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Living Democracy is not just a school subject. It is a way of empowering people - students, teachers, parents, l head teachers, neighborhoods, local com¬munities, and, ultimately, the population as a whole.

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Democracy & Human Rights in School - Living Democracy

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Living Democracy is not just a school subject. It is a way of empowering people - students, teachers, parents, l head teachers, neighborhoods, local com¬munities, and, ultimately, the population as a whole.

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As a follow-up to our 9 Characteristics of 21st Century Learning we developed in 2009, we have developed an updated framework, The Inside-Out Learning Model.

The goal of the model is simple enough-not pure academic proficiency, but instead authentic self-knowledge, diverse local and global interdependence, adaptive critical thinking, and adaptive media literacy.

By design this model emphasizes the role of play, diverse digital and physical media, and a designed interdependence between communities and schools.

The attempted personalization of learning occurs through new actuators and new notions of local and global citizenship. An Inside-Out School returns the learners, learning, and "accountability" away from academia and back to communities. No longer do schools teach. Rather, they act as curators of resources and learning tools, and promote the shift of the "burden" of leanring back to a more balanced perspective of stakeholders and participants.

Here, families, business leaders, humanities-based organizations, neighbors, mentors, higher-education institutions, all converging to witness, revere, respond to, and support the learning of its own community members.

The micro-effect here is increased intellectual intimacy, while the macro-effect is healthier communities and citizenship that extends beyond mere participation, to ideas of thinking, scale, legacy, and growth.
The 9 Domains Of the Inside-Out Learning Model 1. Five Learning Actuators

Project-Based Learning

Directed and Non-Directed Play

Video Games and Learning Simulations

Connected Mentoring

Academic Practice

2. Changing Habits

Fertilize innovation & design

Acknowledge limits and scale

Reflect on interdependence

Honor uncertainty

Curate legacy

Support systems-level and divergent thinking

Reward increment

Require versatility in face of change

3. Transparency

Between communities, learners, and schools

Learning standards, outcomes, project rubrics, performance critera persistently visible, accessible, and communally constructed

Gamification and publishing replace "grades"

4. Self-Initiated Transfer

Applying old thinking in constantly changing and unfamiliar circumstances as constant matter of practice

Constant practice of prioritized big ideas in increasing complexity within learner ZPD

Project-based learning, blended learning, and Place-Based Education available to facilitate highly-constructivist approach

5. Mentoring & Community

"Accountability" via the performance of project-based ideas in authentic local and global environments

Local action -> global citizenship

Active mentoring via physical and digital networking, apprenticeships, job shadows and study tours

Communal Constructivism, meta-cognition, Cognitive Coaching, and Cognitive Apprenticeship among available tools

6. Changing Roles

Learners as knowledge makers

Teachers as expert of assessment and resources

Classrooms as think-tanks

Communities not just audience, but vested participants

Families as designers, curators, and content resources

7. Climate of Assessment

Constant minor assessments replace exams

Data streams inform progress and suggest pathways

Academic standards prioritized and anchoring

Products, simulation performance, self-knolwedge delegate academia to new role of refinement of thought

8. Thought & Abstraction

In this model, struggle and abstraction are expected outcomes of increasing complexity & real-world uncertainty

This uncertainty is honored, and complexity and cognitive patience are constantly modeled and revered

Abstraction honors not just art, philosophy, and other humanities, but the uncertain, incomplete, and subjective nature of knowledge

9. Expanding Literacies

Analyzes, evaluates, and synthesizes credible information

Critical survey of interdependence of media and thought

Consumption of constantly evolving media forms

Media design for authentic purposes

Self-monitored sources of digital & non-digital data

Artistic and useful content curation patterns

The Inside-Out Learning Model Central Learning Theories & Artifacts: Situational Learning Theory (Lave), Discovery Learning (Bruner), Communal Constructivism (Holmes), Zone of Proximal Development & More Knowledgeable Other (Vygotsky), Learning Cycle (Kolb), Transfer (Thorndike, Perkins, Wiggins), Habits of Mind (Costa and Kallick), Paulo Freire, and the complete body of work by Wendell Berry
Our Best Terry Heick Veteran Teacher

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The Inside-Out School: A 21st Century Learning Model

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As a follow-up to our 9 Characteristics of 21st Century Learning we developed in 2009, we have developed an updated framework, The Inside-Out Learning Model. The goal of the model is simple enough-not pure academic proficiency, but instead authentic self-knowledge, diverse local and global interdependence, adaptive critical thinking, and adaptive media literacy.

