Fostering a Culture of Innovation! Students who S.A.I.L!

“… all children could and should be inventors of their own theories, critics of other people’s ideas, analyzers of evidence, and makers of their own personal marks on this most complex world.” – Deborah Meier (2002)
If you like these ideas, take one of my courses or check out my books. Ask me about training your teachers, [email protected]!
Innovation is finding solutions to problems. The solution doesn't have to be great. In fact, many of the most profound innovators, such as Thomas Edison and Einstein, failed several times before they made important discoveries. Edison had anywhere from 5000 to 10,000 prototypes of the light bulb before discovering the one that transformed the world. Schools should involve students in the continual process of ideation or conceptualizing solutions to problems. The more schools get students involved in coming up with solutions and investigating real world problems, the more opportunities they learn from the solutions that don't work and come up with the ones that eventually do work. Find examples of young people worldwide currently using social media, the Internet, and technology to become heroes and solve real world problems in this post, 10+ Kids Transforming the World Through Social Media. To learn more about mission minded learning check out my book, Hacking Digital Learning with Edtech Missions, with 10 digital learning missions and badges. 
Social Emotional Learning 
  • Emoji Bingo for students to identify and feel okay about their feelings!
  • Z00 Academy is a free social emotional learning game for K-4. 
  • Stop, Breathe, Think has hundreds of lesson ideas and activities for students. 
Supporting Students So They Don't Get Frustrated Research Websites 
  • Fact Monster is a search engine that features Frank, the friendly monster, who helps with facts, homework, trivia, games, and quizzes.
  • DOGO News is a website and iOS/Android app for K to 12 students to find current events and research based articles. Each article gives an easy citation for students to copy and include as well as images and videos.
  • The Kids Should See This is probably the most engaging search results for students who will find viral gifs and videos about their topics.
  • Science Journal for Kids has a pdf with assessment questions, videos, and an area for further research by asking a scientist.
  • The Creative Commons Search Engine and WikiMedia Commons are two wonderful search engines to find images, videos, and other multimedia free to use in projects or presentations as long as the author is attributed appropriately.
  • Kiddle is a safe visual search engine for kids.
  • KidzSearch is a Google filtered search which features KidzTube videos and educational games on the front page.
  • Ducksters is a search engine with different categories for a general subject search like history, science, geography, and more.
  • NatGeoKids is a website with games, trivia, and articles about animals and the world. My students love this website. We also like learning more about countries with the interactive world map.
  • Science News for Students provides vocabulary lists and readability scores for each article. This is for grades 6 to 12.
  • KidsClick is a web search site designed for kids by librarians with kid-friendly results!
  • Kid Rex is another kid-friendly search engine with a simple colorful interface.
  • Safe Search Kids is powered by Google to deliver filtered search results.
  • Kid’s Search is a safe and fun way to search the Internet.
  • Choosito is a student search engine and digital library. Sign up for a free trial.
  • The Library of Congress provides archived newspapers, patents, historical documents, and images for students to search and discover information about a topic.
STEAM/STEM/PBL Resources
*Find STEM projects and resources from school here.
*STEAM Up Learning (STEM) presentation and resources here. 
*Coding ideas and lessons here. 
​*STEM SOS website and resources. 
The Process: Some Ideas and Resources

This is an outline of my process, but feel free to adapt it to meet your needs. Note that before implementing the process, I already know what digital product I want students to create (timeline, infographic, video, etc.) and have determined the topic/unit/chapter we are covering and outlined the objectives and standards.

*Evaluate an Example
The first step is to evaluate examples that are age and topic appropriate. For example, if students are producing a tv commercial about a historic invention for math, science, history, etc., then students might evaluate successful and famous tv commercials you discovered on YouTube.
  • During this step, students are provided with a general definition or description of the digital product, a list of elements the product generally includes, and relevant vocabulary. This is important, because many students, for example, may not know the difference between a digital poster and infographic or what goes into producing a stop motion video.
  • Students also determine the author’s/creator’s purpose and the intended audience. They critically reflect on the information and ideas shared.
  • Students also evaluate the design of the product (layout, color scheme, use of visuals, font size, etc.).
  • Students work in pairs or small groups to create a list of what makes the example awesome. We discuss the lists and decide on one set list of criteria which we use to guide the design of our digital creation. This criteria is also included in the rubric used to evaluate the creations.
*Assigning the Project/Mission
  • During this step, make sure to provide the students with a meaningful purpose and have them reflect on their audience. Due to social media and the Internet all digital projects have a purpose and audience and usually some kind of message.
  • You might also want to present the assignment as a mission to be accomplished. In my book, Hacking Digital Learning with Edtech Missions, I provide Mission Cards that outline each project’s audience and purpose. These are examples of missions created by teachers who’ve taken my online courses.
  • The assignment and all necessary materials should be easily accessible in one area, such as an assignment page on a learning management system (LMS), a page on a class website, a desktop/Google folder, or a curated board (Educlipper). The assignment page/folder might include simple instructions, due dates, a checklist, the rubric or scoring guide, recommended tools (a digital sandbox), templates, tutorials, student choice menus, or curated websites, articles, or media students should use for research.
*Ideation/Brainstorming/Project Conceptualization 
  • During this step, students come up with ideas brainstorm and plan (ex. sketchnote, outline, storyboard, concept map, script) the design and layout of information, keeping in mind the audience, purpose, and criteria.
*Research
  • Students then conduct research about the topic. I provide a curated list of bookmarked websites, videos, infographics, etc. so that students do more than Google the topic or look at Wikipedia. 
*First Draft/Prototype
  • Then students design their first version of the digital product. If we are using an app or web tool then I let them choose from the digital sandbox of suggested web tools and provide templates when needed.
*Peer Feedback/ Experimentation/ Focus Groups
  • During this step, students evaluate each other’s digital products and provide feedback based on the criteria and also check for grammar, spelling, and other errors. Peers list what they like about the creation (Where it glows) and offer a few suggestions for improvement (Areas to grow).
  • Feedback could also be in the form of focus groups, public surveys, or experiments. 
  • Students then have the opportunity to make any edits based on the feedback.
*Share/Present/Publish/Implement
  • During this step, students turn in the finished product and share their work with the intended audience so they experience how their creations make a real world impact. This audience might be their peers, their family, another class, the school, the community, a charity, or the general public. The creation also might be included in a digital portfolio.
*Evaluation/Reflection
Students are assessed and receive feedback in a variety of ways:
  • Self-evaluation- students assess their effort, creativity, time management, organization, and product. This may also include an assessment of their performance as a team member if this was a group project.
  • Peer-evaluation- peers assess the finished product and any presentation given. This may also include a group evaluation.
  • Teacher-evaluation- after reviewing the above evaluations and the rubric, I provide feedback to enhance future products.
  • Audience feedback- students receive feedback from the audience who experienced and viewed their creations.
  • Digital badge– students might also receive a digital badge for their completed projects.

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