LLI Southwest

Getting a vision such as a Makerspace from concept to product takes several working parts.  It also depends on how much support, finances and general interest from your study population there is to create one. 
And it can be done on a small budget!
The objective of this session is to take the audience on a guided experience and identify what questions, challenges and obstacles arose as SPACE was being created.  

At Saginaw Elementary, there is a twist to the traditional makerspace concept. Our idea is simple – EVERY student, EVERY week. This presentation will take participants through our six-month makerspace design process, discussing in detail the initial planning, research & design, and launch phases.   Initial Phase –  • Establishing the “why” • Makerspace Design Team • Securing funding • Reorganizing master schedule • Identifying personnel • Identifying physical space  Research & Design Phase –  • Understanding learners • Selecting themes • Researching materials • Room design  Launch Phase –  • Building excitement • Makerspace Open House • Identifying maker expectations • Establishing routines

Why design thinking? With design thinking, students develop as deep thinkers and doers. At an early age when their thinking is still pliable and their brains are maturing they begin to hone the thinking strategies that they will apply to learning throughout their lives.  Students also start to formulate an understanding of empathy.  The importance of getting our students to step out of their own reality and begin to see the world through others’ eyes is imperative for strong emotional intelligence.  As a root of human-centered design, empathy instruction in the early grades allows them to begin to understand implicit needs and cause and effect, not to mention develop leadership characteristics.  Finally, students learn to “embrace failure.”  This message is everywhere, but the idea of productive failure in a learning experience is sometimes a difficult concept to get across.  We allow them repeated opportunities to try something, make their ideas public, and then modify them based on feedback. In this way, we are growing students for whom the message is “Don’t talk -  do, - observe, reflect and try again.”
Participants in this session will engage in a rapid design challenge to experience first hand the energy that is behind the GSES Outdoor Learning Space Design Project.  Utilizing the design thinking tools such as empathy, ideation, and prototyping, participants will explore the process our early childhood students explored earlier this year to address a real world problem demanding an authentic solution.  We will review our educational outcomes for the project.  Before leaving the session, participants will  explore next steps for their own design activity.

Classroom design has become an important topic of interest at The Oakridge School as well as within current conversations about innovation and learning. Oftentimes the design of a classroom determines or defines the culture of learning that takes place in that given space, and if we want inquiry-driven, curious learners who can take ownership of their education, we have to think about the impact that space, design, and furniture have on the students, teachers, and the relational dynamics that form between them. Come join a panel conversation with Jonathan Matta from KI Furniture, Jared Colley, English Chair at The Oakridge School, and Oakridge students to discuss the benefits of using mobile furniture for purposes of making learning more agile, constructive, and student-centered. 

The REALM is a new and innovative Burleson ISD, School of Choice, operating within Kerr Middle School. The REALM is an acronym for Rigorous Educational Arcade Learning Model. The REALM provides personalized learning through a gaming platform. The curriculum is organized as stages and levels that the students must advanced through in order to "level up". Like an arcade, students play "games" or lessons in order to earn points. Students problem solve and take ownership of their learning. REALM students are taught how to set their own schedules in order to work through quests and episodes. Teachers within The REALM act as facilitators, coaches, and guides

Allison and Martha worked together at The Episcopal School of Dallas for six years. During those six years, these two ladies sought to bring real experiences and real audiences to their students.  They found using non-profits and non-governmental organizations was the key.  Instead of thinking what they could do to help the organization these ladies flipped that mindset and found working alongside the students and the organizations' goals was the winning combination.  The results were truly amazing.  We used the talents and passion of the students to help organizations grow. Organizations will include both international organizations like Sharks for Kids, local non-profits, The Rise School, Texas Master Gardeners and Wee Volunteers. 

Makerspaces are constructionist in nature and are very different from traditional classrooms. In this session, we will address considerations when introducing the makerspace to young students, tool safety and handling, and movement in the makerspace.

We assume that our learners come in with the necessary skills to be successful group learners and will automatically be able to apply these skills. However, this is normally not the case. These skills must be modeled and taught. This session will explore different ways to model group projects so that all learners will be successful.

