On the first Saturday of the summer, the day after the last day of school, I was watching The Next List, hosted by Dr. Sanjay Gupta, on CNN. The show tells about innovators in all kinds of fields, doing interesting things. This show featured a woman, Ayah Bdeir, a designer-engineer, who wanted to make building blocks for the 21st century, like Legos were for the 20th century. I also remember seeing her on a Ted Talk. These building blocks, called little Bits, are electronic modules that can be combined to cause different outputs, like light, motion, or sound.
When I saw this show on The Next List, I knew that my students, particularly this group with challenging behavior issues, would love these materials. In the last month of school, I did more science than I had the whole year. I am not proud of this, as I chose to be a math science specialist because I love science. But it just happens - math is emphasized, science is not. Our school culture is test-score driven. However, that one month was a good one. I wrote about it in a blog piece at the end of the year. (dianehsta@blogspot.com) I did a simple activity in which I gave them a battery, a light bulb and wires, with holders for the battery and bulb, and they were to turn the light bulb on. It was such an engaging activity, with the leaders being the students who do not typically do well on tests and traditional school work.
I knew about the Good Idea grants, offered by the Public Schools of Hawaii Foundation, and administered by the Hawaii State Teachers Association. I worked on the grant immediately, knowing I would be traveling all summer. In my grant application, I wrote that "my goal for teaching is that students have a sense of empowerment, that they can have an idea, and make it come to life." The students will be using the littleBits to create a "machine" of some kind at the same time learning about energy and energy transfer through magnets. But more importantly, they will be activating their imaginations, and making their ideas come to life.
One of the parts of the grant application was "Curricular Need for Projects to Develop Innovation-Thinking." Here is what I wrote: "The focus of education in the world of No Child Left Behind and now Race to the Top has been high-stakes testing. Lots of money has been spent on new math curriculum that is aligned with Common Core math standards. The mainstream focus on testing and standards does NOT lead to innovation and empowering children to have creative ideas and make them come to life. It is a struggle to go against the test-focused high tide, but I do what I can - swimming with the sharks, treading water, and in cases like this, making a life raft by doing hands-on projects. I believe that when they see what the students can create and contribute, I will gain support from administrators, colleagues, and parents, to support a more hands-on, student-centered, innovation-promoting education."
And that's not just fancy words to get a grant. I mean it. But it worked. I got the grant!
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