# data[].attributes.body
Journal

# data[].attributes.body
Change My Mindset Blog for the Innovative Mindset MOOC

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
All week I have been thinking about the blog prompt "What do you see as the purpose of education? Why might innovation be crucial in education?" I have written, revised, deleted and rewrote my blog post numerous times this week. Each iteration I wrote, sounding less like my actual voice.

The more I struggled with this and the more I read other's posts, the more cliche my response was sounding to me. I felt I had nothing new or better to contribute to the conversation. My original working title of the post was going to be the 3 Cs by way of the 4 Ps. Curiosity, Creativity & Community via Passion, Play, Projects & Peers.

Anyone who is familiar with Scratch and the great work of the MIT's Lifelong Kindergarten would already know where I was headed in my post but I am going to stop short on elaborating further, other then to share Mitch Resnick words below.

"To thrive(children), they must learn to design innovative solutions to the unexpected problems that will undoubtedly arise in their lives. Their success and satisfaction will be based on their ability to think and act creatively. Knowledge alone is not enough: they must learn how to use their knowledge creatively." Mitch Resnick

This so succinctly sums up all that is rattling through my head and what I believe to be true to my bones. I can say it no better (and believe me I tried) and my take on it was not innovative(new or better), so instead I want to tell you my story.

I was always a good student in school, I was one of those students who was "good at school." However, being good at school left me passionless with no clear direction in life. I went to college and had difficulty with choosing a major. I finally settle on computer science(now not to give away my age) but this was way back in 1982. My classes where tedious and boring. I remember writing programs that were dictated to me by my professors, none of which were meaningful or authentic. Never did it even occurred to me that I could use computers to create or express my ideas. It was not encourage, what was important was that I learned the syntax of languages such as Fortran or Pascal. I hated it! I persisted and earned my degree but with no intentions of pursuing computer science. I left school, relieved I was finally done! No love of learning, no curiosity, only worrying about finding a job and establishing myself in a career.

Not to bore you with all the careers I have had over the years, I will only tell you that I had quite a few from a Casino Dealer, to an Claims Adjuster, to Restauranteur and many more. It was not until I fell(that a whole another story, maybe for another day) into my current position that I discovered my passion. Like the Beatles song, it was a long and winding road!

Some time in the mid 90's, I discovered that I like playing on my computer. The more I played around with it, the more I learned. I taught myself photoshop and I started making all kinds of projects. I was curious about anything to do with technology. I spent hours teaching myself. When I was hired to teach technology, I knew nothing about education, I was hired because of my degree in Computer Science. Over the last 8 years I have spent hours reading, participating in MOOCs and webinars, attending conferences and finding mentors from which I could learn all I could about learning and teaching. I have been lucky enough to connect with some truly brilliant and inspiring educators and have developed a supportive community to share and learn with together.

So, this is my story. I am hoping that you can see in my own personal journey the value of the 3 Cs, Curiosity, Creativity & Community, and the need of the 4 Ps, Passion, Play, Projects & Peers. My learning that lead to my passion and happiness happen outside of school but my mission is for my students to have this experience inside of school, in my class.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
All week I have been thinking about the blog prompt "What do you see as the purpose of education? Why might innovation be crucial in education?" I have written, revised, deleted and rewrote my blog post numerous times this week. Each iteration I wrote, sounding less like my actual voice.

# data[].attributes.body
What is SCRATCH & how SCRATCH can be used to support student learning

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.entities[].name
Innovation Communication and Collaboration Research and Information Fluency Critical Thinking

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.entities[].name
Decision Making Digital Citizenship Technology Concepts

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
What is SCRATCH & how can it be used to support student learning? SCRATCH Code.org Coding isn't just for computer whizzes, says Mitch Resnick of MIT Media Lab -- it's for everyone. In a fun, demo-filled talk Resnick outlines the benefits of teaching kids to code, so they can do more than just "read" new technologies -- but also create them.

# data[].attributes.body
Just a Sandbox for creating apps with MIT APP Inventor

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
MIT App Inventor, an open-source tool originally provided by Google, and now maintained by MIT.

