8. Goals
• Build some new connections
• Work with a small team to remember joys of play
• Enhance prior learning
• Understand importance of play
• Infuse play with the classroom
• Have fun!
13. Improve?Innovate.
What we have done and this includes those of you in the room is figured out that the system has changed. It is changing and will continue to change.
The world has changed!
14. It is time for us to starting seeing new solutions for problems that have existed for decades.
This biker realized everyone was riding downhilll wrong. Maybe what we think is right also needs a new perspectiveve.
Working harder is not the answer. More initiatives is not the answer. More data is not the answer. One more meeting is not the answer.
15. Photo by Tim Flach
Bats are not just bats, they are badasses and comedians.
I want to help you empower your own thinking
I want to help you help others
16. Hacker noun ˈha-kər
One who combines excellence, playfulness,
cleverness and exploration into performed activities
Today I challenge you to be a hacker
22. –Claude Debussy
Music is the silence between the notes
Are we focused on this space? The things that are hard to measure? The parts of being a child, the parts of learning that keep us going?
23. You are in your groups. Being is a group is very important to taking your work and learning about yourself and the world around you to a new level. When you can combine forces you can create a superpower
that leads to something as amazing as Captain Planet.
We have superpowers
So do our kids
So do our teachers
28. Brick Builders Unite!
1. The LEGO build IS the answer
2. Everybody builds and everybody shares.
3. There is no ONE right answer.
4. Think with your hands!
5. Listen with your eyes
6. Be respectful in comments and builds
The brick is not educational - but the minute you start combining two bricks… it becomes very educational. You have a bag with six bricks and your task is… to build a duck as fast as possible (and place it up here on the table). No instructions, just your knowledge of what a duck looks like and your creativity. . .
You only have only 30 seconds”.
What attributes or characteristics will your duck have?
10 seconds left . . . . Countdown from 10 . . . Stop building.
29. Challenge Flow
1 2 3
Part 1: The Challenge Part 2: Building Part 3: Sharing
30. Warmup Exercises
How to be a serious LEGO Ninja Creator in
a few minutes:
• Technical skills
• Metaphor skills
• Storytelling skills
36. Brain Warmup
Design and build the largest structure you can balance
on one orange 2x2 brick
The brick is not educational - but the minute you start combining two bricks… it becomes very educational. You have a bag with six bricks and your task is… to build a duck as fast as possible (and place it up here on the table). No instructions, just your knowledge of what a duck looks like and your creativity. . .
You only have only 30 seconds”.
What attributes or characteristics will your duck have?
10 seconds left . . . . Countdown from 10 . . . Stop building.
40. Brain Warmup
Build a Tricky Tower
The brick is not educational - but the minute you start combining two bricks… it becomes very educational. You have a bag with six bricks and your task is… to build a duck as fast as possible (and place it up here on the table). No instructions, just your knowledge of what a duck looks like and your creativity. . .
You only have only 30 seconds”.
What attributes or characteristics will your duck have?
10 seconds left . . . . Countdown from 10 . . . Stop building.
49. Your hands know a lot more
than you think they know!
Photo by Jeremy Yap
But don’t take our word for it; let’s have a hands-on activity so you can experience for yourself LEGO Education’s unique approach.
Introducing the task:
Ask the audience: Have you built with LEGO Bricks before? Our hands know a lot more than we think they do. And they “know” a lot more than our brain think they do. We are very used to thinking, planning and then doing things but sometimes things can happen a lot faster if we do them along the way –
involving our hands actively. Sometimes your hands “find the way” all by themselves - just by doing something.
50. Making is an energy that relates
the parts to make a new whole!
Photo by Jeremy Yap
But don’t take our word for it; let’s have a hands-on activity so you can experience for yourself LEGO Education’s unique approach.
Introducing the task:
Ask the audience: Have you built with LEGO Bricks before? Our hands know a lot more than we think they do. And they “know” a lot more than our brain think they do. We are very used to thinking, planning and then doing things but sometimes things can happen a lot faster if we do them along the way –
involving our hands actively. Sometimes your hands “find the way” all by themselves - just by doing something.
51. Find These
Pieces
The brick is not educational - but the minute you start combining two bricks… it becomes very educational. You have a bag with six bricks and your task is… to build a duck as fast as possible (and place it up here on the table). No instructions, just your knowledge of what a duck looks like and your creativity. . .
You only have only 30 seconds”.
What attributes or characteristics will your duck have?
10 seconds left . . . . Countdown from 10 . . . Stop building.
52. That’s So Quack
Challenge
The brick is not educational - but the minute you start combining two bricks… it becomes very educational. You have a bag with six bricks and your task is… to build a duck as fast as possible (and place it up here on the table). No instructions, just your knowledge of what a duck looks like and your creativity. . .
You only have only 30 seconds”.
What attributes or characteristics will your duck have?
10 seconds left . . . . Countdown from 10 . . . Stop building.
53. That’s So Quack Challenge
One minute. Build a duck. Share a duck.
