July 17th, 2017

I've been home for 48 hours, taken 2 naps and gone to bed early. I thought catching up on sleep would help me sum up our experience at CMK, but I still feel like I'm percolating. Maybe that's the takeaway... a full school year of pondering, implementing, and learning more.

In the spirit of brevity, from the advice from Gary (@garystager) to "slice up my blog" and from my husband in regards to my last post ("It was so long!") I will try to sum up concisely, meaningfully, and Twitterishly.

Best quotes:

Deborah Meier (@debmeier) - "The sense of you as a human being to make things internalizes a power to reshape the world... and that carries an implicit message.", "Schools should be places where children keep company with adults.", and lastly "Let's give agency back not only to students, but teachers as well."

Gary Stager (@garystager) - "Learning is natural.", "Ask kids how often they have learned something online but how often they have shared something for others.", and in regards to our personal journey, "Maintain your courage and conviction!"

Pete Reynolds (@FableLearn, @FableVision, @FablePaul, & @peterhreynolds) - "Only human beings can notice other human beings." (in reflection about how amazing technology is but how more amazing people are.)

An art teacher named Andrea attending CMK - "I know I CAN do it, now I just have to move forward."

Ayah Bdeir (@ayahbdeier) - I'm not sure if this is her quote but was on the laptop she used "You gotta break-it to make-it." She was inspirational to listen to... see my last post.

Lastly, our own Kelsy Power (@kelsy_power) - "The kids can do it." I love this because it shows her immense faith in children and passing responsibility to her students... children step up if given the chance to do so.

(In my opinion, the funniest quote from the week was from our own Kaylee Dahl {@kaylee_c_barker}... I made a joke about the box we created to hold our motor for our project and called it the "motor home"... she then said glibly, "We should have just made a motor home... it would have been easier!" It was great to laugh amidst our frustration. And then to see our completed project - video below -  was even that more satisfying.)

Being around like-minded educators at #cmk17 was so uplifting and exciting. The proof that TIME is one of the best things a school can give its students was apparent as we worked on our projects. I think my best takeaway was simply that perfection wasn't what we were striving for. We were looking to do something new and learn along the way. Our finished product wasn't ready for SharkTank, but neither were many others... the journey and what we learned were far more valuable than the end product... another valuable lesson.

Would you like to learn more? Are you interested in hearing how The Innovation School is bringing this type of learning to North Dakota? Are you hoping to teach your child how to be adaptable, competent, and flexible in an ever changing world? Please contact me today to discuss how The Innovation School can be a solution. I look forward to talking with you!

Our project with custom 3D printed gears and parts... a quick way to chill your juice/soda (without ice diluting it).