Beginnings in 3D Printing
This year I have been fortunate to spend time with +Rolland Chidiac-WCDSB at different points of his journey incorporating 3D printing into his grade 4 classroom. A few ah-ha's for me include the role of discovery, tangibles as gateways to student learning and improvement, and the inevitability of failure (and how we use it to feed-forward). This opportunity to learn, discuss, ideate, and share has been especially benefical as I am being provided with a 3D printer in my classroom next year as part of a reasearch study on spatial reasoning. One of my goals is to explore how mathematical concepts (eg. scale) and the design process can be intertwined to improve students' spatial reasoning skills. I also hope to discover ways to incorporate design thinking into other subject areas (with students leading the way I imagine). The chance to get started with 3D printing came before I knew it. As a final culminating activity in history, students were challenged to synthesize their lea...