A couple years ago, my friend Tina wanted to teach a unit on Australia and asked me to find someone in Australia to talk to her 2nd grade class about animals there.
Such a simple request, but I had not idea what would become of it.
We had our first chat with Kylie Kingdon on March 10, 2020. If that date means anything to you, it's because it was mere days before the world (at least here in USA) got turned upside down. Two days after this, we were scrambling to send kids home with everything they would need for remote learning, a totally new concept to all of us. But, back to Australia...
Kylie is a middle and high school teacher in Perth, Western Australia, and has been such a great partner for our project. She talked to our students about animals and money and comparison to America and the Aborgines who used call Perth their native land. It was awesome!
After the kids went home, we were able to teach the kids how to write and produce videos about Australian animals. I love this one about emus:
Fast forward two years since Tina first mentioned this to me, and our partnership has spanned three school years, four Microsoft Teams chats, three video projects, three boxes of food sent between continents (two from Australia to USA and one from USA to Australia), and two Google Slides projects.
Check out this video mixtape of our reactions to Australian food. Some of it is amazing and some of it not so much. All of it is greatly appreciated.
This fall, Kylie got a crazy idea. She is now out of the classroom serving in a coaching role, but wanted to create a way to connect Australian kids and American kids instead of this being a teacher to kid relationship. Just before Christmas Break (which is also Summer Break for them) we had the chance to connect with a 7th grade class in her school on FlipGrid. What an amazing opportunity to talk directly kid to kid and learn from each other. (Check out the FlipGrid mixtape here.)
A project and partnership of this magnitude can't just sit on a shelf where no one can know about it. I was honored earlier this week to co-present with Kylie at the Catholic Education Western Australia Virtual Conference about our partnership. You can watch our session below if you like.
It has been a blast to create an international partnership, which has helped my kids learn about another culture. But, let's be honest, I've made a friend and I'm learning about another culture too. If you have a chance to seek out a teacher in another country, do it! Find them on Twitter or one of the many other platforms available for teachers to connect. You'll be happy you did!
Want to see more of the projects I've done with 2nd grade in Australia? Check out my site. We have Google Slide Shows and Australian Animal Videos and other non-Australia projects too!
My wife and I are quickly approaching our 25th wedding anniversary. When we talked about ways to celebrate, we looked around our house that we are slowly renovating and knew exactly what we wanted to do.
The bulk of my career was spent teaching 6th grade at a large Christian school in Northern Kentucky and for most of those years, my wife was a 5th grade teacher there as well. There were literally hundreds of kids who got a "double dose of Dunlap," for better or for worse. One of those kids was a girl name Lauren, who is now all grown up and an artist in Columbus, OH.
We decided to commission Lauren to paint something amazing for our living room. She agreed and we exchanged important information for her to create the perfect piece. We visited Lauren at her studio this weekend and picked up the painting. It's AMAZING! (I just now noticed the cat looking at us like we are crazy.)
At this point, this is a story of a couple who are both teachers and have been married a long time... and you wonder why it's on a teacher blog. I get it. But the rest of this is an example of the role we play as teachers.
Lauren made a video of the process and posted it on her TikTok, but she also shared personal thoughts in the video too. You just need to watch it.
As she talked to us in person and spoke to us through the video, it hit me big time. As teachers we spend so much time thinking about our content. Back then, it was multiplying decimals and labelling nouns. Now, it's video edits and the basics of engineering. Those things are so important, but sometimes I forget that teaching is about pouring myself into those kids. It's about letting them see me interact with people and the world around me to learn how to do it themselves. And, yes, I know the Dunlaps are a rare exception, but for us, it's a chance to show what marriage is all about too. As teachers, our pride should be in seeing our students become mature adults, ready to tackle whatever role is waiting for them in the world.
I will always cherish that massive canvas on our wall, but I hope I never lose sight of the hidden message it holds. Teaching is so much more than anything I envisioned it to be when I got into this job 28 years ago.
I always make it a point that my students know that we don't "play with robots." I like to tell them, "We don't play in Mr. Dunlap's room. We work really hard doing really fun stuff." As my 5th grade class wrapped up for the day, one of my girls made it a point to tell me that, "it's not really that hard." Whatever...
