYSCATE is being held at the Strong National Museum of Play, a great setting that should prove inspiring and fun.

The day kicks off with a keynote, by Gary Stager on “Creative Computing”. By the way, for you Stager fans, this will be the only chance to see Gary at NYSCATE this year.

Then you will enjoy five hours of creativity on your own laptop using open-ended creativity software provided by consortium members FableVision, Inspiration, LCSI, and Tech4Learning. Representatives of the Constructivist Consortium will be there to assist with your project development.

Plus you get to keep the software and have a fabulous lunch!

For more details and registration, see the Constructivist Consortium registration website. (If you want to register for BOTH the pre-conference celebration and NYSCATE at the same time, click here to go to the NYSCATE website. You will be asked to become a NYSCATE member, but this is free!)

I’ll be co-leading this event, so I hope to see you there!

Sylvia

Pacific Northwest Constructivist Celebration
Saturday May 16, 2009
Puget Sound ESD (Renton, WA – Seattle area)

Participants will enjoy the day’s activities, complimentary creativity software and a hearty lunch all for just $55. This event is a joint effort between the Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), the Northwest Council for Computer Education (NCCE), and the Constructivist Consortium.

Dr. Dennis Harper, founder of Generation YES will be there too!

Go to www.constructivistconsortium.org for more information and to register. Space is limited and past events have sold out quickly.

Sylvia

Aaron, the Cart Quality Inspector

Here’s his story:

Step 1: I had cancelled a regularly scheduled GenYES meeting the week before we went out for Winter Break because many of the students told me that they had other obligations in preparation for Chanukah and Christmas. To my surprise, several students (Karla, Rosa, Aaron, Monique, Ana Cristina, Evangelina and Rebeca) showed up anyway begging to do something GenYES-like. So, I gave the okay. The students formed teams to work on this really fun and exciting project.

Step 2: Each team received a box with a computer cart to build, a refurbished computer, an LCD projector, a monitor, a keyboard, a mouse, speakers and a 25 foot long power strip. I showed them a cart that I had already built and prepared with all the technology devices. Then after observing my cart, they got to work…or was it play?

Step 3: The teams opened their cart box, read the instructions and started putting together what must have seemed like a 3D puzzle. Once the carts were built and ready for the technology devices, Rebeca and her GenYES friends decided to name their carts as if they were newborns. So, instead of Cart 1, Cart 2, and Cart 3, we got Mia Pink, Banana 2, and Roly Poly. Next, the teams got to work on setting up the refurbished computer, an LCD projector, a monitor, a keyboard, a mouse, speakers and a 25 foot long power strip on the newborn carts. This part was more challenging for the teams. Even though they had my example to work from, the quantity of cables to connect was difficult for a few of the students. So, Aaron, a 6th grader, who seemed to have more experience with this type of task, took on the role of Quality Inspector.

Step 4: With the computer carts finished and test run, GenYES students took them to their new classrooms and introduced Mia Pink, Banana 2 and Roly Poly to the receiving teachers. Of course, the teachers were super excited to get their new carts!

This is a terrific idea, and not simply because the teachers got equipment pre-configured and ready to plug in. It also gave a strong message to the whole school community that students can and will be responsible partners in using technology. These students built something of value, not for a grade, but for pride, and learned a lot while doing it. And yes, the names the students gave the carts are cute, but there’s more than meets the eye here as well.

Giving students ownership of their own learning is more than an abstract idea. In an institutional environment where everything is bland and uniform, having an identity stands out. Ownership can be simple and concrete, like the idea of giving the carts names or decorating them. Suddenly, they become more than just the object by itself. They start to represent the children – and are special, just like the children themselves.

If you doubt this, just ask these kids if Mia Pink, Banana 2 and Roly Poly are better than the other carts without names!

Sylvia

If you are thinking of going, take advantage of Super Early-bird Registration –ends March 1st!

This is an environment in which educators can reacquaint themselves with the joy of learning while expanding their vision of the ways in which computers may be used and interact with some of the most powerful thinkers of our time.

The four-day institute, July 13-16, dedicates a large chunk of time to learning by doing. Participants engage in personally meaningful projects that challenge their creativity and build upon the expertise of the community. The Constructing Modern Knowledge faculty is comprised of remarkable teachers who love learning and teaching.

Last year’s projects included:

• Kinetic sculpture
• Videogame design
• Simulation building
• Robots that played musical instruments
• Puppets that roared

…and much more

Best of all, amazing connections were made between subject areas. Art teachers collaborated with mathematicians while kindergarten teachers shared her molecular models with an accomplished scientist. A good time was had by all!

Constructing Modern Knowledge 2009 will be held July 13-16, 2009 in Manchester, NH with an optional pre-conference science and history tour of Boston on July 12th.

Manchester is a small New England city with a great airport serviced by most major US airlines and terrific restaurants within walking distance of the institute site, The Radisson Hotel. There is a free airport shuttle and discounted hotel rates for participants. Manchester is also a convenient drive from most of New England and the Mid-Atlantic states.

Faculty:
Besides yours truly, the faculty includes Dr. Cynthia Solomon (one of the three people who invented Logo), John Stetson and legendary educator and author of more than 40 books on teaching and learning, Herbert Kohl. Gary Stager is the organizer and host.

Guest Speakers include:

Deborah Meier – a Macarthur Genius honored for her decades of service and innovation in urban public education. Ms. Meier is the “mother” of the small schools movement and her Central Park East in NYC and Mission Hill in Boston provide stunning examples of creative, compassionate, competent public education.

Lesa Snider King – one of the world’s leading experts on digital photography and imaging. She is such a great teacher that even I understand Photoshop while watching her perform her magic. Lesa just authored the new Photoshop CS4, the Missing Manual.

