Stage 1 – Desired Results
Goal: Learners will discover and engage collaboratively in activities using a maker mindset to become life-long learners that are infinite creators and problem solvers.
Understandings
- Students will understand that collaboration is vital to their learning career.
- Students will understand what a maker mindset is.
- Students will understand the difference between copying, innovating and collaborating as a collective.
- Students will understand the value of true TEAM work. (Together Everyone Achieves More)
- Students will understand the importance of resources discovery and utilization.
- Students will understand that the brain is a muscle that canned be strengthened.
Essential Questions
- What is innovation?
- What is a collective?
- What is a growth mindset?
- What is a fixed mindset?
- What is a maker mindset?
- What does it mean to leverage amongst a team?
- What can be done to build up brain muscles?
Students will know (knowledge and skills)
- Key terms – TEAM, collective, collaboration, mindset, tinker, imagineer
- Fixed vs. Growth Mindset diagram outlining actions and attitudes
- Problems that arise from sole source information and presentations
- Necessity the mother of invention
- Brain growth, function and evolution
Students will be able to
- Analyze real world situations and determine what mindset is being used as well as what it would look/sound like when the opposite mindset is being used.
- Create dialogue for them to have their inner self to encourage growth mindset.
- Work within a TEAM/collective to collaborate and discuss resources.
- Solve a problem using resources discovered, leveraged teamwork and maker mindsets.
- Use exploration, inquiry, tinkering, imagination and growth mindset to imagineer and innovate.
Stage 2 – Determine Acceptable evidence
What evidence will show that students understand?
Performance tasks:
Learning in the making
- Choose a content area and create a maker plan presentation with illustrations of maker activities. Models of hands on sample items should be available to view.
Sharing is caring
- Students design a lesson showcasing maker activities for younger students. The lesson will be presented to their teacher as a proposed activity they would like to guide the younger students through. A mock video will be created by the students of the maker activity and shared with the principal of the elementary school for review and approval.
Other evidence
- Quiz over key terminology: Matching the following terms (innovation, resource, leverage, collaboration, collective, inquiry, agency, growth mindset, fixed mindset, maker mindset and TEAM) with real world situations that represent them.
- Journal reflection using Fixed/Growth diagram where students describe situations in their lives where they have used each mindset. Students reflect on the outcomes of the situations.
- Students will be given academic prompts to demonstrate agency in life-long learning skills using resource discovery for solutions.
- Students will reflect upon their own learning expanding on the previously defined inquiry document.
Stage 3 – Learning Activities
What learning experiences and instruction will enable students to achieve the desired results?
- Hook: Videos – Ford Model T; Tesla Self Driving 18-wheeler; Astros Win
- Discussion – Why aren’t people still using the Ford model T? How do you think self-driving vehicles became reality? What did you notice about Astros overall?
- Complete learning in the making and sharing is caring activities. Discussion the culmination of the activities.
- What is copying?
- What is innovating?
- How should a TEAM work?
- Essential focus topics: growth mindset, fixed mindset, maker mindset, collective, leverage and the brain as a muscle
- Present the growth mindset vs. fixed mindset graphic again but with specific problem-based questions. Use real world situations and ask students to classify them as within the fixed or growth mindset.
- Define and discuss thoughts on the maker mindset. Expand the discussion by talking about specific actions needed to create as well as apply this mindset affectively.
- Work in groups across teams to bounce ideas off and discover knowledge from one another. Use this knowledge as feedback that can feed forward to help teams improve previous ideas and fuel inquiry on their created maker activities.
- Groups share out findings which fosters the creation of a collective.
- Individually students reflect on personal contributions to the maker activity as well as the TEAM progress. TEAM progress is seen as each member presents their contributions to the TEAM.
- Show video: “Microsoft” hook with Common featured. Students discuss how the use of technology and the maker mindset could be used together.
- Students respond to the following prompts: What could happen if no one used a maker mindset? What could happen if everyone had a growth mindset and applied a maker mindset to problem solving?
- Teacher models solving a simple yet relevant problem with and without a maker mindset. The students then quickly choose a real-world yet simple problem and solve it by applying the maker mindset.
- Students develop a digital collaboration space to pool resources, bounce ideas off peers, give and receive feedback and continuously discuss inquiry and action research.
- Once the maker plan is complete the students receive evaluations and feedback from the teacher. Students then assess their own maker plan and the maker plans of peers using a provided rubric. How valuable was collaboration?
- Students present their maker plan as a digital recording that can be shared at our next open house event for parent involvement.
- Reflection on the original goal with the students occurs. Students will then self-assess their maker mindset, collaboration skills & comfort level with it, imagination, growth mindset, feedback receipt & comfort level with giving as well as receiving it and how they felt about any failures as they completed the process to create their maker plans.
Fink’s three column table lead me through the construction of broad yet concise goals along with activities and assessments to support them. The UbD three-page template was laid out with a lot of details and steps after initially stating the main goal. Both resources started with the goal, but Fink’s three column table kept that goal in the forefront as details were at a minimum while the UbD three-page template was filled with details, yet it was harder to consistently see the connection to the goal. After completing the UbD template and Fink’s three column table I see that I could use them together to create the best lesson design. While Finks three column table is great for a broad overview of my maker plan I can see more details laid out in the UbD template. It was helpful to have the three-column table done before I worked on the three-page template as my planning was a clear reflection of my overall goals.
References
Thomas D. & Brown, J.S., (2011) A New Culture of Learning
Dweck C.S. Ph.D., (2016) Updated Edition, Growth Mindset: The New Psychology of Success
Wiggins G. & McTighe J., (2005) Expanded 2nd Edition, Understanding by Design
teaching chose me 