by Brian | May 28, 2020 | Education, High altitude ballooning, High Hopes Project, Inclusion, Messy Learning, Project Based, STEAM, STEM, Student Access, Teacher Access, The High Hopes Project
From a past High Hopes mission over 90,000 feet above Nevada. That’s Lake Tahoe on the left. At this altitude the balloon is in “near space” above 98% of the Earth’s atmosphere. Note the thin blue line of the atmosphere and the dark of space...
by Brian | Oct 2, 2019 | Change, Coding, Cooperative Learning, Digital Video, Education, Inclusion, Making, Messy Learning, Project Based, Reform, STEAM, STEM, Student Access, Teacher Access, Uncategorized
My wife and I were fortunate to travel to Africa this past summer. Our itinerary included Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana. We were notified by most of the listed countries when we applied for tourist visas that we were not to bring plastic bags into the...
by Brian | Aug 29, 2018 | Change, Cooperative Learning, Education, Inclusion, Messy Learning, Project Based, Reform, STEAM, STEM, Student Access, Teacher Access, Technology
Yesterday, I wrote a piece about assuming students have collaboration skills and building class culture. These vital learning pieces were greatly deemphasized and cut (even ridiculed as a waste of time) during the last 15 years or so of school “reform.” I...
by Brian | Aug 28, 2018 | Change, Cooperative Learning, Education, Inclusion, Literacy, Making, Messy Learning, Project Based, STEM, Student Access, Technology
I remember back in the day (or do people still do these?) when teachers in 4th or 5th grade tended to assign “the state” or “the country” report. Way too often the assumption was made that the students pretty much knew how to do these. The...
by Brian | Dec 14, 2017 | Coding, Education, Inclusion, Making, Messy Learning, STEM, Student Access, Teacher Access, Technology
Late last school year I met up with the folks at Breadware to determine if their Internet of Things (IoT) Development Kits could be a nice fit in local high schools. They were a local “start-up” company and they were willing to loan their kits to local...
by Brian | Dec 5, 2017 | Bee-Bots, Change, Coding, Education, Inclusion, Messy Learning, STEAM, STEM, Student Access, Teacher Access, Technology, Wikis
Last spring I was able to purchase, thanks to some unspent funding from a grant, 3 Bee-Bot “Hives” – they are about $600 each – each “hive” includes 6 Bee-Bots, a charging plate and a yellow backpack for transporting them. With time...
by Brian | Mar 2, 2017 | AUV's, Change, Coding, Cooperative Learning, Drones, Education, Inclusion, Messy Learning, STEM, Student Access, Teacher Access, Technology
I’ve written about Mike Ismari’s class before (here and here). He received a grant last summer to buy several models of drones and flight simulators to use with students. ABOVE: Mike’s drones finally arrived and are stored on shelves his students are...
by Brian | Feb 18, 2017 | AUV's, Change, Digital Video, Drones, Education, Inclusion, Messy Learning, STEM, Student Access, Teacher Access, Technology
You can tell from the bulk of my most recent posts that a big part of my job right now is about facilitating our STEM institute. I actually have another post about telescopes waiting in the wings for after I get a couple of questions answered. This video was produced...
by Brian | Feb 18, 2017 | AUV's, Change, Coding, Cooperative Learning, Education, Inclusion, Messy Learning, STEM, Student Access, Teacher Access, Technology
Although classroom visits are not actually required by the Nevada STEM Underwater and Aerial Vehicle Computer Science Institute (NSUAVCSI) “College and Career Ready” grant I wrote last summer, I believe visits and mentoring are a vital pieces of quality...
by Brian | Jan 7, 2017 | AUV's, Brian Crosby, Coding, Cooperative Learning, Drones, Education, Inclusion, Messy Learning, Project Based, STEM, Student Access, Teacher Access, Technology
Above: Panorama of Pyramid Lake including the Tufa formations “Stone Mother” and the Pyramid that gives the lake it’s name. Note the people on the beach between the formations for a scale of size. Between a busy work and holiday schedule, and a bout...