The brick is not educational - but the minute you start combining two bricks… it becomes very educational. You have a bag with six bricks and your task is… to build a duck as fast as possible (and place it up here on the table). No instructions, just your knowledge of what a duck looks like and your creativity. . .
You only have only 30 seconds”.
What attributes or characteristics will your duck have?
10 seconds left . . . . Countdown from 10 . . . Stop building.
54. That’s So Quack Challenge
One minute. Build a duck. Share a duck.
The brick is not educational - but the minute you start combining two bricks… it becomes very educational. You have a bag with six bricks and your task is… to build a duck as fast as possible (and place it up here on the table). No instructions, just your knowledge of what a duck looks like and your creativity. . .
You only have only 30 seconds”.
What attributes or characteristics will your duck have?
10 seconds left . . . . Countdown from 10 . . . Stop building.
55. The POWER of imagination
I gave you all the same tool. You all had the same task - build a duck - but I did not say anything about what the duck should look like – I gave you no building or design criteria. When I look at them I can quickly see that you have all succeeded in building a duck no matter what they look like.
Have everyone hold up their duck to show/share with the rest of the group.
You have all succeeded and I believe you all had the same set of bricks to start with – the same conditions, but look at how many variations we came up with.
The lesson learned here is there are many ways to reach a solution. By engaging your mind, you can create many solutions to any problem
56. Play is learning!
visual perception
systems thinking
long-term memory
mental imagery
attention
executive functioning
self-regulation
emotional regulation
self-efficacy
visual search
symbolic representations
spatial visualization
self-assessment
perspective-taking
adaptive social functioning
imitation
sensory-motor skills
cognitive flexibility
kinesthetic awareness
short-term memory
mental rotation
fine motor skills
working memory
spatial abilities
Key message 1:
We often tend to think that, of course play has a value, children enjoy it, but it’s not really serious, - what are they actually learning?
Nothing could be more wrong - being playful, like you did here, by experimenting with things, trying things out by taking them apart and putting them together again, taking risks with new ideas, is the ultimate way of learning.
While you didn’t had time to really ‘think’, during the 40 seconds you were building, - your brain was actually working like crazy.
GO TO SLIDE 3 HERE:
Let me illustrate:
Key message 2: Let me give you are few examples of what happened while you were building the duck
Executive Functioning:
It’s fundamental for your ability to concentrate and to control yourself like when you are keeping attention to ask and avoiding distractions.
This is essential for problem-solving, like when you are dealing with a complex problem or in a task or situation with many different inputs, or information.
Symbolic Representation :
The ability to associate objects, actions or symbols with a particular meaning, like when you were looking for elements that had similarities with a duck.
Important for language development when understanding the meaning of letters and words and numbers in relationship to everyday objects.
Spatial abilities:
Thinking about and manipulating objects in 3-dimensions, like when visualizing inside your head what you wanted to build, and then manipulating the elements to make the duck.
This is essential for your ability to visualize and imagine a situation, and look at it from different directions, - and maybe even more critical, this plays a key role in mathematical thinking, when children learn to sort, count and quantify objects.
Self-regulation:
Most of you got a little stressed during this task, but as Jørgen mentioned no-one failed.
Your ability to regulate your emotions and motivation, while setting yourself the goal of completing the duck and working yourself towards that goal, is called self-regulation.
Important for you to control and lead yourself when you are setting yourself a goal and trying to achieve it.
Key message 3:
Sometimes we consider these abilities like concentration, controlling yourself, visualizing ideas, understanding space for soft skills – things that are a by-product of learning.
Nothing could be more wrong, because these skills that you use when you are motivated to play and make things, are the ones that are critical problem-solving and creativity and even also the fundamental way of learning language, reading, writing and mathematics.
57. Think about this
• I had to think about what a duck looks like.
• I had to look at my inventory of materials to consider how to build.
• I had to put the bricks together.
• I had to change ideas.
• I needed to defer judgment and try to build.
• I needed to control my emotions (fear, panic, excitement).
• I had to encourage myself.
• I started to look at other ducks.
• I had to do something - so many times we do nothing!
58. Deep Thoughts With Jack Handy
coffeechug
“People themselves often don’t even
know what they know.”
Key message 1:
We often tend to think that, of course play has a value, children enjoy it, but it’s not really serious, - what are they actually learning?
Nothing could be more wrong - being playful, like you did here, by experimenting with things, trying things out by taking them apart and putting them together again, taking risks with new ideas, is the ultimate way of learning.
While you didn’t had time to really ‘think’, during the 40 seconds you were building, - your brain was actually working like crazy.
GO TO SLIDE 3 HERE:
Let me illustrate:
Key message 2: Let me give you are few examples of what happened while you were building the duck
Executive Functioning:
It’s fundamental for your ability to concentrate and to control yourself like when you are keeping attention to ask and avoiding distractions.
This is essential for problem-solving, like when you are dealing with a complex problem or in a task or situation with many different inputs, or information.
Symbolic Representation :
The ability to associate objects, actions or symbols with a particular meaning, like when you were looking for elements that had similarities with a duck.
