Think+Tank+Week+2+(Yelena)

recap of the last Monday's meeting: ==Session 2 - September 15 == ===Team builder ===

The kids worked in pairs. Each child in a pair had exactly the same set of LEGO blocks as the other child. They had to build the same things without looking at each other's boards, going by voice instructions only. This is a tough challenge!

Teja and Louis - Teja chose a very simple design which contributed to the success. She also took into account the “my right = your left” problem. Louis asked clarifying questions when necessary. 

Mark David and Daniil - they had some communication issues (that’s expected). Dads tried to help them work out the conventions and terminology, but it wasn't very helpful. How come? This is a great learning experience for the parents. Another problem - both kids chose complicated designs although the second round they learned from their mistake and simplified it. 

Mark Daniel and Alex - worked without any supervision and did very well. They worked through the difficulties and on the second round their boards looked almost exactly alike. Unfortunately, they decided to go for an exact match by taking everything apart and rebuilding from zero… 30 seconds before the end of the activity. That was a great lesson for them to learn. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">

===<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; vertical-align: baseline;">Challenge discussion - learning in the past and in the future ===

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Got some more ideas about what people learn, where and what tools they use for learning. It seems that kids were more open and enjoyed sharing their thoughts which included <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Cooking school - how to cook - tools: utensils <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Home - how to brush teeth - tools: mom, toothbrush, paste <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">School - Math - tools: pencils, paper <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Home - how to build things - tools: Legos

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">What school looked like 200 years ago? Where did kids learn? What they learned? How about 2000 years ago? If there was no school back then, does it mean there was no learning? Some of the ideas from the kids were:

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">There were no cars/buses <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">All ages studied together in the same room <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">There was no cafeteria <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">No computer science, no learning how to use a computer <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Kids had to learn to ride a horse - but this was done at home (not at school)

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">2,000 years ago… <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">There was no school <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Kids learned skills from their families <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Learned how to use arrows to kill animals for food <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Learned to “drive” a boat

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">This was a whirlwind discussion. I was trying to cover too much ground and there wasn’t enough time. So perhaps we'll continue this discussion next week.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Next I asked the kids to imagine what learning would be like in the future and what school would be like in the future. What kind of learning tools will people use in the future? Everyone seemed very excited. ===<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; vertical-align: baseline;">Lego build ===

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Working with a partner, build a scene that reflects your ideas of future learning. One thing in it has to move. Tell us about what you built.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Teja and Alex - started working each on their own projects. However, after a few reminders they started communicating better, found room for both their ideas on the board and tied the ideas together into one set-up. Kids in the future will learn to operate submarines and conduct underwater research. Moving mechanism powered the sub. Alex pointed out such thoughtful features as a coffee mug and a trash can.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Mark David and Louis - the two started the discussion right away. They talked about their ideas and what they were doing through the entire build. They built a rocket that would get kids to school (instead of a bus), a school building with a gym (even a lacrosse racket!) and a cafeteria. Moving mechanism was going to unlock the cafeteria doors.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Mark Daniel and Daniel - the two did not talk throughout the project even after repeatedly being reminded about needing to work with their partner. Their designs were not finished and had only remote relevance to the task at hand. The two pieces that they made did not come together into a story. ===<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; vertical-align: baseline;">Homework ===

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Imagine, draw, write about or build future learning - the place or the learning tools or a learning experience scene. Homework is OPTIONAL and has to be completed by children themselves. This is their time to focus on building with LEGOs since primary goal of the exercise during the meeting was building with partners. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">Kids encouraged to share pictures/video of Lego builds! If videos, please keep them short (30 sec to 1 min) and in English so everyone will understand what's going on.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">See you on Monday!

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;">Yelena