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Flickr/David Robert Bliwas

The excerpt below is from the book "Lifelong Kindergarten: Cultivating Creativity through Projects, Passion, Peers, and Play" by Mitchel Resnick, published by MIT Press. TEN TIPS FOR PARENTS AND TEACHERS
There's a common misconception that the best way to encourage children's creativity is simply to get out of the way and let them be creative. Although it's certainly true that children are naturally curious and inquisitive, they need support to develop their creative capacities and reach their full creative potential.

Supporting children's development is always a balancing act: how much structure, how much freedom; when to step in, when to step back; when to show, when to tell, when to ask, when to listen.

In putting together this section, I decided to combine tips for parents and teachers, because I think the core issues for cultivating creativity are the same, whether you're in the home or in the classroom. The key challenge is not how to "teach creativity" to children, but rather how to create a fertile environment in which their creativity will take root, grow, and flourish.

I'm organizing this section around the five components of the Creative Learning Spiral: imagine, create, play, share, and reflect. I propose strategies for helping children imagine what they want to do, create projects through playing with tools and materials, share ideas and creations with others, and reflect on their experiences.

For each of the five components, I'll suggest two tips. That's a total of 10 tips. Of course, these 10 tips are just a very small subset of all of the things you might ask and do to cultivate children's creativity. View them as a representative sample, and come up with more of your own.
1. IMAGINE : SHOW EXAMPLES TO SPARK IDEAS
A blank page, a blank canvas, and a blank screen can be intimidating. A collection of examples can help spark the imagination. When we run Scratch workshops, we always start by showing sample projects-to give a sense of what's possible (inspirational projects) and to provide ideas on how to get started (starter projects). We show a diverse range of projects, in hopes of connecting with the interests and passions of workshop participants. Of course, there's a risk that children will simply mimic or copy the examples that they see. That's OK as a start, but only as a start. Encourage them to change or modify the examples. Suggest that they insert their own voice or add their own personal touch. What might they do differently? How can they add their own style, connect to their own interests? How can they make it their own?
2. IMAGINE : ENCOURAGE MESSING AROUND
Most people assume that imagination takes place in the head, but the hands are just as important. To help children generate ideas for projects, we often encourage them to start messing around with materials. As children play with LEGO bricks or tinker with craft materials, new ideas emerge. What started as an aimless activity becomes the beginning of an extended project. We'll sometimes organize mini hands-on activities to get children started. For example, we'll ask children to put a few LEGO bricks together, then pass the structure to a friend to add a few more, then continue back and forth. After a few iterations, children often have new ideas for things they want to build.
3. CREATE : PROVIDE A WIDE VARIETY OF MATERIALS
Children are deeply influenced by the toys, tools, and materials in the world around them. To engage children in creative activities, make sure they have access to a broad diversity of materials for drawing, building, and crafting. New technologies, like robotics kits and 3-D printers, can expand the range of what children create, but don't overlook traditional materials. A Computer Clubhouse coordinator was embarrassed to admit to me that her members were making their own dolls with "nylons, newspapers, and bird seed," without any advanced technology, but I thought their projects were great. Different materials are good for different things. LEGO bricks and popsicle sticks are good for making skeletons, felt and fabric are good for making skins, and Scratch is good for making things that move and interact. Pens and markers are good for drawing, and glue guns and duct tape are good for holding things together. The greater the diversity of materials, the greater the opportunity for creative projects.
4. CREATE : EMBRACE ALL TYPES OF MAKING
Different children are interested in different types of making. Some enjoy making houses and castles with LEGO bricks. Some enjoy making games and animations with Scratch. Others enjoy making jewelry or soapbox race cars or desserts-or miniature golf courses. Writing a poem or a short story is a type of making, too. Children can learn about the creative design process through all of these activities. Help children find the type of making that resonates for them. Even better: Encourage children to engage in multiple types of making. That way, they'll get an even deeper understanding of the creative design process.
5. PLAY : EMPHASIZE PROCESS, NOT PRODUCT
Throughout this book, I've emphasized the importance of making things. Indeed, many of the best learning experiences happen when people are actively engaged in making things. But that doesn't mean we should put all our attention on the things that are made. Even more important is the process through which things are made. As children work on projects, highlight the process, not just the final product. Ask children about their strategies and their sources of inspiration. Encourage experimentation by honoring failed experiments as much as successful ones. Allocate times for children to share the intermediate stages of their projects and discuss what they plan to do next and why.
