This week I received an email from Janis Nostbakken who has an interest in data. They are hoping to collect information on the new web series I previously wrote about called Emerald Code. I have pasted the request below and hope you and your class can provide some feedback for them. After all, data and feedback […]
I am a big fan of cheesy 80s horror. I know, not quite the introduction you would expect from me. But hey, those types of movies are incredibly formulaic. Like an algorithm. IF (GoUpstairs) THEN YouDie(). When (Running) Don’tTripAndFall() //They always do Right?? I see the world in algorithms. I think Papert would consider this […]
The Story The year is 2153. In a world run by evil bots, it’s dangerous to be human. Lance, Freya, and their friends are trapped in the Rathouse Orphanage. Will they escape or will the Commander and his sidekick catch them? I am always on the hunt for new tools, games and apps, especially in […]
This morning I tweeted an article titled “Spatial skills higher among those who played with construction-based toys and video games in childhood.” It is a great read with many interesting points. From the article: Childhood play experiences strongly shape a person’s spatial skills, according to a new CIRES-led study—those skills can be critical to success […]
Last week the Federal government of Canada announced a $50 million investment in Computer Science & STEM education. A big move following similar initiatives happening with our friends in the south. I am pleased with the program and its goals, but have some concerns about “coding.” In Code Breaker, I write about the notion of […]
Fact Triangles are similar in some ways to flashcards although they are a better way of showing and practicing fact families. Fact Families are sets of three numbers that can be divided or multiplied together and they help develop the understanding of the relationship between multiplication and division. Below are two examples: Source: https://www.helpingwithmath.com/resources/oth_fact_triangles.htm A […]
Hello World! Today Code Breaker sits as the #3 Best Seller in “Experimental Education Methods” on Amazon.ca! What a fantastic ride this last month has been! With the success of Code Breaker’s release, we have noticed a significant increase in web traffic to our other resource, Hour of Curiosity as parents and educators continue to […]
When I decided to give away a few copies of my book, Code Breaker, I never anticipated the overwhelming requests for a copy! I am so grateful to have such interest! I have written a great deal of content about how to get started with coding at Hour of Curiosity so I decided “why not […]
Happy New Year and welcome back to school for 2018! Over the holidays I noticed Annelyse De Marco doing some pretty amazing things in her classroom so I reached out and asked for an interview. Annelyse and her class participated in the Hour of Code and there was plenty of fun to be had! 1) Who […]
I reached out to Tereza Salerno after seeing a tweet online. Tereza had mentioned she tried coding this week with her class. Curious, I sent her an email asking for more information. Have a read through of our conversation below. My biggest take away is the sense of accomplishment her students felt. Amazing! 1) Who […]
Special thanks to Robert Martellacci for having me as a guest on the MindShare Moment Podcast. Always a pleasure to chat with you! Good luck with your grand opening! From the December issue of the MindShare Learning Report: At our recent Canadian EdTech Leadership Summit, I questioned why we are still talking about, ‘pockets of innovation.’ […]
Stephen Hurley is someone I have followed online for quite some time. This last November we finally met face to face for the first time at the 8th EdTech Leadership Summit150 – Ignite the Night event. Stephen gave a fabulous Ignite talk about his passion for radio. In fact, Stephen has followed a 50 year […]
Happy Computer Science Education Week! Happy indeed! My book, Code Breaker, was released yesterday. Here is the description from Amazon: “Crack the code for your students’ success! Future-ready students need to be creative. They need to know how to communicate their ideas and how to collaborate as problem solvers. To master these and other twenty-first-century requirements, they will need […]
Computer Science Education Week is Dec 4 – 10 and many educators are looking for the best resources to engage their students in a variety of ways. I LOVE being connected to SO many fantastic educators across the globe. Just today I was tagged in a tweet from someone looking for a coding resource. While […]
Hour of Code week (err….Computer Science Education Week) is quickly approaching and the number of participants continues to grow rapidly. Social media is full of smiling faces, glowing screens and happy teachers engaged in wonderful coding tutorials. But this is where it falls apart. Tutorials. The end. Done. Finished. The box is checked. Next! […]