During Mechanical Paper, attendees will gain first-hand knowledge of cams, cranks, and gears by making simple paper-crafted machines. Participants will leave the session with their newly constructed models and be able to take their knowledge back to the classroom to engage their students in art and science. Theories of science will come to life for students by utilizing simple materials like paper, scissors, and glue to create a unique model. Because no special tools or skills are required to make paper machines, this art and science activity is especially attractive for teachers on limited budgets. Additionally, basic paper crafting techniques will be covered such as cutting, folding, scoring, and assembling. Although this session is designed as an introduction to paper mechanics, a closing discussion will highlight additional possibilities to scaffold this project into more advanced options.

Email Jen Titus with Modular Robotics if you are interested in purchasing Cubelets for your school/classroom....be sure to mention the session!
 jen.titus@modrobotics.com 

Clay Shirky said "It's not information overload.  It's filter failure".  Nothing could be further from the truth in 2016.  This session will show you how to curate online resources more efficiently (e.g., do you use "filetype:" to filter for what you want?  There is a world of great pdfs, ppts and jpegs out there to help you craft amazing learning experiences for your students and this session will help you find them.

Office 365 Hidden Gems. Practical use in the classrooms. Featuring Sway, Yammer, Video, Forms.

Office 365 is the latest generation of MS Office Suite and it is cloud based.

While most of us are familiar Word, Excel and PowerPoint on the desktop, and many of us have used or heard about online versions of these products, not many have experienced or heard about the new online tools that Microsoft incorporated into Office 365 lineup.

We discover these tools during the session.

Sway – is a new online presentation software. It has short learning curve and it’s easy to use. It takes care of most of the design of your presentation while you can spend your time working on the content.

We will show co-authoring collaborative features of Sway and allow session attendees to work together on a sample Sway presentation. We will provide with examples of how Sway is being used in Cary Academy classrooms.

Video

Think of Office 365 Video as your school’s YouTube. Office 365 Video provides an easy and straightforward way for faculty and students to create video channels, upload and tag videos for all kinds of school and learning projects. Uploaded video clips are immediately available for the entire school community to watch. Alternatively, secure permissions can be setup to make videos available to only selected groups of people.

Forms

Forms are latest addition to Office365 for Education and allow educators to create online surveys and forms in an easy and intuitive manner. Office Forms are similar to Google Forms but with native integration with other Office tools like OneNote.

We will be showing real classroom projects and examples from our teachers.

Panelists include:

-Stuart McCathie - Headmaster, Lausanne Collegiate School
-Daniel Gallagher - Superintendent, Little Elm ISD
-Diana Laufenberg - Executive Director, Inquiry Schools
-Jon Kellam - Headmaster, The Oakridge School

Join some of the top education minds on what innovative schools are looking for in 21st century educators. From the ability to connect with students individually with social and emotional awareness to the ability to see curriculum as a design process, faculty will not want to miss this opportunity to see what administrators are looking for most.

Real World Wednesdays are a hit at Azle High School!  Our students are learning about topics that they express concerns over not knowing how to do but know that they should.  Some of these topics include how to fill out a job application, how to fill out a tax form, how to fill out a check and manage a checkbook, how to be a good babysitter, how to cook for yourself, and how to reduce and handle stress. The student driven list continues to grow.  We will take a look at the simplicity of how to get this program started, and the benefits of doing so.

We’ve seen a transition in our students’ thought processes and comprehension skills by adding blueprints in our daily activities.  During our session, we hope to share how to use blueprints throughout all Early Childhood classrooms.  We will also work with teachers to create a lesson to take right back to their classroom as well as methods for adapting the planning (blueprint) process into individual classroom centers/curriculum needs. 

This technique allows students and teachers to use familiar technology (phones, tablets, etc.) to demonstrate language acquisition.  The first step in the process is to introduce new vocabulary through TPRS-style question and answer sessions.  The second step is to guide the students through creating a story using the vocabulary.  The third step is to collaboratively turn the story into a movie script, using both narration and dialog.  The fourth step is to block and plan the making of the movie.  Then, the movie is recorded by the teacher or student.  Finally, the movie debuts to a rapt audience and is posted to the class YouTube account for parental viewing pleasure.
This interactive approach allows all students to participate from extroverted actors, to introverted recorders, to deep thinking writers.  Because they have the opportunity to play with target vocabulary and sentence structures, students acquire the language almost effortlessly and demonstrate greater recall.