SteamHead

At our elementary school winter festival, something unexpected happened.

Paper snow fell from the ceiling.

And the Grade 2 students were controlling it.

This post shares how we used MicroBlocks, micro:bit, and OctoStudio together to create a live robotics effect for a school performance —…

We love learning environments that don’t announce themselves as classrooms. A FabLab visit, a cooking class, a university night market, and a coworking space with a capybara café all stood out on their own this November, but together they revealed something we’ve been circling for years in our work at SteamHead.

Learning thrives when spaces invite participation rather than instruction.

At FabLab Bangkok, the scale and openness of the space immediately stood out. There was serious equipment,…

In the bustling hub of innovation that is Shenzhen, young minds are being molded to envision the future through hands-on, creative learning. The MG Space Cardboard Engineering Semester Course stands out as an exciting journey into design, engineering, and collaboration for Grade 3 students. Over the course of 12 engaging lessons, learners immerse themselves in cardboard engineering, culminating in a bold challenge: imagining “What will…

MakeFashion Edu is not just a fun project, it has solid connections to progressive education philosophy and academic musings. For newcomers, this is our project where students choose advocacy issues and then combine fashion and electronics for a public runway, exemplifies Dale Schunk’s (noted education academic) notion that learning and cognition are shaped by a learner’s beliefs, which in turn, are influenced by personal, social, and cultural factors. This project-based approach promotes…

ChatGPT just did an excellent job helping to teach me! Educational Theorist John Dewey wrote a fantastic essay in 1938 called “Experience & Education”, which shares nuanced viewpoints on progressive education. The points he makes are important for me to reflect in my curriculum plans for next school year. However, it is super dense, and written in high-eleven academian, and is super long winded to help in avoiding subtle philosophical contradictions. But here it is summarized into four main…

Dyscalculia is a congenital condition that affects an individual’s ability to acquire and perform mathematical tasks. It is a lifelong condition, and here is a Numberphile YouTube video on it.They say 3-6% of people have it!

Having dyscalculia does not mean a person won’t be successful and happy, but it can often mean that academic or other life tasks are not well-designed for them.

I read a pretty long academic paper, or five, on the condition, it’s identification and possible “treatments”…

In my 2018 classroom, I had the privilege of working with 18 students, two of whom presented with disabilities. Specifically, Theo was diagnosed with moderate autism, which impacted his social abilities, and Maria had a sensory processing disorder that resulted in high sensitivity to certain sensory experiences, such as physical stimuli and sound. My personal experience with misophonia helped me to connect with Maria and understand her challenges.

Theo, sitting in the corner

The seating…

Paper as a “fabric” for affordable student wearables projects? It might work out better than you think!

While researching at a textile museum in Prato, Italy, the team at SteamHead visited an exhibit showcasing paper dresses. These dresses, made entirely out of paper, were not only beautiful but also surprisingly durable. Paper dresses have a rich history in America dating back to the 1960s. During this time, paper dresses were seen representing political and cultural messages. Andy Warhol and…

Written by ChatGPT, Prompt/Edit by Carrie

A big thank you to Melanie Crider and Pam Anderson of Pioneertown, California, who have generously donated fabrics to MakeFashion Edu over the years. Artists themselves in the Western motif and makers in the pioneering way of life, they understand having the right materials can increase the joy of designing and creating. These fabrics have been used in prototyping, student projects, and for learning pattern, construction, and sewing skills.

Solar panels are a way for an individual to create a tradable commodity: electricity. It often goes unappreciated that even a middle school student is able to create a tradable commodity. And we are not talking about growing a few grains of rice and eating it at home; electricity can be traded for money by any anonymous person with a computer, the internet, and some electricity. In terms of educational philosophy – energy independence is a pillar of the systems thinking that we teach to…