FABClassroom: Sir Charles Tupper School in Nova Scotia

The following FABClassroom post was written by Laura Kennedy, a third-grade teacher at the Sir Charles Tupper School in Halifax, Nova Scotia. From geometry to storytelling, she says that Fab@School Maker Studio has become a game-changer in her classroom. 

Fab@School Maker Studio is a hit in our class! I fiddled and tinkered with it a bit before showing it to my class and appreciated the “Ready-to-Go” options. I was intrigued and brave enough to tackle the automaton. 

The students were all eyes when I showed them what I made. What I didn’t know at the time was that the quietest of all the students in class was making mental notes of the design. She came to class the next day with a close replica of the automaton to share with the class. Not only was the feat of making one without the specific outline and instruction page incredible, even more so was that she asked to present it to the class. Being shyer than others she stepped out of her comfort zone and stood in the spotlight. She was beginning to find her voice and it was the act of creating and feeling proud of her accomplishment that helped her on her way.

In this way, Fab@School Maker Studio was more than a fun way to represent ideas, it became a game changer.

After attending the one-day FabMakerSummit in Boston, I was even more excited to share ideas with the class in creating, imagining and dreaming.

Beginning with customizing bookmarks, students became familiar with the different elements to choose. What was most interesting in this case was not the instant communication and collaboration of ideas and peer helping but how another particular student rose to the occasion. This student usually requires various supports in the classroom. In this case though, the student independently worked diligently changing the color, texture and adding stamps. Each new element was proudly displayed and shared with others. Bookmarks might have been the task but confidence was the result.

After I learned more about the different elements such as welding shapes and the 3-D viewer, I showed the class who picked up on these skills quickly. I remember mentioning how even how the teachers at the summit worked as a group to problem solve how to unweld shapes. To my surprise, in the time it took to share the story, the student next to me had figured it out and had an example to show our class.

It was the natural discussions that were heard as the students were engaged in creating and learning on the go. We took this a step further and share our items with our Learning Buddy class of grade 1 students. The grade 3-4 students became the teachers when they took the younger students through the process of customizing their own bookmarks.

Connecting the Fab@School to geometry outcomes, students created 2-D shapes. They were modeled after our “Perimi-bot’ robots. Using multiple ways to demonstrate their knowledge benefits student learning and development of their ideas. Since Fab@School has a built in ‘intrigue’ factor, students are drawn to the program and spend productive time creating items. Storytelling to poetry to nonfiction facts of their design process add another element that expands the learning.

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Is your classroom a FabClassroom? We would love to feature your school in an blog post! To be featured in an upcoming post, send an email to info@fablevisionlearning.com. You can also tweet your photos with the hashtag #FabMakerStudio! For more posts featuring Fab@School Maker Studio, click here.

FableFive with Matthew Beyranevand, K-12 Mathematics & Science Department Coordinator at Chelmsford Public Schools, MA

Dr. Matthew Beyranevand is the K-12 Mathematics and Science Department Coordinator for the Chelmsford Public Schools in Massachusetts

Matthew is an ambassador for the Global Math Project, supporter for the With Math I Can campaign, and a member of the Massachusetts STEM Advisory Council. He also serves as an adjunct professor of mathematics and education at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell and Fitchburg State University.

Through his website, mathwithmatthew.com, he provides visitors with his podcast, blog, math music videos, and more resources to help increase students’ interest and engagement in the learning of mathematics while building conceptual understanding. 

FableVision Studio's Shelby Marshall was a guest on Matthew's podcast, Math With Matthew. Where he shared how the power of technology can enhance and support math education by developing mathematical thinking through concrete modeling, problem-solving, simulations, fluency through scaffolded practice, and applying understanding in real-world situations. Give a listen! 

Matthew has been featured on WBZ news WBUR radio and the news magazine Chronicle. Finally, Matthew's first book Teach Math Like This, Not Like That: Four Critical Areas to Improve Student Learning will be published in July through Rowan & Littlefield.

