by Brian | Oct 28, 2021 | Education, Making, Messy Learning, Project Based, STEAM, STEM, Student Access, Teacher Access, Technology
During my classroom experience with “hands-on” project/problem based learning I would often hear from colleagues, “The product is not as important as the process.” I think there is truth to that, but during my years of observing / facilitating numerous projects I...
by Brian | Jun 3, 2020 | Blogging, Brian Crosby, Education, Project Based, Student Access, Teacher Access, Technology
Last week James Kapptie, a middle and high school tech trainer in Wyoming, contacted me about having a conversation on his blog about connecting students during this time. He posted the conversation we collaborated on through a Google Doc on his blog Our Children Are...
by Brian | May 28, 2020 | Education, High altitude ballooning, High Hopes Project, Inclusion, Messy Learning, Project Based, STEAM, STEM, Student Access, Teacher Access, The High Hopes Project
From a past High Hopes mission over 90,000 feet above Nevada. That’s Lake Tahoe on the left. At this altitude the balloon is in “near space” above 98% of the Earth’s atmosphere. Note the thin blue line of the atmosphere and the dark of space...
by Brian | Oct 2, 2019 | Change, Coding, Cooperative Learning, Digital Video, Education, Inclusion, Making, Messy Learning, Project Based, Reform, STEAM, STEM, Student Access, Teacher Access, Uncategorized
My wife and I were fortunate to travel to Africa this past summer. Our itinerary included Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana. We were notified by most of the listed countries when we applied for tourist visas that we were not to bring plastic bags into the...
by Brian | Nov 29, 2018 | Change, Education, Making, Messy Learning, Project Based, STEAM, STEM, Student Access, Teacher Access, Technology, Uncategorized
I am part of a team that is facilitating the “Nevada Engineering Fellows Program” for 5th grade teachers in Nevada. The funding for the program came from the Nevada Governor’s Office of Science Innovation & Technology. A major goal of the program...
by Brian | Nov 13, 2018 | Change, Education, Field Trips, Making, Messy Learning, Project Based, Reform, STEAM, STEM, Student Access
From the NSTA Position Paper on Elementary Science: “High-quality elementary science education is essential for establishing a sound foundation of learning in later grades, instilling a wonder of and enthusiasm for science that lasts a lifetime, and in...
by Brian | Nov 7, 2018 | Change, Education, Messy Learning, Project Based, STEAM, STEM
In my work with teachers on assessing the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) I find one of the toughest shifts for them to make is to develop tasks that are meaningful and really worth diving into. The NGSS are performance based standards that are very different...
by Brian | Sep 5, 2018 | Change, Education, Making, Project Based, STEAM, STEM, Student Access, Teacher Access, Technology
I wrote a couple of weeks ago about a 5th Grade Engineering Fellows Program I am co-facilitating here in Nevada. We are kicking off the program soon with a lesson on plastic waste in the ocean (follow the link above to see a video and more that explains the issue)....
by Brian | Aug 29, 2018 | Change, Cooperative Learning, Education, Inclusion, Messy Learning, Project Based, Reform, STEAM, STEM, Student Access, Teacher Access, Technology
Yesterday, I wrote a piece about assuming students have collaboration skills and building class culture. These vital learning pieces were greatly deemphasized and cut (even ridiculed as a waste of time) during the last 15 years or so of school “reform.” I...
by Brian | Aug 28, 2018 | Change, Cooperative Learning, Education, Inclusion, Literacy, Making, Messy Learning, Project Based, STEM, Student Access, Technology
I remember back in the day (or do people still do these?) when teachers in 4th or 5th grade tended to assign “the state” or “the country” report. Way too often the assumption was made that the students pretty much knew how to do these. The...