6. PLAY : EXTEND TIME FOR PROJECTS
It takes time for children to work on creative projects, especially if they're constantly tinkering, experimenting, and exploring new ideas (as we hope they will). Trying to squeeze projects into the constraints of a standard 50-minute school period-or even a few 50-minute periods over the course of a week-undermines the whole idea of working on projects. It discourages risk taking and experimentation, and it puts a priority on efficiently getting to the "right" answer within the allotted time. For an incremental change, schedule double periods for projects. For a more dramatic change, set aside particular days or weeks (or even months) when students work on nothing but projects in school. In the meantime, support after-school programs and community centers where children have larger blocks of time to work on projects.
7. SHARE : PLAY THE ROLE OF MATCHMAKER
Many children want to share ideas and collaborate on projects, but they're not sure how. You can play the role of matchmaker, helping children find others to work with, whether in the physical world or the online world. At Computer Clubhouses, the staff and mentors spend a lot of their time connecting Clubhouse members with one another. Sometimes, they bring together members with similar interests-for example, a shared interest in Japanese manga or a shared interest in 3-D modeling. Other times, they bring together members with complementary interests-for example, connecting members with interests in art and robotics so that they can work together on interactive sculptures. In the Scratch online community, we have organized month-long Collab Camps to help Scratchers find others to work with-and also to learn strategies for collaborating effectively.
8. SHARE : GET INVOLVED AS A COLLABORATOR
Parents and mentors sometimes get too involved in children's creative projects, telling children what to do or grabbing the keyboard to show them how to fix a problem. Other parents and mentors don't get involved at all. There is a sweet spot in between, where adults and children form true collaborations on projects. When both sides are committed to working together, everyone has a lot to gain. A great example is Ricarose Roque's Family Creative Learning initiative, in which parents and children work together on projects at local community centers over five sessions. By the end of the experience, parents and children have new respect for one another's abilities, and relationships are strengthened.
9. REFLECT : ASK (AUTHENTIC) QUESTIONS
It's great for children to immerse themselves in projects, but it's also important for them to step back to reflect on what's happening. You can encourage children to reflect by asking them questions about their projects. I often start by asking: "How did you come up with the idea for this project?" It's an authentic question: I really want to know! The question prompts them to reflect on what motivated and inspired them. Another of my favorite questions: "What's been most surprising to you?" This question pushes them away from just describing the project and toward reflecting on their experience. If something goes wrong with a project, I'll often ask: "What did you want it to do?" In describing what they were trying to do, they often recognize where they went wrong, without any further input from me.
10. REFLECT : SHARE YOUR OWN REFLECTIONS
Most parents and teachers are reluctant to talk with children about their own thinking processes. Perhaps they don't want to expose that they're sometimes confused or unsure in their thinking. But talking with children about your own thinking process is the best gift you could give them. It's important for children to know that thinking is hard work for everyone-for adults as well as children. And it's useful for children to hear your strategies for working on projects and thinking through problems. By hearing your reflections, children will be more open to reflecting on their own thinking, and they'll have a better model of how to do it. Imagine the children in your life as creative thinking apprentices; you're helping them learn to become creative thinkers by demonstrating and discussing how you do it.
CONTINUING THE SPIRAL
Of course, the Creative Learning Spiral doesn't end with a single cycle of imagining, creating, playing, sharing, and reflecting. As children move through the process, they get new ideas and continue to the next iteration of the spiral, with another cycle of imagining, creating, playing, sharing, and reflecting. With each iteration of the spiral, there are new opportunities for you to support children in their creative learning.
Mitchel Resnick, an expert in educational technologies, is Professor of Learning Research at the MIT Media Lab. He has worked closely with the LEGO toy company for thirty years, collaborating with them on such innovative projects as the LEGO Mindstorms robotics kits, and he holds the LEGO endowed chair at MIT. He leads the team developing the Scratch programming software and online community, and he is cofounder of the Computer Clubhouse project, a network of after-school learning centers for youth from low-income communities.
10 Tips for Creating a Fertile Environment for Kids' Creativity and Growth

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10 Tips for Creating a Fertile Environment for Kids' Creativity and Growth

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The excerpt below is from the book "Lifelong Kindergarten: Cultivating Creativity through Projects, Passion, Peers, and Play" by Mitchel Resnick, published by MIT Press. TEN TIPS FOR PARENTS AND TEACHERS There's a common misconception that the best way to encourage children's creativity is simply to get out of the way and let them be creative.

