Using the Cricut Vinyl Cutter

Upper School art teacher Nicole Stone offered a workshop during ecobash to help students create vinyl stickers for their reusable water bottles. A lot of water bottles look alike, so she thought students might enjoy the chance to personalize them with a sticker.

Ms. Stone went to a workshop at MIT last fall that helped her learn how to use the vinyl cutter. This one is a "cricut" model, and can cut a variety of materials. The computer interface is very user-friendly.

Scratch

Middle School math teacher Camilla Lau brought the Scratch programming interface into her curriculum this year by way of a launch grant. Following a unit on polynomials, her students created games in scratch to quiz a user to find two integers when given their sum and product. Here Ms. Lau is explaining her launch grant process to colleagues, which is part of the format of the grant.

English Meets Maker

Our English classes have been reading "A Raisin in the Sun." To better project the work being done, the students are creating visual collages of dreams as they imagine the characters. To support this the English classes have come to the Maker Space (MS2) to sort and cut up old Life magazines and National Geographics from the 1940's and 1950s ... very collaborative. We will highlight the final work in the next post.

MS Students Making Puzzles

Puzzles ... with the laser cutter students are able to make their own puzzles. This one details statements about autism. It was created from scratch by a 7th grader.

Ceramics Students Making Stencils

From the new Glowforge laser cutter to soap dish in no time! We design patterns on the computer, but them with the laser cutter and then make clay objects ...

Old Technology in the MS MakerSpace

Our new Middle School technology integrationist, Bill Castell, has brought some interesting "antiques" into the makerspace for students to experience...

Student 1: "I think you put your finger in the hole and twist it."
Student 2: "This phone is sooooo heavy."

6th Graders Create Novel Displays

Ms. Huff's sixth grade students were challenged in small groups to create a way to display important parts of the novel Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie. Each group took their own path on this challenge to bring to life an aspect of the novel. Students used the Design Thinking Process to generate an idea and guide them through the creation stages. They used various materials and tools available in the LS MakerSpace, ranging from hot glue guns, pom-poms, LED lights, laser etched images, and the 3D printer.

Kindergartners Build EcoSonic Playground

Ever since 1999, Lower School music teacher Sara Zur had been dreaming of creating a musical play space for kids that would open their imaginations and foster a love of music. During travels in England and Israel, Zur had witnessed sound installations and melodic play areas, including a junkyard in Israel that transformed everyday waste objects into a learning opportunities for children.

“There was something about playing with everyday objects that seemed to make kids be extra musical,” Zur says. “There is a collaborative element, and a stretching of the imagination that can’t be duplicated with regular instruments.”

Made from recycled materials, an EcoSonic playground is essentially a large, unique, music-making structure intended to promote collaborative play. Building one includes a curriculum component for elementary schools to teach students STEM skills through lessons in acoustics, physics, engineering, and design as they work with educators to build the structures themselves.

Zur, who holds a doctorate in musical play, quickly contacted her colleague Elissa Johnson-Green, a music professor at Umass Lowell, who heads up an EcoSonic team comprised of professors and graduate students. Over the course of the year, the EcoSonic team and Zur met regularly with the kindergartners to design and implement the play space. This didn’t just involve the nuts and bolts of putting the playground together.

The students studied sound vibrations in Carol Fine’s science class, and tested different materials with Lower School technology integration and makerspace mentor Mickey Hardt. They drew up designs in their homeroom, and, of course, they studied music proper with Zur.

Finally, this spring, the project came together when the musical playground was unveiled during the last week of school. PVC pipes, an old vacuum cleaner hose, a bike tire, and countless other everyday objects had been pulled together to create BB&N’s EcoSonic playground.

“There is this drumming thing, and there is a tube that you can listen to like a headphone, and you can hear everything, except the sound is smaller,” explains kindergartener Ryan McCullough excitedly. “But designing it was even more fun than playing it, because when you are designing it, you get to play with more people.”

The final result has been an EcoSonic playground that sounds at turns beautiful, cacophonous, and vibrant—but above all else, fun!

Stress Reduction Launch Grant

The launch grant this year supported me to think creatively about how I share stress-reduction, mindfulness-based interventions with kids at the MS. I thought about how I could incorporate elements of arts & crafts, science, technology, - using the Maker Space, the MS campus location, etc.