# data[].attributes.body
Notebook

# data[].attributes.body
T.A.G. a macrostructure

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Lets play
TAG!
A Macro Structure for teaching
Social Intelligence & Creativity
WHERE?
In a K-5 Technology Lab where the focus is on Creativity, Critical Thinking & Collaboration
Where else can you play?
Here is the good news! This game of TAG can be played anywhere and like the traditional game of tag, no special equipment needed.
So what is
TAG?
WATCH THIS TO LEARN MORE
https://magic.piktochart.com/output/1391666-create-your-own
Poster for Classroom
A little more on the details
By now, I hope it is clear that TAG is an acronym for specific prompts to be used in a scaffolding activity that will help students provide effective and useful feedback. By modeling Positive Responses and using character behavior language, the student will learn how to share, collaborate, give & receive feedback.
I am a K-5 technology teacher, My lessons are aligned to the NET*S. Most are design based & requires reflection. Sometimes, I have my students do a "Gallery Walks", in which they display their projects on the computer & then travel to other students' computers to view and complete peer reviews.
The TAG macro structure builds on this practice by providing a framework that depends upon Positive Constructive Responses and is to be used to help students formulate feedback. The plan is to implement this macro structure on all grade levels, wiith modification for kindergarten & 1st grade. The
OBJECTIVE
is to teach Social Intelligence and inspire creativity!
TO SET THE SCENE
some background information:
@MESTechDE
This will be a
RECURRING
activity that will be done with larger projects, Depending on the grade level, this could be anywhere from 2 to 10 times in a school year. The lower grade being less frequent, due to the nature of their lessons.
TAG compliments the use of a Creativity learning spiral associated with all Design Based Learning activities. TAG is a tool to be used once the students have reached the SHARING & REFLECT components of the cycle, which promotes creativity. By using TAG in conjunction with design based projects, Tag will be
PROACTIVELY PLANNED
with all projects.
The mechanics to execute TAG will differ depending on the media used to create and share a project, therefore ACTIVE involvement of both myself, as a facilitator & the students action will be determine by the project itself. In some case the students may post feedback on forums or blogs, complete Google forms, add notes to Design Notebooks or conference with each other or myself. As a facilitator, I will monitor, model and offer help.
In the week one video, Dr. Seligam's introduced the concept of PERMA (
P
ositive emotions,
E
ngagement, good
R
elationships,
M
eaning & purpose,
A
ccomplishment) which he equates to flourishing. He further describes character strengths as the backbone of PERMA and concludes that character strength is primary to well being.
Research done by Dr. Kahneman found that our memories of experience are made up of recollections of tiny moments. We do not remember the neutral ones, only the good & bad. So the more micro moments experience by our students the better their well being. Ed Diener's research proves that "well being actually increases productivity, creativity, helpfulness, good health, as well as the ability to pursue goals and set new goals", all of which will increase PERMA.
TAG give students the chance to actively give & receive constructive responses. Feedback, even critical feedback, if delivered properly is a valuable resource for learning and spurring creativity. All of which will contribute to supporting a growth mindset.
The TAG macro structure is design to create micro moments while focusing on two character strengths: Social Intelligence & Creativity.
Why play TAG?
Ultimately the goal is to increase student's PERMA, by creating a macro structure that will create many oppurtunities for micro structures to occur.
In conclusion, the intent of TAG
is to have a macro structure that
encompass all 3 components of a
micro moment.
Constructive Responses
Growth Mindset
Character Behavior Language
You Tube blocked?
view screencast here http://quick.as/3ovsxzq or view in Scratch http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/18639274/

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Lets play TAG! A Macro Structure for teaching Social Intelligence & CreativityWHERE?In a K-5 Technology Lab where the focus is on Creativity, Critical Thinking & CollaborationWhere else can you play?Here is the good news! This game of TAG can be played anywhere and like the traditional game of tag, no special equipment needed.So what is TAG?

# data[].attributes.headline
Teaching Mobile Computing Science Principals

# data[].attributes.subject
Teaching Mobile Computing Science Principals

# data[].attributes.body
CSP Portfolio

# data[].attributes.body
Padlet Wall

# data[].attributes.headline
Tinkering Fundamentals: A Constructionist Approach to STEM Learning 

# data[].attributes.subject
Tinkering Fundamentals: A Constructionist Approach to STEM Learning 

# data[].attributes.body
Design Notebook

# data[].attributes.body
Design Notebook