Matthew recently chatted with FableVision Learning about his creative work in the classroom. 

You work with students to create music videos about Math, how did this whole idea begin?

I started my own public access television show in Chelmsford five years ago to help inform the parents and community about all the wonderful things related to mathematics in the district. It was mostly interviews with teachers and students but after some time, we began to get creative and started making comedy skits and then music videos about math topics based on popular songs.

What is the process for creating the videos?

It is a collaborative effort of students, teachers, administrators, and the local public access television station, Chelmsford Telemedia. Each video takes about three months to put together. It begins with brainstorming sessions with students and teachers for the song and topic for the video. Next, we write the lyrics and record the song in a studio that one of my high school math teachers works at. Then the fun begins with making the music video. Many students participate in the shoot both on and off camera as it is a great learning experience. The final part is the video editing which takes place as part of a course at the High School with students.

Can you share some highlights from working on these videos?

Here is a sizzle reel of all the different music videos (at left) that we have done together. My favorite video to date is “Girls are all about that math” as it shares a very important message about the importance of girls entering the STEM field. Also, my nine-year-old daughter, who is an aspiring mathematician, helped write the lyrics for the song. The most popular song that we have done is “What is the value of Pi?” with almost 100,000 YouTube views.

What is your professional mission within math education?

I am working to help increase students conceptual understanding of mathematics, while learning in a joyful and engaging manner. Within the STEM field, the science, technology and engineering, students authentically enjoy learning. Mathematics is the ugly step sister that students are forced to take but rarely enjoy. We need to work to help increase students interest in math.

Did you have anything like this when you were in school that inspired you to do work like this?

Unfortunately, I did not and I did not have a wonderful experience learning math in school. I was very good at it but frequently bored and uninterested. Using the music videos as well as many other ideas, we can change this.

FableFive: David Smith, creator of Mapping the World by Heart

“When our children leave our classrooms, we need to make sure they have a sense of their own community, and also an appreciation of everyone else's,” explains David Smith, creator of Mapping the World By Heart. 

His award-winning geography curriculum gives students a means to picture the world beyond shapes on a page. Mapping the World by Heart provides a way to bring the world closer, because we can’t all travel the globe, but we can take steps to learn more about it. 

David was a classroom teacher with over 25 years' experience teaching English, geography, and social studies in grades 4-12 and used that experience of teaching 7th graders to draw maps of the entire world from memory, to create his highly successful curriculum, Mapping the World by Heart. 

When it was first released, Mapping the World by Heart was awarded the “Breaking the Mold,” by the U.S. Department of Education and to match the ever-changing world, David has revised the curriculum nine times since. 

David is a full-time consultant, providing lectures and workshops on geography and global issues, and on IT issues, to teachers, parents, student groups, and others in the United States, Europe, Africa, South America, Australia, and Asia.

For this FableFive post, we connected with David to learn more about Mapping the World By Heart and the stories from the journey. 

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How did you connect the dots with FableVision Learning?

When Mapping the World By Heart was first published in 1992 by Tom Snyder Productions, Peter Reynolds did the illustrations and we became friends; when Tom Snyder was bought by Scholastic and MTWBH needed a new publisher, I called Peter (H. Reynolds) and he jumped at the chance to publish it.  He’s done some new illustrations, and helped with all the prepress issues.

 Can you share the story behind the creation and development of Mapping the World by Heart?

My grade 7 students in Cambridge, MA were sadly unaware of world geography, or even local geography. I didn’t want to send them onto their next teachers without helping them master at least some human geography and locations.

You speak regularly at schools in the US and Canada, can you share a few highlights from these visits?  

I’m always happy when kids know my books, and have questions about them – and some of the questions are very common, such as “where did you get the idea for…” or “do you have to revise often”, but some questions can be surprising; “do the details about children living in hunger make you sad”, “how many countries have you visited”, and sometimes “how old are you."