I thought about the kids in the room who struggled (and learned) how to construct Cubelets robots to drive through a maze or the ones who labored with Sphero code to learn how to make it drive in a rectangle. I can't even describe to you the amount of deep thinking that goes into rising to new challenges with robotics. Sure, it comes easier to some kids than others, but I love celebrating with them when they meet the challenge head on and conquer it. (We celebrated, but I forgot to take pictures.)
One of the girls in my room has been a rock star for me for years, and I handed her the loaner Finch I have in my room. "Here, see what you can do with this." I would check in on her every once in a while and give her a nudge in the right direction. By the end of Thursday, she figured out how to draw a square and play "Hot Cross Buns." Friday, she thought out loud, "Can I make a circle?" -- a thought that I have never had. We worked together and came up with a solution. We were both super proud of ourselves when we produced a few circles.
I love what I do! Yes, it's a blast and it feels like playing, but I love it when the kids accomplish a task that seemed impossible just an hour earlier.
Hello. It's been a while. So much to catch up on, but now's not the time. I have a great story to tell from today. Maybe we'll catch up another day.
In the past 3 years, I've done a lot with robotics and coding. Well, I'm not sure how much I've done compared with other elementary teachers around the world, but I've done a lot for my little corner of the educational world here in Boone County, Kentucky. While I have thoroughly enjoyed using Cubelets, Spheros, and Ozobots, there is a part of me that wants to explore something new.
This summer, I won an mTiny robot from a vendor at ISTE. Cute. Right? I have no idea how to use it. And to be honest, I didn't have time at the beginning of the school year to figure it out. So, it sat for weeks.
Not long ago, I started to research new robots to see what I could add to my room. Through Twitter, I stumbled upon BirdBrain Technologies, and they let you borrow demo robots for free! So, I asked for a Hummingbird and Finch to try. And, you guessed it, I haven't done anything with them.
Not wanting an awesome opportunity to slip by, I decided to do something about it. I contacted my 5th grade teachers and gave them 8 names of handpicked kids to come to my room today. Most of these kids have been in and out of my room since 2nd grade and we know each other well. They excel at technological tasks and were up for the challenge.
I laid it out for them. I know almost nothing about these robots. I own one of them and am borrowing the other two. My goal for them is to learn how to use the robots and tell me if they are worth buying. They would have to work together, read user manuals, and research on Chromebooks to figure it out. The kids were all like, "Yep. Got this. Let's go!" Really?!? No fear?!? Oh! To be a kid again!
This was one of those teaching moments that just got me so excited. The mTiny kids were a bit stumped till we discovered that the coding tiles look like the belong in Scratch Jr. The BirdBrains use micro:bit which none of us know anything about. We quickly realized that we were dealing with a coding language that none of us knew, but it kinda looked like Scratch. Did not faze the students at all. I cheered when I saw the Finch moving. I had to talk to anyone who would listen and care. This is what makerspace robotics is supposed to look like, and it was so refreshing!
I have two more days of these kids learning the new robots, and I cannot wait to see what they will be able to do by Friday!
Now, will we buy these products? Maybe. That's a blog for a different day.
Right before school started, I got an email from my friend, Emily Greene, the administrator of NKY MakerSpace. Kentucky Life, a show on KET public television, wanted to do a spot on makerspaces in Kentucky. Emily asked if I would be willing to bring a class to her makerspace for the filming. It didn't take me long to respond with a big resounding YES!!!!!
We got our fifth grade on board, and had to move quickly with permission slips, letters home, and media releases. There's nothing quite as crazy as having a field trip on the sixth day of school with TV cameras rolling. Oh, and for an extra bit of stress, the district superintendent was wondering through the classes as well.
While Emily taught about electrical circuits in one room, I was teaching Makey Makey in another. Of course, it was a chaotic mess. If you've ever used Makey Makey, you know that things can get loud. You know what? It was fun! Students earned badges. They explored. We all learned. It was an amazing day, and I'm so glad we did it!
Of course, I have to remind myself that the real reason for Yealey Elementary being at the makerspace was to create a realistic look for the cameras. But, it's always nice when someone shares the spotlight with you.
Below is the video that aired on KET. And, I had no idea Duncan Hines was a real person or that he was from Kentucky. Wow! (We come on around 4:00, but I was really into the Kre8Now segment before it too.