I piloted this by designing a monthly drop-in "Wellness Wednesday" for kids to test-run, create, explore different dimensions of stress-reduction, mindfulness, etc. We launched with the idea of random acts of kindness and how they create big blips of pleasant feelings even indirectly. Kids designed and decorated 'kindness stones' that they then placed around the campus for people to view, move and even take with them. 

Another month we expanded on positive feelings by viewing a video experiment on the connection between gratitude and happiness and then, in a slightly devious way, having them do the experiment themselves and see the impact on their own ratings of happiness. We also looked at physiological aspects of stress that sparked curiosity and some creations. For example, we tried experiments that tracked body temperature and the connection with feeling stress and tracked it. 

We explored the connection between tiredness and desire for more sleep which resulted in creating weighted, scented eye pillows. Other explorations continue to look at tech/science ways to track physiological markers of potential stress and crafts to ameliorate it, - for example, by universal demand, we will create the highly scientific, evidence-based stress reducer called, in layman terms, slime.

Stefanie Haug, MS Counselor

Building Lamps in 7th Grade English

In English class the focus and priority is always reading and writing. It is important, however, to engage students in multiple methods of exploration and multiple ways to express understanding. Our “Choice Read Unit” provides the perfect opportunity to experiment with different modes of this exploration and expression. All students choose their own novel, so the challenge is to create a project that both honors the individual texts and unifies the class in creating something together.

This year students build lamps. The lamp shade has four sides, each depicting plot points and themes from the student’s novel. The class spent four days in the maker space constructing the bases and then decorating their shades using a wonderful wide range of materials, including decorative paper, paint, glitter, marker, googly eyes, etc. The students then wrote comprehensive “artist statements” that explain their novels and the creative choices they made in their lamp design. They are displayed in the LLC.

Betsy Canday

English Department Chair

Technology at the Middle School

From the bbns website, March 12, 2018

Technology at the Middle School

MS science teacher Amy Carey with students
in the Maker Space.

Tushar, William, Daniel, and Harrison walk into the Maker Space in the Carriage House. The last bell of the academic day has rung. It's mud week, so there are no sports this afternoon, and these eighth-grade boys have signed up to do a bit of computer design. Svetlana Grinshpan, Middle School Technology Specialist, and Amy Carey, Middle School Science Teacher, are waiting for them. Carey asks, "So you want to do some Raspberry Pi stuff? Have you ever done it before?"

None of the boys have worked with Raspberry Pi, but Harrison offers, "I've done stuff with Scratch, but not this."

One whole wall of the Maker Space is taken over by the Gardening Elective group's seedling trays and grow lights. On the far wall are shelves with bins containing every crafty item imaginable, including pipe cleaners, glue sticks, felt, glitter, paint, markers, and of course, googly eyes. At one large table, Carey is finishing setting up the materials and projecting instructions for building with the Rasberry Pi computer kit. At the other large table, Grinshpan has set up the materials to make light-up greeting cards, just in case any of the boys want to take a break from their work with the computer. 

The Maker Space exists as both a physical space and as an idea. As a physical space, it has a central location and currently holds a variety of tools, craft supplies, beads, electronics, a 3-D printer, sewing machines, and others. As an idea, "maker" creates endless opportunities for creativity and problem solving, and promotes Design Thinking Mindset for the entire school.

The Maker Space is one of the Technology Department's latest initiatives, and it fits into the larger context of the philosophy of technology in the classroom at the Middle School. Demetri Orlando, Director of Information Technology at BB&N, is clear about technology's role as a support for student learning in the classroom. Rather than technology as an end in itself (and a distraction of bells and whistles), Orlando says, "We want student technology to be available for seamless use whenever and wherever it advances teachers' instructional goals. Under the direction of a skilled teacher, technology tools greatly expand the repertoire of what students can be asked to do. It supports basic educational processes such as researching, writing, and communication."

Since the Middle School officially became a one-one (laptop) school in 2017, all students certainly enjoy an easier transition between work at school and work at home. Just as technology opens pathways to student discovery, it also opens pathways of connection between teachers and students. All teachers have a PowerSchool webpage for each of their classes. These web pages are a hub of communication for assignments, supporting materials, showcases of student work, student-to-student support, teacher feedback on student assignments, and more. 