Where do you see Mapping the World by Heart’s place in the classroom?

I don’t see it as necessarily the central activity for a classroom for the year, but as a very useful tool. If a class is studying US or Canadian history, or Asian languages or cultures, or European history, then mapping that region by heart can be useful for so much of what students will learn – the thing that is easy to forget is that history actual always happens somewhere. And knowing the human and political geography of a place can help a student understand what happened there.

Do you have any Mapping the World by Heart stories to share? 

I’ve visited schools in 56 countries.  At 10 of these schools, I’ve helped students prepare an outdoor playground map – of their country, their continent, or the world. At the International School of Windhoek, Namibia, the students created a map of Namibia in the entryway of the school; at the International School of Geneva, the youngest students, with their teachers and parents, created a world map in the main door to the playground – every time a student passes through that door, they have a chance to check out the world.  The point is that the curriculum isn’t just about memorization, but it’s aimed at getting students to think about the world, about the world’s people and places.

Curious about how other schools are using Mapping the World by Heart? Check out these other posts!

FableFive: Leah Garofalo- combining arts and science with a musical flair

Leah Garofalo always approached high school projects with an ambitious sense of creativity. For a ninth grade biology assignment at Monticello High School, she wrote, performed and produced an original song about taxonomy. Years later, The FableVision Learning Team asked her some questions to discover more about the creative process that turned this complicated science topic into music.

1) Can you share a bit about yourself and your school? 

At the time I was a tiny 13 year old coming from a middle school where I knew every student and every teacher, heading into the newest, shiniest high school in the county. I was a band geek and that would prove to be my in with new friends and multiple assignments throughout my high school career. 

My song writing career didn’t follow me to college, although being a band geek did. I went on to major in mechanical engineering and currently work for a financial firm in Fairfax, Va.  

2) What was the inspiration for the Taxonomy song?

Sister Ruby, soundmixer Joe, and Leah Garofalo when the Taxonomy song was being recorded.

I wish I could remember the exact circumstances, but I believe it was just a regular class project involving the topics at the time. Instead of doing a typical boring report or trifold science fair presentation, I decided to go all out and write a song. My dad was and still is a professor at UVA in the math-ed department. At that time I remember his main focus was (and again, really still is) creative teaching methods to get students more engaged. Coming up with intricate powerpoint presentations, games, and videos was always my go-to for class projects. 

It was a no-brainer once we were given free rein on the assignment about a biology topic of our choice that it would be some sort of audio or visual presentation. 

3) How did you craft the lyrics? I noticed you have a backup singer, can you share a bit about the collaboration?  

Leah Garofalo and her sister/backup singer Ruby

I knew I would have to give some background information on the scientist as well as a rundown of the classification scheme, complete with an example. If I can recall correctly, "Yellow Submarine" was chosen pretty early on in the lyric writing process, not only because I was raised on classic rock, but because I said to myself, “Ok, this guy (Linnaeus) was born in the town of Uppsala” and immediately thought wow that’s just like “in the town where I was born.” And soon the rest of the song started flowing.  

My backup singer is my little sister who was 7 at the time. Best collaborator ever.

4) What is next? 

What came next, still in 9th grade, was a music video with my friend Cydney for our world history class. It was a 6 minute song comprised of "Ice Ice Baby" by Vanilla Ice followed by "Girls" by the Beastie Boys. Not only did we play and record the music, but we again rewrote the lyrics to both songs to give a brief history of the world. The video was us singing along to our recording and dancing in my dad’s office with my sister making a cameo in it as well. 

In 12th grade, as a final project in calculus, some friends and I wrote a song called "Werewolves of Blundin" about our teacher to the tune of "Werewolves of London." He was nice enough to accept the work even though the amount of math included was really only for rhyming purposes. 

A parody of the Warren Zevon song, Werewolves of London. This uses the famous UVA quarterback, Matt Brent Blundin as its protagonist. He is a werewolf in two ways, first, he thirsts for blood and he's a calculus teacher, second he is a two-sport athlete, basketball and football.

