Dragons at Bedtime

Have you seen the kids cartoon Word World? It's a TV show that has been responsible for teaching my little guy a number of words, and spelling strategies.

Occasionally, bedtime for my 5 year old now consists of writing words on his Cars brand Magna-Doodle, and pretending that the words come to life, just like the characters and objects that inhabit Word World.


Tonight, I found myself laughing out loud as we dove for cover to protect ourselves from a variety of creatures. After starting with the fire-breathing dragon, and the water-breathing dragon, we met up with the popcorn-breathing dragon and ping-pong-ball-breathing dragon.

The puppy that burped ice-cubes, and the dinosaur that sneezed spaghetti soon followed, and I found myself wondering what amazing stories might be told by young people given such a simple premise.

I hold out hope that a creative teacher might engage online cartooning tools, or audio-recording tools to help students bring unique creatures to life. A bold educator might even provide students access to the freely available creature creator tool courtesy of Spore!

While bedtime always includes at least one book, taking time to get on the floor and pretend has become one of our favourite rituals to end the day. I just hope teachers will find ways to harness the creative thinking that at present, comes so naturally to my child.

Does anyone have any recommendations for other 'creatures' we might encounter at future bedtimes?

CCK08 Concept Maps

The above map is my attempt to show how information travels in connections beginning with the wiring in the brain; moving to wiring in machines and the Internet; and returning to the brains of course participants.

The more I try to create a concept map around my current understanding of Connectivism, the more I am coming to realize:

1] Thinking in words graphically represented, forces you to see connections you would not otherwise see;

2] Three dimensional models of connectivism would be even richer... but working in 2 dimensions is challenging enough;

3] The more I try to show relationships among ideas, the more I know I don't know so much! This is a challenging task;

4] That concept maps can show relationships more succinctly than words, but the cost in time can be significantly greater on the part of the creator;

5] Ideas with images provide greater insight than do words and arrows among boxes and hexagons;

6] I need to re-prioritize the reading of Dan Roam's Back of the Napkin.

For fun, here is an earlier concept map that I created with Smart Ideas to arrange broad concepts, tools and activities we've been using to explore connectivism. The end result is not nearly as chaotic as I'd originally envisioned.

My Shoes Stay Tied!

Are you still tying shoes the way you were taught as a kid? It may be worth finding a better way...



Now on YouTube, this method is a surefire way to make friends with your favourite kindergarten teacher! If you want to encourage folks to try new lacing strategies, you can't beat Ian's Shoelace Site.

Think Outside of the Driveway

New thinking is sweeping my neighbourhood, and it all started only a few days ago.

I happen to live an a neighbourhood with many double driveways. One of my neighbours who I've known since I moved in 9 years ago, has begun parking 'differently'. With teenaged children, and multiple visitors, it is not uncommon to see four or more cars parked at his home, with his car 'boxed-in'. Although the standard double driveway holds at least four cars, access to the roadway is restricted to the cars parked at the tail end of the driveway.... Until now!



This past weekend, Doug and his family adopted 'angled parking' with one driveway lane used as a true 'drive-way, and the other lane as a 'park-way'. Driving down my street this evening (a scant two days later), I passed three more homes adopting angled parking! The result, any of up to five cars can drive in or can back out to the road (four from the driveway, and one from the garage of the driveway lane)! No more key shuffling to free boxed-in automobiles!

The trap that is 'the four cars in a driveway puzzle' is in many ways similar to the stale thinking that holds sway in many 'traditional' classrooms. We always do, what we've always done, without thinking of alternate possibilities. But, as evidenced by the fresh approach to parking in my neighbourhood, once a new idea is proven to work, a number of folks will follow the trail that's been blazed.

When daylight happens upon our street, I'll be taking some more photos, as this is a metaphor I'll be sharing in my next workshop. Is it possible that this form of parking is already popular elsewhere and that I've never seen it?

Creative Feedback Matters

Beyond Bloom, there are other ways of assessing the effectiveness of an argument or idea. Sometimes the only way to move forward from that point is to think 'outside of the bag'!

In my work in gifted education, we used a number of Edward de Bono's thinking models. Here's how the '6 Thinking Hats' might apply to responding to blog posts (or to solving a problem, or to planning an event...).

The White Hat is cold, neutral, and objective, like the lone ranger or a construction foreman. Take time to look at the facts.
• How do the ideas stack up against the realities of today's classrooms?
• Can our networks, computers, teachers handle things?
• Are policies impacted? Are new guidelines needed?

The Red Hat represents passion. Take time to listen to your emotions, your intuition.
• Why must we worry about? Why can't we do it?
• What effect will funding realities have on the project?
• Will past experiences have a positive or negative impact?

The Black Hat is gloomy and negative. Take time to look at why this will fail. Think like Darth Vader, or the calculating police officer.
• What are the barriers to consider?
• What technological gaps need to be filled?
• Why will teachers respond negatively?

The Yellow Hat is sunny and positive. Take time to be hopeful and optimistic, like Curious George's man in the yellow hat…
• How will this idea make things better?
• Who will be engaged by the project/plan/idea?
• What are the short and long term benefits?

The Green Hat is grass, fertile and growing. Take time to be creative and cultivate new ideas.
• Where might this take us in 5 years?
• What tools do we need to get there?
• What supports will be needed to ensure teachers and students are successful?

The Blue Hat is the color of the sky, high above us all. Take time to look from a higher and wider perspective to see whether you are on the right path.
• Think globally, nationally, provincially, locally...
• Think of where this fits in the 'big picture' or 'system plan'.
• Is there a fit with guiding policies and vision statements?

From my experience, there are a few keys in making effective use of this thinking tool:
1] Everyone is more comfortable thinking from one common colour/style/hat... forcing yourself to think in new ways is good for personal growth.
2] All members of a team should consider things from the same perspective at any on time (i.e., "We are all now thinking from the sunny perspective of the yellow hat.").
3] In considering any big question or issue, group members should rotate through all six perspectives.