Important for language development when understanding the meaning of letters and words and numbers in relationship to everyday objects.
Spatial abilities:
Thinking about and manipulating objects in 3-dimensions, like when visualizing inside your head what you wanted to build, and then manipulating the elements to make the duck.
This is essential for your ability to visualize and imagine a situation, and look at it from different directions, - and maybe even more critical, this plays a key role in mathematical thinking, when children learn to sort, count and quantify objects.
Self-regulation:
Most of you got a little stressed during this task, but as Jørgen mentioned no-one failed.
Your ability to regulate your emotions and motivation, while setting yourself the goal of completing the duck and working yourself towards that goal, is called self-regulation.
Important for you to control and lead yourself when you are setting yourself a goal and trying to achieve it.
Key message 3:
Sometimes we consider these abilities like concentration, controlling yourself, visualizing ideas, understanding space for soft skills – things that are a by-product of learning.
Nothing could be more wrong, because these skills that you use when you are motivated to play and make things, are the ones that are critical problem-solving and creativity and even also the fundamental way of learning language, reading, writing and mathematics.
59. Current Reality?
Too many mandates
Pressure for higher test scores
Burden of finding quality teachers
Budget cuts
Try to squeeze 20 hours of work into an 8 hour day
Trying to lead while also trying to manage
STEM can help reduce some of these issues if done right!
Makerspaces need to be included in these conversations
60. Current Reality?
MORE
All of this MORE leads to average.
Nobody can do all of this. We must tap into our expertise and embrace what we can bring to the table.
All of this MORE leads to more SAME
62. Photo by Iker Urteag
Low level stress event with unlimited potential. Can you create these environments in your school?
63. Did you know?
6 2×4 bricks can be assembled into
915,000,000+
different combinations?
Low level stress event with unlimited potential. Can you create these environments in your school?
67. Explain this!
• Practicing creative thinking and using metaphors is helpful.
• We can give bricks any meaning we want.
• You don’t need sophisticated LEGO technical skills,
because you can make a brick mean anything you like.
68. Going clockwise starting from the
person closest to the screen:
You have 30 seconds to explain
the topic given to you.
74. What did we experience that
can benefit your learning?
75. Think about the following:
• The learning journey is more important than the product
• The work is not the art; you are the art!
• What is the experience you’re trying to create?
• What are the learning goals and outcomes you want to
achieve?
76. Build What You Know
Think about what you are currently
teaching…….
Build a concept from that standard
Build an event
Build an element students struggle with
81. How are you going to create a ruckus? Stand out. Be different.
82. The scandal of education is
that every time you teach
something, you deprive a
child of the pleasure and
benefit of discovery.
Seymour Papert
83. Children are
current people
• More than future
employers
• More than an ID # on
a spreadsheet
• More than making a
school look good
Children
matter NOW!
85. Choose a “communicator” at the
table. The rest of you are “builders”.
The communicator goes out of the room, sees a LEGO® model, returns to the room, stands away from the builders and tells his/her team what to build. It is 15 minutes
of action and FUN.
89. The Telephone Experience
important to do with admin so they visually understand how communication falls apart when trying to get to teachers.
90. Choose 2 “communicators” at the
table. The rest of you are “builders”.
This is a similar communication exercise except there are two communicators and the rest are builders. One communicator stays outside of the room, sees the LEGO®
model, is not allowed into the room and tells a second communicator what to build without the second communicator seeing the model. The second communicator then
returns to the room, stands away from the builders, and tells them what to build. It’s a competition as to which team can build its house first correctly.
93. At your table choose a Person A and
Person B. The rest of the table is the Group.
108. Ponder This….
• We all communicate differently
• There are other words to make people understand
• Sometimes we need more help to hear each other
• Working together is important and a process
109. Find These
Pieces
The brick is not educational - but the minute you start combining two bricks… it becomes very educational. You have a bag with six bricks and your task is… to build a duck as fast as possible (and place it up here on the table). No instructions, just your knowledge of what a duck looks like and your creativity. . .
You only have only 30 seconds”.
What attributes or characteristics will your duck have?
10 seconds left . . . . Countdown from 10 . . . Stop building.
111. unDuck Challenge
One minute. Build anything but a duck.
The brick is not educational - but the minute you start combining two bricks… it becomes very educational. You have a bag with six bricks and your task is… to build a duck as fast as possible (and place it up here on the table). No instructions, just your knowledge of what a duck looks like and your creativity. . .
You only have only 30 seconds”.
What attributes or characteristics will your duck have?
10 seconds left . . . . Countdown from 10 . . . Stop building.
112. Share time!
Tell a convincing story that your build is what you claim it is.
113. Share time!
Tell a convincing story that your build is what you claim it is.
The brick is not educational - but the minute you start combining two bricks… it becomes very educational. You have a bag with six bricks and your task is… to build a duck as fast as possible (and place it up here on the table). No instructions, just your knowledge of what a duck looks like and your creativity. . .
You only have only 30 seconds”.
What attributes or characteristics will your duck have?
10 seconds left . . . . Countdown from 10 . . . Stop building.