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"science experiments" steam stem "easy kids activities"

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STEAM & Educational Activities For Kids www.raisingdragons.com

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Jenny Chang / BuzzFeed

Note: some responses have been lightly edited for length or clarity.

8. Hang inspirational quotes around the room, mounted on inexpensive scrapbook paper.

Getty Images / BuzzFeed

I teach adults with special needs. When I got hired, I had blank, white concrete walls in my building. I went on Pinterest and found beautiful pictures of positive and educational quotes that I printed and glued/laminated onto scrapbook paper (which there is a HUGE variety of and only 10 cents a sheet). I hung them all over my room and lined the hallways with them. I have my students pick their favorite, stand by it, and tell us why they like it as an ice breaker at the beginning of the year. It's a great way to decorate blank walls without having to buy expensive posters. Plus, you can customize easily.

- katiem4493674a4

Get more inspirational lines from literature here, and other inspirational quotes here.

13. Or, keep quiet toys around for kids who prefer to fidget with their hands.

amazon.com, amazon.com

I'm not a teacher, but my science teacher had a bin with quiet toys like Tangles, putty, etc. I had ADHD I her class so it was super useful for kids like me to learn and stay focused.

- kelbell63

Get a set of three Tangles on Amazon for $10.43, and a set of six Silly Putty eggs on Amazon for $8.95 (just take 'em out of the Easter packaging).

31. OR, just set out power strips in all the outlets so students can charge their phones.

Getty

Power strips with long extension cords for students' phones. Kids think I'm cool for providing charging stations for their personal electronic devices, but I'm actually tricking them into putting them down and staying off them. And if I ever have chargers that are abandoned or unclaimed, I wrap them up in colorful electrical tape and they become community property...

- sergem2

33. Use an app like Remind to send updates to your students and their parents, and answer questions.

The Remind app allows me to stay in contact with parents and my high school students via individual IMs, but also keeps a log receipts of all interactions with all student and parent users, which comes in handy when it comes time for parent-teacher conferences or completing parent contact logs. My students and their parents can send me questions about homework and assignments outside of school hours. Just make sure you tell them not to contact you after a certain time!

I can also send reminders about exams, major assignments, and field trips. And make major announcements I might have forgotten to make in class. You can also create groups/classes in case you have multiple sections or teach multiple subjects. My favorite aspect of this app is that I can schedule announcements way in advance and forget about them, which is one less thing I'll have to remember. And it's completely free and easy for all to use, plus it keeps your personal info safe and confidential (like your cell number...yes students try and seek out that info).

- rnuman825

Get Remind on the Apple App Store for free (with available in-app purchases) here.

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35 Smart Classroom Ideas From Real-Life Teachers

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13. Or, keep quiet toys around for kids who prefer to fidget with their hands. 33. Use an app like Remind to send updates to your students and their parents, and answer questions.

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54 Flipped Classroom Tools For Teachers And Students
by TeachThought Staff

The flipped classroom has continued to enjoy momentum years after its introduction, speaking to its flexible nature, and to the need for a real change in thinking in how we think of time and space in education.

Technology has been, more than anything else, the catalyst for the flipped movement. With YouTube now nearly as ubiquitous as the television in many homes, access to video content is more seamless than ever.

Further, teachers have taken advantage of not just video channels but a collective video literacy to realize the potential of flipping the classroom. Students are comfortable viewing videos, and teachers are more and more able to quickly create, edit, and distribute video content (with apps like Explain Everything) with a variety of devices. (See here for 40 viewing comprehension strategies.)

Below is a list 54 flipped classrooms tools for teachers and students-both equally important because in a flipped classroom, both teachers and students are consistently interacting with technology, often independently and asynchronously. Let us know in the comments if there's a great tool you think that needs added to the list.
54 Flipped Classroom Tools For Teachers And Students

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54 Flipped Classroom Tools For Teachers And Students -

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54 Flipped Classroom Tools For Teachers And Students by TeachThought Staff The flipped classroom has continued to enjoy momentum years after its introduction, speaking to its flexible nature , and to the need for a real change in thinking in how we think of time and space in education.