#CLMOOC Learning Walk

The other day my mother and I had an interesting discussion about the future of their house and cabin on Echo Lake on Mt. Desert Island, ME. She told me that one day it would be a part of my family and could do with it what I needed to. I told her that I had no plans of selling the properties. Spending summers in Maine is a big part of my life and is now a big part of my daughters’ lives. Losing the lake house for some short term monetary gain would not be in my best interest, I told her.

Later it occurred to me that even though I’ve used the house and cabin for nearly 40 years, I really dont know what it takes to run either place. So today I took a walk around the property and was amazed by how much I really don’t know.

How do you take care of the beach area?

How do you take care of the wildflowers?

When should the float come out of the water for winter?

How do you maintain this garden?

Does this deck require the same maintenance as the wooden decks?

Thankfully my mother is already passing on the answers to these questions and many more to her grandchildren.

#CLMOOC Sticks and Stories

Photo Credit: Sean Rogers1 via Compfight cc

Thanks to Bart Miller for giving me the title to this post. In fact I’ve hacked his title just so it had a ring to it. Get it, sticks and stories? Kind of sounds likes sticks and stones, which turns out was a hack to a game I wanted to create with my #clmooc PLN. It’s like our own six degrees of separation.

I went into Cycle 2 of the Making Learning Connected MOOC full of ideas. It started out in my parent’s basement. It’s a tinkerers dream, full of tools and scraps and whatchmajigits and doodads and thingamabobs.

Want a sneak peek at the Toyhack Workshop?

In a small basket I found 10 small sticks, slightly longer than ball point pen and slighty squarer than said pen. They reminded me of another game using sticks where players throw them on the ground. What happens next? I don’t know. I couldn’t remember the game – which I figured was a good idea. I could create a game from scratch. But I wanted to add a twist. I wanted to embrace the idea of connected learning by inviting my #clmooc colleagues to collaboratively build this game from the ground up. Turns out this is much more challenging than I anticipated. I envisioned a game that was a hack between Yahtzee, Farkle, and Rummy. But I didn’t want to share that with my PLN. I figured that would be too leading. So I just sat back and watched Kevin Hodgson, Chad Sansing, Jennifer Denslow, and Stephanie West-Pucket add titles, remix game objectives, modify rules, and generally have some fun with my idea. The game is certainly far from completion and it may never happen. And I’m okay with that. Turns out my little social experiment worked. A community of like minded individuals came together to help hack an idea. And I appreciate each one of them for doing so. And if you’re interested in adding to the game now called “Splinters, here’s the link to the Google doc: http://goo.gl/rEZEg

I’m on vacation in Maine and I thought I would be able to play a bigger part in this MOOC, but Internet connection is hampering that goal a bit. Plus, it is vacation. Time to tune things out a bit even though I find it incredibly difficult to disconnect from my professional life. But some things don’t need technology (even though I used my phone to capture the moments).

While we’re on vacation we always have dinner with my Aunt Vickie and Uncle Jim and he always has something unique to share. Maybe it’s a set of books he wants to read to his nieces. Maybe it’s a new game. This time it was a story…sort of. More like a story hack. Each person at the table would take turns making a noise. The rest of the table needed to remember all of the noises. Once each person had a chance to make a noise, any person could start a narrative based on the sounds. The trick was to incorporate as many sounds as you could remember. Once a person stopped, others could start a new story or add onto the one already started.

Here is our first Sound Story.

Now we didn’t get too far with this game since it was getting way late and my daughters were having a hard time keeping it together after my wife made armpit farts. But I’m sure we’ll be coming back to this in the very near future.

These two experiences reminded me that the process of the Making Learning Connected MOOC is not perfect. It’s messy. It’s unplanned. It’s organic. An idea for an original game may or may not pan out. The game might go through several iterations before it’s ready for public consumption. A series of silly noises can inspire a community of storytellers to connect at a whole new level at the end of a great meal.

And shouldn’t this be how we all learn? Unprescribed. Intuitively. Connected.

#CLMOOC Coffee Connection

cc licensed ( BY NC ND ) flickr photo by Michael Buist: http://flickr.com/photos/buistbunch/9163943585/

While strolling Southwest Harbor on Mt. Desert Island, ME my wife and I stopped into a local cafe for coffee. We’d been there many times before and have ordered the same thing every time: a double Café Americano with an extra shot. For some reason I paid attention to the bubbles as I added packets of Splenda to my drink. Almost instantaneously an image appeared that seemed so familiar to me. Not familiar like the Jesus toast or the George Washington chip, but something that reminded me of a cartoon or movie character. But I just couldn’t figure out who or what.