Grinshpan, who joined the Middle school faculty in 2009, has worked closely with every department. She has, in fact, helped nearly every individual teacher to see the possible ways technology can enhance their teaching and further their goals for their students.  Her comfort with her role as Technology Specialist, natural curiosity about all subjects, love of students, and patience with teachers has made her an integral part of the Middle School teaching team. Bill Rogers, head of the Middle School history department, sees that her support has revolutionized the way they approach the history curriculum.

"Svetlana comes to nearly all our history meetings and has been responsible for probably three quarters of what we do with tech. Her ideas of how to extend and improve projects have been key to our work. I do not exaggerate when I say she is the most important change in our Middle School staff in 20 years! She has knowledge, creativity, communications, and dedication." 

Indeed, the history department has made profound revisions to their pedagogy and finds that technology is now an integral tool to their teaching. Students benefit. Rogers lists some of the innovations the department has initiated with the help of Grinshpan: "First, technology has influenced curriculum design. Students now blog for our websites. They create virtual trips, websites, wikispaces, and newscasts. Second, technology has allowed more drafts and easy manipulation of essay teaching, both central to history courses. Third, it has allowed more in-class access to information and short video examples for enrichment. Fourth, it allows teachers to communicate and students to submit work when they are missing school. Fifth, it allows students access to the whole history section when they have questions at home. Sixth, we can project anything important instantly to the whole class." Sasha Bergman, ceramics teacher, also sees that technology enhances her teaching. "I meet almost weekly with Svetlana to continuously push the edges of what is possible for technology to contribute to my ceramics classroom. She seems to constantly have her hands and mind involved in new possible ideas that she brings to me to try out."

Middle School Technology Specialist Svetlana Grinshpan.

All departments benefit from Grinshpan's expertise and innovative contributions. She is always looking for new ways to engage faculty in their own professional development by introducing tools and workshops that increase teacher skills. "Demetri and I share the same philosophy," Grinshpan says. "The best uses of technology in education are when it amplifies a student centered, project-based, constructivist approach to learning. I am very excited about the technology related curricular work MS faculty have been doing over the last couple years. A few summers ago, a group of MS teachers participated in RISD's Art & Tech conference, and another group spent a week exploring the concept of design thinking at NUVU Innovation School in Cambridge. An interesting focus of the faculty's work has been exploring the new approach to learning known as STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math). It is an interdisciplinary method aimed at helping students develop vital transferrable skills and learning across subjects, through experimentation, trial and error, and creativity. I love the projects that come out of this interdisciplinary approach to learning because they exemplify that the world is complex and messy. Problems cannot always be solved through knowledge of chemistry or physics alone. Integrating coding, electronics, 3D modeling into Arts adds new dimensions to students' expression and understanding."

The use of technology in the classroom will remain integral for the foreseeable future, and the available tools are constantly evolving. Orlando is forward-thinking about next steps and next phases about how it can enhance student learning. He says, "A one-to-one learning environment levels the playing field for all of our students. The Middle School faculty has spent significant time thinking about how students should take best advantage of digital tools and resources while building a positive culture of use. The role of technology is still the same. Technology supports learning, but the availability and reliability has significantly increased, allowing for more sophisticated and fluid use of these tools."

Meanwhile in the Maker Space, the boys settle into their stools at the table. Carey shows them some of the materials and helps them brainstorm a plan. "This is an old monitor we've taken apart. Here's the converter. We'll need a joy stick. Look at the screen to see how they explain the wiring over there, and next steps." Grinshpan crosses the Maker Space to sit with the students in order to observe as they get to work and, if they need it, to lend a hand.

Tushar checks out the projected instructions. "I'd be into that."

Check out the below links for some examples of technology in the classroom in the Middle School:

Tech blog: Tanzania video chat

Tech blog: Building lamps

Tech blog: Circuitry and language

Tech blog: Technology and pottery

(Written by Betsy Canaday, MS English department.)

The Makey Makey Learns a New Language! - YEAR TWO!