5) Tell us about you now? How did your creative upbringing influence your career path? 

Unfortunately as a financial professional, I don’t have many opportunities to create songs or music videos anymore. However, I do think that by doing projects such as these and countless other intricate PowerPoints and interactive presentations has helped me become someone who thinks out of the box. I am able to approach problems and situations them in a much different manner than providing just traditional solutions. I certainly credit my upbringing and desire to be different to most of my successes.

Are you or someone you know, a student or educator making their mark in a creative way? Contact Andrea Calvin, andrea@fablevision.com, to be featured in a FableFive. 

FableFive: Terry Shay, FableVision Learning Ambassador Leader

The ambassador of Ambassadors, Terry Shay, is first and foremost a vocal teacher to lucky K-12 students in Traer, Iowa. Terry followed his North Star, connected the dots, and continued his mission to teach creativity, communication, collaboration, and critical thinking when he joined our FableVision family as a FableVision Ambassador. His enthusiasm, passion and heart quickly landed him the position of Lead Ambassador of the FableVision Ambassador Program and is the originator of International Dot Day and the Celebri-Dots blog. For this month's FableFive blog post, we chatted with Terry to learn more about his journey, what it takes to be a FableVision Ambassador, and the Dot movement.

1) Walk us through your FableVision Journey?

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Mr. Terry Shay

My journey with FableVision began at the Iowa Technology Education Connection Conference many years ago. I was at a session about a keyboard and the presenter was demonstrating how the keyboard could be used to import into any word processing program and then she demonstrated using Stationery Studio. I ended up not be interested in the keyboard, but I will never forget how amazing the software was. I knew that I had to know more about the company who made it. I called and had the tremendous good fortune to reach Bill Norris, who sent me the software and kept in touch. A few months later, I was asked to be a FableVision Ambassador. A few years later, I was asked to lead the program. Working with and for a company who has a mission that matches my own is a dream.

2) What has been a highlight moment of your experience as a FableVision Ambassador?

Watching someone’s face light up when I ask them if they celebrate Dot Day is certainly at the top of the list. It is a joy to hear all the different ways celebrations are held around the country. Not to mention, the opportunity to work closely with Peter H. Reynolds and Dr. Peggy Healy Stearns.

3) What are the qualities you look for in a FableVision Ambassador and how does one apply?  

The main quality I look for in an Ambassador is willingness to share. We are looking for a variety of locations so we spread the mission far and wide. Currently we need Ambassadors in Alaska, Arkansas, Kentucky, Montana, Oregon, and Wyoming.

 

 

4) Tell us about your teaching experience, what has been one highlight of your career?

I am a K-12 Vocal Music teacher in Traer, Iowa. The highlight of each year is watching kids shine in our Swing Show. Kids get to sing, dance, perform in skits, and almost every year I am blown away by a soloist who starts out meek and mild and then steps on the stage and becomes a star.

 

5) You love children's books! And are the driving force behind Celebri-dots. Tell us about the blog and the dot movement.

International Dot Day, September 15th, started in 2009 and has been a constant source of joy ever since. Inspired by Peter H. Reynolds’ book, The Dot, Dot Day is intended to get kids to be creative. In 2011, Newbery Medal winning author, Sharon Creech, sent me a dot on Dot Day. Inspired by seeing the dot that one of my favorite authors made, I wanted to see what other famous people would create. Since then, 216 dots have been published in a variety of media including paint, photography, sewing, raspberry juice, hair dye, computer code, pencil, pen, and more. It’s an amazing gallery of creativity and it inspires kids to make their own mark.

At FableVision Learning we love to celebrate creative educators we meet along the way. The FableFive series is our chance to highlight these folks. The format is simple; we select one person and ask five questions to help us get to know them better, their relationship with FableVision Learning, and to help them spread their mission! 

