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Originally published at http://fellows.fablearn.org/thoughts-on-failure/ on March 17, 2018   “Failure is instructive. The person who really thinks learns quite as much from his failures as from his successes.” John Dewey   This blog post is based on my November 10th 2016 Ignite talk for Fair Chance Learning’s event in Niagara Falls with Brian Aspinall, during the Bring It Together conference. See my slide deck here.   Being a dad has affected my pedagogy. I’ve come to realize that I need to believe what I say, not just for other people’s kids, but also for my own! My 5 son and I made an air tank for his halloween firefighter costume.Read More →

Originally published at http://fellows.fablearn.org/real-tools-real-life-real-learning/ on March 3, 2018 Don’t Run With Scissors There is a lot of discussion in the FabLearn community about tools, not only new tools like 3D printers and CNC machines, but also about finding great hand and power tools for children. As I have been pondering tool use in the classroom, I have come to several conclusions: Tools need to be sized appropriately for children Tools need to be of good quality to do the actual work one might expect them to do Children need to have access to tools when they are ready to use them Different children are ready forRead More →