In the second annual Makey Makey science project, 7th graders designed an interactive objects using a MakeyMakey kit. Touching different locations on the object complete a circuit and produce different sentences they are currently studying at the Middle School.

Art, Tech, & Math: Vinyl Cut Decals and 2D Tessellation Geometry Patterns on Pottery

Eighth grade students in Sasha’s Bergmann Wheel Pottery and Surface Design Class are learning tessellation patterning through a hands-on artistic application using the Silhouette Cameo printer and exploring a cutting-edge ceramics technology for glaze decoration. Each student designed a shape and printed the pattern repeatedly to create tessellation patterns on their decorative pottery.

Wellness Wednesdays

This year Stefanie Haug, MS Counselor (called "Ms. Stefanie" by students) is piloting an artsy way to help kids explore parts of themselves and relax. It's a monthly drop-in activity in the Makerspace called "Wellness Wednesday." She already hosts with Nurse Joanna a weekly drop-in lunch, called Mindful Lunch, where students can chat and explore the ways their bodies and minds are connected and how to navigate stressful experiences that arise. Wellness Wednesdays is a monthly drop-in where kids can create things on a similar theme of mind-body and stress reduction.

The first of the monthly Wellness Wednesdays explored the power of positive messages and random acts of kindness. The new Head of School inspired the idea with her story of Kindness Stones. Building on that, Ms. Stefanie and Ms Grinspan, the MS Tech Specialist, led students to consider uplifting messages and how to display them on rocks. Over 15 students dropped in and decorated rocks with messages for friends, family and for the community. Strolling around the MS campus, you'll come across many rock 'pep talks' sprinkled around the building with messages like "you rock!"

Upcoming monthly crafts remain a surprise until the week they're announced.....however the next craft combines socks and sleep......to find out more, stop by the Maker Space on a Wednesday. The next Wellness Wednesday will be Nov 15th and then Dec 6th.

At the end of September, MS Maker received a much needed update to the space – installing a sink, cabinets, new workspace, and a better organized flow for students.

6th grade technology class — lots of hands up for our bridge design project!

Science Night 2017

This year's 8th grade Science Knight was billed as an evening of Chemistry Connection. Students prepared demonstrations, created poster boards and prototypes of their inventions. Their invention can be a brand new technology or a new application of an existing technology and address one of the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) as set out by the United Nations in 2015. Here is the link to the Chemistry of the Future Videos

Students created a prototype of their inventions using many materials and supplies in the maker space (cardboard tubes, cereal boxes, glitter, electronics …) These are some of the questions students have tackled: Why is spider silk so strong? Why does chocolate taste so good to humans but is toxic to dogs? How can hair be used to solve crimes? Can beet juice be used to melt ice on your driveway?

The Augmented Reality (AR) Sandbox is taking shape.

Working through a school funded Launch Grant, Lower School science teacher Ms. Derrien has teamed up with Technology Specialist, Tony Cai and Makerspace Mentor, Joseph Heitzman to bring an augmented reality (AR) sandbox to the Lower School campus. Stay tuned as this project is built completely from scratch.

Creating a Timeline in the Latin American Classroom

Seventh graders used our new maker-space to create Latin American timelines. These multi-colored timelines cover their country’s history from colonization through modern times and have the following requirements:

• The timeline must be to scale 
• The timeline must have a key to show scale measurements 
• Years should be listed on the timeline at regular intervals 
• A list of 15-20 important dates in the history of your country must be included
• Include extras to enhance your timeline’s appearance (drawings, pictures, etc.)

The Makey Makey Learns a New Language!

In the 7th Grade Science classroom students designed an interactive object using a MakeyMakey kit. Students were asked to create different locations on the object, where by touching will complete a circuit and produce distinct sentences in the language they are currently studying at the Middle School. 

3Doodle in the 8th Grade Art and Tech Class

In the 8th Grade Stephanie Moon's Art and Tech Class students are exploring 3D Printing Pen and are giving an Art Challenge to design a 3-dimensional "drawing" that communicates a personal and social message to the viewer through the use one of the following concepts:

• merging multiple images to create symbolic meaning
• words as visual forms to communicate meaning
• a close examination to make us more aware of something