It's that time of year! I'm very excited to start our second grade book commercial project again this year! One thing we want to do is connect our students with an actual published children's book author. This step is so very important in the process. It helps our students see that authors are real people and how they go about writing their books.
A few weeks ago, I searched Nepris.com for a children's book author who I thought could connect well to our second graders. I was very happy to find Christy Mihaly who seemed like just the right fit for our room. Mrs. Mihaly recently published two books, one of which is called Hey, Hey, Hay! I sent her a message through Nepris and she agreed to be our author this year.
Today was our first of hopefully a few chats where we talked about her books, her writing process, and how books are promoted. Mrs. Zureick and I were so pleased to see that she related beautifully to the students, talked through the entire writing and publishing process, and even talked about how she needs to promote her books. Wow! I was surprised how much work goes into making a book successful.
As she said to us, "My book isn't doing its job if no one is reading it." In other words, the book promotion is just as important as the writing process. What an amazing segue into our commercial process. Soon we will be working hard to promote good books in our school library and (hopefully) in local book stores.
As an extra bonus, Mrs. Mihaly was even nice enough to take her laptop into her Vermont backyard to show us the fall colors in New England -- a welcome change to our unseasonably warm October days here in Kentucky.
Thank you, Mrs. Mihaly and Nepris for making today happen!
I became a makerspace teacher in the 2017-18 school at the request of my principal. As an elementary teacher masquerading as a technology teacher, I had no clue what I was doing. Of course, that didn't stop me from tackling a crazy cool assignment. I had researched a few new maker gadgets and purchased what I could. I also brought in some of my old coding standbys I've used the past. But, to be honest, I had no idea how to run a makerspace.
That year was a blur. The room needed to be transformed from computer lab to makerspace. I had to learn the new devices and find ways to talk my colleagues into bringing their kids to me. Since my class isn't in the specials rotation, I had to rely on teacher buy-in and that was hard. When I did get a class in my room, the focus was mainly on exploration and trying to avoid tears and hurt feelings.
At the very end of the school year, my district went through a major project looking at success criteria and mastery learning for all standards in all content area. That's when an epiphany hit me... a badge system!
I spent the summer working on breaking down all my gadgetry and apps into smaller bite-sized pieces. Each of those levels were designed to bring students from novice to expert in the field and eventually using multiple devices together. What started as a nugget of an idea turned into a website that has turned my makerspace into a game for the students and an organized curriculum for me.
As you navigate the site, you can see numerous options for student choice and growth in various disciplines. In general, the badges start out very teacher directed but wind up with ways for students to explore ways they want to use the technology. I knew that digital badges would win their hearts and give them a chance to display what they know and can do.
The next step was teacher buy-in. Getting students excited means nothing if I can't get them in my room. That's why I am hosting a Maker Monday once a month after school. Any employee in the school is given the opportunity to come in for an hour, learn the technology, and earn badges for themselves. My first Maker Monday had 10 teachers, earning 5 badges, in 4 disciplines. I call that a win!
Students are encouraged to tackle any device or app that interests them. I try not to direct them to any one thing unless it's a request by the teacher. This gives students the opportunity for student choice. It also means I frequently have students working in four or more disciplines.
While I am anticipating a lot of traffic this year, my most consistent class has been third grade. They are sending me 12 kids for about three weeks and rotating groups throughout the year. I am amazed at the results already. One girl who I remember as painfully shy as a second grader is my rock star. She is knocking out badges left and right. I love watching as another girl -- wonderfully sweet and bright -- struggles and works her way through something that -- finally! -- doesn't come easily for her. We've had talks about this being a MAKERspace, and I expect them to MAKE. MAKING is where the learning is. It's OK to PLAY a bit, but this isn't a PLAYERspace because I want them to create.
Soon, it will be time for this group to rotate out, but I'm having two overlap days. My outgoing class will buddy up with the incoming class to show them the ropes. I am so excited!
Moving forward...
My next job is to align these badges to standards. While this program helps tap into another intelligence and helps teach the whole child, the teachers need to see how this work helps them teach students in their curriculum
I'm constantly working on adding more devices to the list. At this typing, I'm working on badges for Kodable, a coding game for non-readers.
I'd like to make a "The Making of..." post to show how I made the badges and the site.
I'd love to hear how you have organized your makerspace and how you think I could improve our badge program.
