Making Puzzle Shift Create useful
This site started as a blog, the first posts talked a lot about positive mindsets and learning through creating. It then started hosting resources that were aimed at helping teachers, parents, and librarians that are seeking creativity in their kids. That was the first 5 years.
Now I am thinking more and more about how to bring autonomy, creativity, and authentic learning into schools in new ways. A big part of that authentic learning is helping to see the context for their projects and the long journey they are on. As a teacher, I find myself thinking about how to motivate and inspire just as much as about the projects and resources that I am posting on this site. It seems to me that you need both – engaging projects and ‘mindset topics’ that connect the dots.
Fortunately, in the age of culture wars, the mindset topics are all very benign. boiling down to persistence, creativity, ownership, and practice. Saying these things in compelling ways has taken quite some time to develop, but that bridge has been crossed.
So to make PSC useful, I’m going to need to really work to categorize what would really help advance education as a whole.
Potential categories
Help teachers, parents, and students to:
- Learn 3D design for expressing creativity (TinkerCAD) and using 3d printers
- Learn the basics of code for many uses (Scratch)
- Using the six Creator Types (and delete the old non-cheap projects, no one has a budget anymore)
- Setting up a makerspace
- Using a makerspace
- Teaching a creative course and getting creative output from student
- Augmenting your kids’ creative side
It’s daunting but would be worth it when finished.
Good thing I’m in it for the long haul!