Experiment. Fail. Learn. Repeat.

(This post also appears in our SCDSB  194 Days of Learning  Blog!) About eight months ago, I blogged about the challenges of supervising my daughters' daily piano practice. The  post  described how we were all learning something from this shared experience, particularly about grit and perseverance. The last week has brought about an interesting development in our family piano journey. I have agreed to take on the role of piano accompanist for a community choir I belong to. Our previous accompanist had moved on, and although I didn't volunteer immediately and enthusiastically (I have lots on my plate!) I knew that I could fill the position if they needed me to.  It has been several years (read: more than 10) since I did any work as an accompanist, and I do not practise piano regularly (read: almost never). The challenge of jumping back into this type of role was attractive to me; an opportunity to shake off the cobwebs and see what I'm capable of.  N...

(This post also appears in our SCDSB  194 Days of Learning  Blog!) I work with a phenomenal team of people. We don't always see a great deal of each other throughout the week as we pop in and out of the office on our way to and from schools across the county. One way we keep in touch is through Twitter. (You can see what our entire team has been tweeting by checking out  Pat Miller 's list here:  https://twitter.com/pmillerscdsb/lists/pit-2015-16 ). Tuesday evening, I saw this tweet: Turn your Smartphone into a 3D Hologram | 4K  @szwildcat  guess what we're making tomorrow!  #steam   @scdsbmath   https://t.co/qYdZwhlGbq — SCDSB Arts (@jamilamonahan)  September 22, 2015 Turn your Smartphone into a 3D hologram? Let's just say this: if you want to do an 'upcycling' project to create a device that turns iPads and smartphones into hologram viewers, you don't need to twist any arms in our department. Those of us who were going to b...

(This post also appears in our SCDSB 194 Days of Learning Blog!) Today I had the privilege of visiting the library at Baxter Central Public School. Last spring I had corresponded with the librarian, Andrew Morrison, about transforming part of his library into a 'Makerspace.'  Makerspace has become a bit of a buzzword in the last couple of years; many people are curious about them and wondering how they can create one in their school. Our teacher librarians have a key role to play in this venture as we see many 'learning commons' being transformed into multi-purpose spaces, and  Melissa Jensen  has been doing a phenomenal job sharing her expertise with all of our librarians as they consider their changing roles in our schools. The arrival of the green screens in schools last autumn was probably one of the first indications that our libraries were becoming key locations for students to engage in hands-on creation. After our short exchanges in the spring, I was thr...