On vacation I’ve had some time to reconnect with Instagram and other social tools, so I figured I share my query with my PLN on Twitter and my firends on Facebook. Within seconds two people commented on my Instagram post, one via Twitter, the other on Facebook. And both said the same thing: Mr. Burns from The Simpsons. Not being much of a fan, I quickly looked up an image of Burns and I was quite amazed by their accuracy and the fact both had the same answer.

Photo Credit: trackrecord via Compfight cc

Photo Credit: smcgee via Compfight cc

Soon I got several more responses. Someone said Snoopy. Ironically someone else said Woodstock.

The Sneetches from Dr. Seuss were even suggested. As was Dr. Finklestein from A Nightmare Before Christmas.

Photo Credit: Jesse 1974 via Compfight cc

cc licensed ( BY ND ) flickr photo by Loren Javier: http://flickr.com/photos/lorenjavier/4063174775/

I guess the point of me sharing this story with you is that we have access to a very powerful set of tools. And whether or not your a fan of Twitter or Facebook or other forms of social media, these tools can connect you to people who you can learn with and learn from. And while interpreting images in espresso is a fairly silly example, there is untapped potential in social media for business, for education, for families. And the reason for sharing it with #clmooc is this whole process is somewhat serendipitous. We started out sharing ourselves. Those intros were hacked without a plan. Now we’re into #toyhacks. And there seems to be plenty of serendipity in this process.

I can see a little of every one of the previously mentioned characters in my coffee, but I was absolutely blown away by one answer. And as soon as I read the Tweet, it was exactly who I was thinking of.

Photo Credit: DaveFayram via Compfight cc

Scampering My Way Through #CLMOOC

Right now I’m feeling like that jackrabbit scampering across the desert floor being chased by a million ideas. Except that I’m not in the desert.  I’m actually off the coast of Maine in Acadia National Park. I’m not even sure if they have jackrabbits here. But that doesn’t matter,  because the ideas are still chasing me.

It’s Summer vacation and I can’t turn it off even if I wanted to. A big part of my life is work. It’s where I’m my best. It’s where I connect with colleagues,  students,  and families. And it feels good. Thankfully it’s 2013 and even though I’m not in school I can still develop and maintain important connections through events like #clmooc.

In just over a week of #clmooc I’ve participated in a Google+ Hangout, I’ve shared my photographs with the community, had a video I created remixed by new colleagues, added over 100 people to my G+ circles, made a sculpture out of plastic, made fish stock out of a halibut rack, participated in a Twitter chat, been mentioned several times in others G+ posts, blogs, and newsletters. And to think this MOOC is just over a week old.

One of the things I know about myself is that I’m not necessarily a maker. I’m not a tinkerer, a crafter, a designer. But I joined this MOOC just for that reason. I knew that the tasks and people would challenge me to take responsible risks. And after seeing what people have already shared, I’ve got my work cut out for me.

Because of so much we will do in #clmooc will be commenting and remixing other people’s work (an assumption), I thought I would share a strategy I use with my students when creating and designing: SCAMPER

Someone once told me that there are no new ideas, simply remixes of old ones. I’m not sure if I believe this 100%, but there are so many examples that seem to suggest this person is right. Just open up the drawers in the kitchen. You’ll find hack after hack of kitchen gadgets.

So when designing something and you need a muse, think about SCAMPER.

S – substitute one thing for another
C – combine pieces
A – adapt
M – magnify or minify the object
P – put to other uses
E – expand, elaborate, or eliminate
R – reverse

For more details about this thinking tool, visit http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newCT_02.htm

I know #clmooc will be a challenge for me, but I’m not backing away. The people I connect with with support me fully throughout the entire process. I know that because I’ve already seen it numerous times.

This is an amazing opportunity to make, learn, and connect…with other jackrabbits chasing ideas.

Cut the Bottom Out of the Peach Basket

cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo by Wicker Paradise: http://flickr.com/photos/wicker-furniture/8614149921/

Thanks to Kevin Hodgson (@dogtrax) I had the honor of participating in the Make With Me Cycle 1 Google+ Hangout – click here for the archived footage and chat stream. The panel included Kevin, fellow #clmooc moderators Elyse Eidman-Aadahl (@ElyseEA) and Terry Elliott (@tellio), Christina DiMicelli (@MrsDi), and Gail Poulin (@poulingail). The idea behind this Hangout was fairly simple: introduce the purpose of the MOOC and have each of us share not only the product for our introductions, but also the process.

