Have you ever done something and it turned out to be WAY more complicated than you originally intended?  This week in GATE, we did just that!    Rube Goldberg was a famous cartoonist whose wacky inventions took a simple task and made it very complicated with the use of simple machines.  Each student drew their own Rube Goldberg design.  Above is one of his designs for sharpening a pencil!  Do you really need a kite and a iron to sharpen a pencil?  Well, you do if you’re designing the Rube Goldberg way!   We had students design everything from how to cook an egg to how to blow out a birthday candle.  And you thought those tasks were simple!

We also tried out Fantastic Contraption and WhizzBall to try our hand at designing a contraption that really works.  So our invention unit is well underway and we are looking forward to our big Invention Convention coming up in December! 

No, it’s not Achooo…. it’s Achi.  This week in GATE we are playing a few versions of a popular game.  We played the West African Verson, Achi.   Next, we played the English version, Three Man Morris.   We are working now to invent our own themed version of this strategic game.  We held a discussion about the meaning of the word fair and how to keep a game fair for all players. Students are creating rules, desiging a game board, and when we finish we will upload our games to a gallery here on our website so people around the world can try our versions out! So, stay tuned!  Students used Microsoft Pain, Microsoft Publisher, and some drew their boards by hand.  After we proofread our rules and put on the finishing touches, we will be completing our game gallery!   At least we now know one thing for sure…. when somebody says “Achi,” there’s no need to say “Bless You!” It just means they just won the game!

Here’s a blank version of the gameboard in case you’d like to make your own version of Achi!

On July 18, I was lucky enough to get to present at the Successlink Technology Innovations Conference at TanTarA. I presented two workshops: Dynamite Digital Storytelling and using Moodle in the Elementary Classroom. I got to meet a lot of other teachers from around Missouri that love technology, too.

One of the greatest Digital Stories I have ever seen is “Granny Smith.” It was made by a 3rd grader. Click the picture to check it out! Caution: If you watch this you will VERY likely be addicted to digital storytelling! Just had to warn you! You’ll find yourself caught up in the fun of planning projects for creative writing, social studies, or science that work this in because it’s so much FUN!

If you want to get started right after you watch it, you can print off my workshop handout or just visit Digitales.us for all the information you’d ever need! There is even a camp you can attend to learn the process (and soak up some fresh mountain air in the process!) How cool is that? Someday, I’d like to go to that camp and the Iditarod Conference for Educators in Alaska! Maybe there is even a camp for math strategies on the beach in the Bahamas somewhere….

Wow! The Gnome has 32 destinations to head off too this school year. That should keep him travelling well past Christmas! I know he’s excited to leave, but first we have to finish up summer vacation. He now has his very own online travel journal. There is still time to host him! A million thanks to all the teachers who are helping us out with our project!

Who is five inches tall and loves to travel?

Give up?

The Roaming Gnome

This coming school year, our little gnome will travel the globe to try to see the world and he wants to visit you and your students! If you are willing to host the roaming gnome, leave a comment here on the blog with your email address or email me at ktvenos@yahoo.com with “Roaming Gnome Request” in the subject line. I’ll contact you to get mailing information!

What does it take to host him? We’ll mail the Roaming Gnome to you, then you’ll take a few photos of him visiting your school or town. When he arrives, he’ll have a password to the Roaming Gnome Blog for you to post an entry to his journal. All grade levels are welcome! Then we’d ask that you please return him promptly in his self addressed envelope so he can continue on his journey.

Currently, he’s busy reading up on educational research. What? You expect the Gnome to lay around all summer? I’m sorry, but he doesn’t like to grade papers or do recess duty… he just likes to travel and share the world with students.

It’s summer and part of the fun of the summer is looking ahead at a new school year. It’s also fun to redecorate a classroom!

Lots of layers, lots of drying, I work to get the robot paintings for my classroom EXACTLY the way I want them. In the end, I wonder, “Does that “G” look too much like a “C”? No, just a bit of perfectionism seeping in, I tell myself. It’s a G. So, I leave it. It’s definitely more of a G. Nobody else will think so. The scene that would follow with my five year old daugther was this…

Five Year Old: Did you paint those for your classroom?”

Me: Yes.

Five Year Old: I like the robots.

Me: Thanks.

Five Year Old: But why did you spell CAT with an “E”?

Welcome to my new classroom blog. I am sure it will be filled with posts about stapler injuries, spilled glue, learning adventures, and whatever else happens to make it’s way in WordPress. I decided to call it “Spinning Gears” because that’s really what teaching is. One thing always leads to another, things are constantly moving, and imaginations never stop… and that is exactly why I love it.