Picture by tallpomlin http://www.flickr.com/photos/paultomlin/4078285199/sizes/l/in/photostream/
Thanks for checking this out.
Design of the deck is influenced by the Marin Fair look and feel, as I was invited to present my 5 ideas there in 2013.
I will give some examples of the potential that we have and especially you kids have.
Two examples that menial jobs aka jobs not requiring a lot of skills are disappearing rapidly.
Self driving cars are here. The U.S. state of Nevada is allowing to register these cars since May 2012.
Google driverless car: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_driverless_car
I can’ t wait to be driven around.
Jobs in danger once this is picking up steam:
1.5 million Truck drivers
170.000 Taxi drivers
IBM’s Watson Computer beating best human Jeopardy players
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watson_(computer)
Many many diagnostic jobs, phone support jobs will be taken over.
This trend is only accelerating.
Divergent thinking is a thought process or method used to generate creative ideas by exploring many possible solutions http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divergent_thinking
Creativity is a phenomenon whereby something new and valuable is created https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creativity
In the 70s NASA created a test to check their scientists and engineers regarding lateral/divergent thinking.
Some call it out of the box thinking.
Picture by El Patoja: http://www.flickr.com/photos/elpatojo/225193137/
Results of 1,600 children of ages 3 to 5 years where given 8 tests on divergent thinking.
98% scored in the creative genius category
And in a compulsory education system governed by the metronome with test after test to pass …
5 ideas to set a framework for the 21st century schooling
Develop the I can built this attitude: http://playborhood.com/2013/07/i-can-build-that/
Nico 5 years old standing on the bridge he built at Tinkering Summer School in San Francisco.
Tinkering School http://www.tinkeringschool.com/
TechShop: http://techshop.ws/
Noisebridge: https://www.noisebridge.net/
Maker Faire http://makerfaire.com/
Hacker-/Maker-spaces are indicators of future economic success.
Shame that there is non in Marin County that I know off.
From day one share publically:
Problem
Probable Solution
Progress: Budget, Project Status, Timeline
Lessons learned
Background are Nina’s sketches of the tree house we are planning to built.
Broadcast to the world once the solution is done aka the last week of the school year.
Make sure to have enough time for a reflection session including recording of the lesions learned.
These lesions learned are the starting point into the next year.
Connected Planet source: http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4054/4387582220_ae690a67df_o.jpg
Earth from space: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Earth_from_Space.jpg
How can we implement these ideas for the 21st century school beginning of the next school year?
Let’s take a page from Google 20% projects: https://plus.google.com/hangouts/_/ee996d5c71a57f74aefb87a68edb95477bdb09d3
Give school children room to explore on their own 20% of their time aka every Friday is: Thank God It’s Project Friday. TGIPF
Don’t be frustrated that your school isn’t following the TGIPF principle.
Make your own projects.
Come home get your home work done and then work on your project(s).
Treat school like an artist treats the side job that pays the bills.
Necessary evil, great focus while there, but no minute more than needed.
Actually bring in as much as you can from your Everyday Project as you can into the school environment.
Approach your teachers:
Math: I am building a tree house can you cover in your lessons how to calculate how much wood I need?
Art: Are we doing sketches this year? Use your tree house sketches.
English teacher asks to write an essay about what you have done during the summer break:
Use your blog post about building a tree house.
Remember: Stretch yourself! The real magic happens outside of your comfort zone.
Source I think: High Existence http://www.highexistence.com/images/view/where-the-magic-happens-vs-your-comfort-zone-2/
What is the greatest gift we can give to the world? Howard Thurman said: Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Becausewhat the world needs the most is people who have come alive. Schools based on Standardized Tests create standardized People ill equipped for the magical accelerating changing world of today.
Don’t wait for the school to change. Make change. Treat the precious family time as exploring time. Background picture is self baked bread to remind everyone what a great area of exploring and tinkering the kitchen is. Be active in the community. Create maker spaces.
Last Comic strip of Calvin and Hobbes by Bill WattersonPublished in 1995 http://calvinethobbes.free.fr/english/c_der.htmlBill Watersonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Watterson