Learning in the Lou

This is not just a blue square. It is a new idea I got from this book . I feel this one idea brought me back to life and opened my eyes. It is blowing my mind. I think this would make the best LU class. Interested in this idea, hit me up and let's talk! There are times when I am just out of ideas. When I don't have new ideas I feel a great loss of energy, I am powered by ideas.  New ideas are like cracking a book, all the potential is just about to be discovered. New ideas are like when I used to look down our road and see nothing by fresh snow, not a track anywhere. Breaking ground in all of that untouched snow was awesome. New ideas are energy. Here is something I look forward to every year, the 12 Day Summit. A school district puts out 12 days of videos and each day that passes it just gets better. Check out what they shared last year and the one before . Spoiler... Catlin Tucker has a video each year including this one! Sign up here , it is totally free. 

Introduction Your task is to document what you create in FACS. I am sure most of us have create a billion different videos over our lifetimes but there is a chance creating one to teach someone something is a new experience. This lesson will step you through the process of shooting a video to show and tell a process.  We will used this Tasty video as a point of reference. In class, we watched this video twice. The first time we focused what you see and what you noticed.  For the second viewing, we broke into small focus groups. Each group watched for just one thing. The goal was to pick out something specific they could reproduce in their own Tasty FACS video. Focus Groups Audience - Who are you creating this video for and what do you think they will need to know by the end? Plan - Sketch out what you shoot. This is the single most important, and often skipped, step in the whole project. If you plan your shots you will do less work than the other teams in the classroom guaran...

The walls of your classroom are fixed but you can change the environment in a snap with audio. During a recent presentation someone mentioned how you can lower heart rate, blood pressure and reduce stress through the use of things like music without words. The research was specifically about audio you hear in nature but I do believe introducing other sounds, like mimicking that of a coffee shop, can help some kids focus. Adding these soundscapes to the classroom is really easy by visiting one of the sites below. defonic sounds Click on the picture and then adjust the intensity. Scroll down for more options. This fits right into the idea of biophilic design. virtual ocean Very similar to the above, click the image to turn on and adjust the intensity. hipster cafe Click SFX to open the side panel. Add layers and then click the play button in the center of the screen. rainy day Make your selections, add intensity and change the background. Possible Next Steps Use a soundscape to help add ...

  Years ago I was backpacking deep in a national park. We were so far from everything I am not sure anyone would have ever found us if we got lost. What I started to notice after a few days was how quiet everything was. It really took that long, it really took over 72 hours for my head to start to quiet down. This was years before cell phones were everywhere. Once I was able to hit the quiet, new ideas started to flow. I felt calming, a sense of relaxation was unmistakable. This article reminded me of how vital a little quiet time is. While some of what this article suggests isn't possible in the classroom, creating tiny slices of quiet is. What if you tried 2 minutes of silence before class started? Maybe repeating that at the end, what might happen? Possible Next Steps Experiment with 2 minutes of silence maybe at the beginning of class, during or the end. Research has proven this is beneficial so what is the best that can happen if your try it over a series of days? While we mi...

I learned something new last week and it has me bursting with new ideas. I saw someone talk about biophilic design which is a fancy way of saying bringing the outside in and the inside out. This didn't make too much sense at first but I was hooked because I am pretty sure we are all solar powered. To prove that point, don't you feel energized when you walk outside and the sun hits you, that burst of feel good energy is what I talking about. What if your workspace could do that same, hit you with rejuvenating energy? The ideas I saw could be done everything we work and live. Check out these fast ideas to get started. Take a quick peek at the Virtual Grove . The part that stand out to me is replenishing yourself with micro-breaks. The presenters talk about as little as one minute per hour of being in nature or looking at nature would refill your attention and creativity.  The looking at nature hooked me because that is something all of us can do in a flash. Check out this playlis...

Below are a few ideas we talked about during our short time together. These are just ideas that I use from time to time for a number of reasons. These are like an onion. Take one layer at a time. Audio I love Spotify but I also like creating a soundscape around me. There are times when I just need to focus and music or spoken word is annoying. Working in a public library or coffee shop helps me focus so if I can't go there I bring the sounds to me. Check out how easy it is to change a little of your environment in a snap . Solar Power Do you ever feel energized when you walk outside and the sun hits you almost like you are solar powered? There is something to a little sunshine and quiet . Jar of Awesome If something amazing happens today, will I remember it? My guess is no, we tend to forget the good and always remember the bad. I am also confident that you have either a water bottle or coffee cup collecting dust somewhere at school, car or home. I did and repurposed it into the Ja...