During the Hangout I was taking notes in Evernote (as well as a few snapshots in the Hangout app). Several comments resonated with me at the time and still ring clear two days later. The ideas that came from this video conversation will keep me glued to the MOOC process and hopefully transfer into my classroom.

Entrepreneurial Learners

Elyse made this comment at the 13:10 mark. She’s referring to the fact that learners nowadays have such a wealth of information and access to experts that they can almost personalize their learning. I really like this idea since we know that the one-size-fits-all model of education does not work today (and probably never worked). How we get our students to be advocates for their own learning is an important discussion all of us in education must participate in. This is certainly a major shift in the century-old paradigm, but one that must be made if we are going to expect young people to be competitive in a global market.

Tools Extending Tools

At the 47:58 mark Terry mentions tools extending tools in regards to my Animoto introduction. After I had posted the video on our Google+ Making Learning Connected Community page, he uploaded it to vialogues and used this site as a video commenting tool. The fact that Terry felt compelled and comfortable enough to take another’s work and augment it using polls, comments, and questions speaks to the power of not only this MOOC, but also to the power of a PLN. None of us are experts and we need to rely on our peers to help us up the mountain. Our colleagues essentially become our sherpas as we navigate our own Mount Everest. If someone can show us other ways, better ways, new ways, hacked ways of doing something, then more power to them. And we need to embrace this type of collaboration.

Share the Process of Makes

At 49:25 Kevin mentions a key element of #clmooc: sharing our makes. The products we ultimately create will be important and we will learn about various edtech tools and capture ideas for the upcoming school year; however, the process of making is essential in this community if we are to indeed transfer this experience to our own classrooms. So as people make and create, my hope is that the Make Bank becomes a regular place I visit, to learn about other people’s processes, their proverbial trials and tribulations, to hack their ideas and remix them to fit various make cycles.

Cut the Bottom Out of the Peach Basket

Terry leaves us with a bit of wisdom at the 58:30 mark. He shares the story of how it took quite some time for someone to figure out that if you simply cut a hole in the bottom of Dr. Naismith’s peach baskets, the game of basketball becomes a lot more fun and a lot more fluid. I am taking this as a challenge, not in the sense that I expect to make some sort of great discovery during this make process, but that if I allow myself to take risks, accept failure as a learning tool, and learn and connect with others, the possibility for making great discoveries is out there and attainable.

I really appreciate the opportunity to participate in the Make Cycle 1 Hangout. I’ve gotten to briefly now some new makers, some new tinkerers. And hopefully I can develop these relationships and add to my PLN. I’ll wrap this up with a quote from Franklin D. Roosevelt.

“It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.”

Do or Do Not. There is Always Another Try

Photo Credit: Luis.Vieira via Compfight cc

So I used some poetic license on this blog title. But it seems to fit as I embark on my second MOOC journey. Last January I started – with fervor – the #etmooc started by Alec Couros (@courosa). I added at least 400 people (of the nearly 1700 participants) to my Google+ circles. I participated in the Blackboard sessions. I joined in on the #etmchat. But then I quickly fizzled out. It wasn’t that the material wasn’t relevant or interesting. Heck, I even participated in a lip dub! It just seemed too many other things took over. I’m not sure if the timing for Making Learning Connected is better or not. Summer vacation could prove to be the perfect time to re-energize and reconnect with my PLN. Or it could turn out that, once again, other commitments get in the way…like family, a wife, two girls, a dog, a cat, a two-week vacation in Maine, school starting back on July 15, etc.

I want to make the most of this experience. I want to learn from others. I want to share my knowledge with a larger audience. I want to connect. I want to make.

So to get things started, I’m sharing my digital self with the rest of this community. It is important that I make myself as transparent as I can to my students and families. My job as a teacher of modern learners and the 21st Century family is to open up my classroom as much as I can. I am including several places I share with the world.

• Follow me on Twitter @BuistBunch
• Like my 5th grade team on Facebook
• See what’s happening in 5th grade at Knox Gifted Academy
• Check out my Flickr photostream
• Here’s my about.me profile

CLMOOC Introduction

Looking forward to learning with and from all of you. Looking forward to making new connections. Looking forward to see what we all make.