Peter Reynolds – the award-winning author, illustrator, animator, software developer and inspirer will host a CMK Reception at his famed FableVision Studios at the start of Wednesday night’s Night Out in the Big City (Boston)

Registration includes:

• Four-days of learning adventures
• Conference dinner
• Night Out in the Big City (Boston) beginning with a reception hosted by Peter Reynolds at the famed FableVision Studios
• Free creativity software from Tech4Learning, LCSI, Inspiration and FableVision

Hope to see you this July ! Super Early-bird Registration ends March 1st!

Sylvia

This is real evidence of student engagement and the value of including students in the learning community. By trusting students to be involved citizens and giving them real responsibility we open a door to generational understanding and shared values.

Congratulations to Russ Knopp and his GenYES students for this well-deserved recognition!

Sylvia

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Program sharpens students’ computer skills
Students at Preston Hall Middle School get a big leg up in technological skills through the GenYES program.

By CARRIE CHICKEN of the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin

WAITSBURG — In a third-floor classroom in Preston Hall Middle School, computers and related equipment occupy every desktop, fill shelves, and sit on the floor.

The computers, which might have been discarded, are getting a second life, thanks to middle school students who are willing to get up early and come to the classroom to learn how to repair and operate the machines.

Then they distribute them to students or community members or place them in a computer lab.

About 20 computers had been distributed to students and adults in the community, according to sixth-grade teacher Russ Knopp, who is advisor for the Preston Hall Technology Club and administrator of the GenYES program.

GenYES is a research-based model for K-12 schools that addresses staff development and technology integration. As students develop skills and knowledge, they are able to help teachers, administrators and other school staff use technology.

Now that the program is under way, Knopp is seeing tangible benefits for the children, and for himself.

“I’m really excited about what it’s done for kids and what it’s shown them about their abilities. And it’s shown me, too,” he said.

Upstairs in the historic school building, 12-year-old Ian Doepker confidently replaces a fan in a computer tower, then puts the tower back together.

In the class, “I’ve learned how to take a computer apart. I’ve learned how to take care of a computer. I’ve learned how to kill disks. I’ve learned how to clean a computer, neatly,” he said.

Sixth-grader Ben Brown said he has learned how to clean the computer and change the settings.

“Mr. Knopp always talks about how we’re learning how to problem solve,” Ben observed.

Alex Breland, also a sixth-grader, said he’s now learning how to hook up computers to servers.

Alex has put his newfound skills to use at home, scoring some points with his grandmother.

“My grandma’s computer froze last night so I took it apart and cleaned it out and it worked. She was happy,” Alex said.

Part of Knopp’s program is training students to train others to use the computers. The distribution does come with a price, a two-hour training course at $10 per hour.

“When they finish the training they walk out with a computer, monitor, keyboard and a mouse,” Knopp said.

Students and adults who don’t have computers at home are eligible for the computers, Knopp said. At least three have gone to adults.

Besides connecting people to the cyber world, the GenYES connects the generations, Knopp observed.

Teachers have asked for student help with software or hardware, and club member Trent Hafen, 12, has been asked to assemble a computer for a middle school teacher.

After a student helped a senior citizen get started with her “new” computer, “this lady’s always going to have memories of a sixth-grade boy being so kind and patient,” Knopp said.

“What’s been so fun is what it means to the kids. That’s what I’m excited about,” Knopp said.

The Constructing Modern Knowledge Summer Institute will return for a second year this July 13-16 in Manchester, NH. Constructing Modern Knowledge is a minds-on institute for educators committed to creativity, collaboration and computing. Participants will have the opportunity to engage in intensive computer-rich project development with peers and a world-class faculty. Inspirational guest speakers and social events round out the fantastic event.

This year’s lineup includes:

• Deborah Meier – has spent more than four decades working in public education as a teacher, writer and public advocate. Meier was the first pubic school educator to be named a MacArthur Genius and is the author of many award-winning books on education. Meier is the co-author, with Diane Ravitch, of the exceptional blog Bridging Differences.
• Herbert Kohl – A recipient of the National Book Award and the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award, Herbert Kohl was a founder and the first director of the Teachers & Writers Collaborative in New York City. Kohl has spent more than forty years as a progressive teacher, teacher educator and author of dozens of classic education books.
• Gary Stager – laptop pioneer, has helped learners of all ages on six continents embrace the power of computers as intellectual laboratories and vehicles for self-expression. Gary is the convener of the CMK Summer Institute.
• and more!

I’ll be back too – last year was a learning experience for me (my CMK08 reflective blog post) and I expect this year to be even better.

By the way – take advantage of the super early bird registration, only $550 (US) by January 1, 2009. The price includes social events, software, and more!

Sylvia

Yes, technology, math, and science can be friends!

Constructing Modern Knowledge is organizing a one-of-a-kind educational event for January 22, 2009 at Philadelphia’s Science Leadership Academy. Constructing Modern Math/Science Knowledge is a minds-on institute for K-12 teachers, administrators and technology coordinators looking for practical and inspirational ways to use computers to enhance S.T.E.M. learning. Constructing Modern Math/Science Knowledge is a pre-conference event for Educon 2.1, an innovative conference and conversation about the future of education.

The presenters represent high-tech pioneers and seasoned veterans at the forefront of innovation in math, science and computing. Read more about them here.

Come to Constructing Modern Math/Science Knowledge and stay for Educon 2.1!

• Early-bird registration (before December 15) – $100
• Regular registration – $130

You may register for both Constructing Modern Math/Science Knowledge and Educon 2.1 with one click.

Sylvia