FableFive: Emily Arrow, Reynolds Center TLC Creativity Road Show

Like most great things, it started with a DOT.

“I have a few fable-tastic connections to FableVision and Peter H. Reynolds, beginning with The Dot Song, explained Emily Arrow, award-winning songwriter and musician behind the Creativity Road Show. “After I wrote and shared The Dot Song with Peter, FableVision Studios created an animated video and I created a motions guide video. We shared our videos to celebrate International Dot Day and the song absolutely took off. But that was just the beginning!”

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For this month’s FableFive, we chatted with Emily about the Creativity Road Show, creating music, her new award-winning album, Storytime Singalong, Volume 1, and her tips on bringing creativity, literacy, and music into the classroom.

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Story Time Singalong, Volume 1, is now available!

1) What is your connection to FableVision and Peter H. Reynolds?

Since The Dot Song I’ve created numerous other songs inspired by Peter's books including Ish, Sky Color, and his recently illustrated I am Yoga written by Susan Verde. The Dot Song and the I Am Yoga Song are both on my recently released album, Storytime Singalong, Volume 1. And let's not forget the brand new FableVision Creativity Road Show! Beginning this spring, I'll be visiting schools to read, sing, and celebrate Peter H. Reynolds’s inspiring stories.

2)  When you were a teacher, how did you integrate creativity, literacy, and music into the classroom?

I believe children's literature - especially Peter's stories - have an inherent musicality. So I began using stories during my music lessons to teach various skills: rhythm, tone, and performance techniques. And then I took it a step further and began writing specialized songs for the books I loved reading aloud. For example, the song inspired by Peter's ISH invites students to insert their own words to become "ish"-ified. In the song, students fill in the blank with a word of their choosing: "____-ish! Thinking ishly."

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Emily Arrow reading her first inspiration, The Dot.

3) What is your song writing process and how do you pick your books to write a song about? 

My process has evolved along with my career path. From the beginning I've always selected, and will always select, books that personally resonate with me. The first book-inspired song I ever chose was The Dot, which is why it has such a special place in my heart. My favorite stories are ones that make great read-alouds, have unique illustrations, and tell a story I think I can communicate well through song. 

4) What’s involved in your songwriting workshops on the Creativity Road Show?

In the songwriting workshop, we write and sing our own song together! Inspired by ideas the students generate, we journey through song form and begin by writing a chorus that's catchy and original. Then we write the verses and bridge by using the notes and suggestions of all of the "songwriters" in the room. It's like writing a story together but set to music. What could be better?

5) What was your favorite book as a kid and have you written a song about it?

What an awesome question, no one has asked me this yet! The first picture book I ever read on my own was Corduroy by Don Freeman and I couldn't get enough. I haven't written a song about it...YET. But I’m planning a series of song/videos inspired by the "classics" of my childhood. 

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Want to learn more about Emily? Visit her online here.

Want to bring Emily to your school? Find out more details here.

FableFive: Peggy Healy Stearns, Lead Software Designer for Fab@School Maker Studio

­Teacher, software designer, and maker movement enthusiast, those are three ways to describe Dr. Peggy Healy Stearns. She's also the lead software designer behind FabMaker Studio, FableVision Learning's new digital/3D Fabrication program for the classroom. And she's no stranger to the classroom, in fact you could say that is where it all began.

"In 1983, when I was teaching 8th grade, I touched my first computer. It was like magic," Peggy said. "I immediately saw the potential and knew I wanted to design software. I bought an Apple IIe, learned to program, and headed to graduate school to earn my doctorate and start my software design career."

For this month's FableFive, Peggy shared a bit about her background in software design, her role in the Maker Movement, and of course Fab@School Maker Studio

1) How did you get connected with FableVision?