References: Drake, S.M. (2014). Designing across the curriculum for “sustainable well-being”: A 21st century approach. In F. Deer, T. Falkenberg, B. McMillan, & L. Sims (Eds.), Sustainable well-being: Concepts, issues, and educational practice (pp. 57–76). Winnipeg, MB: Education for Sustainable Well-Being (ESWB) Press. Retrieved from: www.eswbpress.org/uploads/1/2/8/9/12899389/sustainable_well-being_2014.pdf#page=65 Fullan, M. (2013). Great to excellent: Launching […]
This simulation demonstrates the law of large numbers, a key theorem in probability theory, which describes the result of performing the same experiment a large number of times. According to the law, the average of the results obtained from a large number of trials should be close to the expected (theoretical) value, and […]
I feel very fortunate to be able to travel often and meet amazing educators across the globe. However, when I am driving in a new area, I rely on my GPS heavily to navigate me through the concrete maze of city noise. It is hard for me to imagine a time before the Maps […]
Paying Attention to Spatial Reasoning “Spatial thinking is integral to everyday life. People, natural objects, human-made objects, and human-made structures exist somewhere in space, and the interactions of people and things must be understood in terms of locations, distances, directions, shapes, and patterns.” (National Research Council, 2006, p. 5) What Is Spatial Reasoning? “Spatial thinking […]
According to Gary Stager, Seymour Papert described Mathland as a place inside of computing where one could learn to be a mathematician as casually as one would learn French by living in France Papert and his team developed LOGO, a programming language, in 1968 to engage youth in mathematics and to program computers to […]
Coding Improves Academic Performance Math: Coding helps kids visualize abstract concepts, lets them apply math to real-world situations, and makes math fun and creative! Writing: Kids who code understand the value of concision and planning, which results in better writing skills. Many kids even use Tynker as a medium for storytelling! Creativity: Kids learn through […]
Computational Thinking can take on a variety of forms. As a generalization – it means to solve problems using technology – either with existing technology, or by creating technology to do things we haven’t done before.
As we continue to shift the ways in which we instruct lessons, we should be mindful of shifting ways in which we assess and evaluate. Here are ISTE’s 5 tech trends for this school year. What does it truly mean to “fail” at school? How can we support risk taking, trial and error and content […]
Today I learned about Hubbub – a game of chance played using stones or other everyday objects that have two sides. The game was brought to my attention by two teachers enrolled in my Trent University Math courses. After much research, I have found there are a variety of implementations of the game depending […]
The notion of “embracing failure” has me questioning the definition of it. Has it changed? If failure is a good thing, how do we evaluate it? Do we evaluate it? Is failure necessary to learn? What is your definition of failure?
This weekend was incredibly productive. Not only did I continue finishing my new front deck (yes, there is a math lesson in there) but I also learned about a really neat tool that stimulates curiosity, inquiry, critical thinking and collaboration while providing video feedback. I’m changing the course slightly with this post (what, not […]
In this example we will program a particle sprite with Scratch to move at random across the Cartesian Grid. Our goal is to simulate the change in behaviour of particles when temperature increases or decreases and to teach a little Geometry in the process.
Genius Hour can be the catalyst for change. I was given a choice in high school that forever changed my path in life. I hope to provide the same opportunities for my students. I know this is a quick post, but being reunited with a former teacher of mine will forever be one of my […]
Sometimes I just like to have a little fun. What started as a quick way to simply reflect on my learning (and faster than blogging!) I threw together my first Carpool Karaoke Edu video back in January. Ironically, I drove alone in this “carpool” edition, but hey, whatever. I never expected to it to […]
![Beyond the Hour of Code [Connect 2017]](http://brianaspinall.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Screen-Shot-2017-05-02-at-11.10.12-AM.png)
Last week I listened to 14 educators from Ontario who were brave enough to stand in front of 100+ and give a five minute Ignite Talk. I am truly inspired by the passion that radiates from these fine folks. Members of the audience travelled from afar, some even came after work just to listen […]
