I love Margaret Robertson’s piece about how typical gamification items like badges and levels completely miss the point of what makes games great. Take a look.
All Of MyExamples
Page 12
Thinking Hats and Lunar Survival Skills
How Edward de Bono’s Six Thinking Hats helped me solve a problem with my favorite group discussion task.
Puzzlement Tournament
Perfect to wrap up the year: a four-round puzzlement tournament.
Reader Question: Morning Bell Work
I received a question from a reader regarding some unstructured time in the mornings. Sounds like the perfect chance for kids to pursue their curiosity – inspired by some delightful puzzlements, of course!
What if you lived in Vegas but worked in San Francisco?
Is it possible to save money by commuting to San Francisco from Las Vegas?
Phrases to Open Up a Discussion (Lunar Survival Skills Part 2)
One of my favorite open-ended, creative activities becomes even better with careful phrasing on my part. These three questions will help you be the facilitator of a discussion, rather than the authority.
Reader Question: Unusual Animals
A reader asks how we can take the typical “look up facts online and then present with PowerPoint” task to an appropriate level of challenge.
A Clock Math Project?
A reader wrote in, asking how to differentiate for a task like reading analog clocks. What to do with a student who has mastered this skill? What’s a good math clock project?
Creating Better Research Questions
Once students have a topic they’d like to research, how do we help them form more interesting questions?
What Could You Do With This Pancake Flipping Robot?
I love videos of robots messing up tasks. This one in particular struck a chord, because we get to see the robot learn from his mistakes. Let’s have students write him some advice…