While designing my first software programs for Sunburst Communications, I worked as a district technology coordinator and taught at the University at Buffalo. In 1991, I brought my idea for a program called The Graph Club to Tom Snyder Productions (TSP). That’s when I met Peter H. Reynolds, then TSP’s Vice President and Creative Director. Peter designed the graphic interface for The Graph Club and we worked together on collaborative activities based on a mystery theme. Peter wrote his first published book, Fizz and Martina’s Incredible Not-for-Profit Pet Resort, as part of the original Graph Club curriculum. I went on to design Neighborhood MapMachine, Community Construction Kit, Diorama Designer, and Rainforest Designer, and then came back to Peter with the design for a program called Stationery Studio. By then, Peter and his twin brother Paul had founded FableVision. The first version of Stationery Studio was released in 2003 and a new enhanced version in 2010. 

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2) How did the Fab@School Maker Studio Journey Begin?

In 2008, Glen Bull at the University of Virginia was exploring how 3D printers and inexpensive digital cutters could support STEM education. When Glen came across my software programs, Community Construction Kit and Diorama Designer, he realized these programs addressed similar concepts, except kids cut by hand instead of using electronic cutters. Glen asked me to design onramp software for the Fab@School coalition, which sought to establish the curriculum, instructional resources, software, professional development, and research to support the use of digital design and fabrication in STEM education. I asked Peter and Paul to collaborate on the development of what came to be Fab@School Maker Studio. Since then, the Fab@School collaborative has grown to include multiple school districts, Canon, SITE, the Smithsonian, the FabFoundation, TIES, and other partners.

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3) How do you see the Maker Movement impacting the classroom?

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The Maker Movement, a powerful example of hands-on project-based learning, has tremendous potential to positively impact the classroom. Making stuff is intrinsically motivating and gives students the opportunity to explore, invent, problem solve, discover, and apply what they’ve learned in an immediate and meaningful context. Making is not so much about the product, but the process, and how children are empowered to construct their own learning. Curiosity and discovery are natural by-products and fuel further explorations and discovery.

Maker projects, like real life, tend to be cross-curricular, so learning takes place in a richer, more meaningful environment. Although we think of the Maker Movement primarily in terms of STEM and STEAM, maker projects offer rich opportunities to integrate multiple curricular areas. When students make things, they have something concrete and of personal interest to talk about and develop language skills in a meaningful context. The Smithsonian Invention Kits go a step further and incorporate history, culture, and consumer science.

The University of Virginia’s preliminary research suggests that these maker projects positively impact measurable learning outcomes.

4) What are some simple ways for schools to create a Maker Space?

Maker spaces don’t have to be hi-tech. You can start with Legos, K’NEX, cardboard, tape, yarn, markers, scissors, and other readily accessible materials. First, create an attractive and inviting space where students feel free to explore, create, collaborate, and invent. Create a culture where mistakes are not only acceptable but understood as a critical part of the process.

In terms of digital design, the big buzz has been about 3D printing. We suggest an affordable, accessible onramp – paper and card stock. With just Fab@School Maker Studio and a single electronic cutter for under $150, students can create pop-ups, 3D models, working machines, and even the Smithsonian Invention Kits. Some projects can be cut by hand, so no cutter is required.

5) What has been your favorite moment working on Fab@School and what is your favorite project to fabricate?

December 2009: Paul made the leap of faith and committed FableVision to the Fab@School journey and Maker Studio development. At that point, few people had heard of 3D printing or even digital design and fabrication, and almost no one saw it’s potential in the classroom. Peter and Paul had faith in the vision and jumped on board this unique creative journey.

Also, Fall 2015, Paul personally took charge of Maker Studio development and brought Andrea Calvin on board, our new FableVision Learning Vice President. Our dream team, with John Lechner, Bill Norris, and Adam Landry, turbo-charged the project and readied Fab@School Maker Studio for release.

Now for my favorite project to fabricate, I like projects with moving parts. I believe they’re not only more motivating, but also provide more opportunities for learning across the curriculum. Projects with moving parts can be simple pop-ups or more involved like an automaton and the curriculum-rich Smithsonian Invention Kits being developed at the University of Virginia.