{"id":787,"date":"2013-09-21T21:46:43","date_gmt":"2013-09-21T13:46:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ssedro.com\/blog\/?p=787"},"modified":"2013-09-21T21:46:43","modified_gmt":"2013-09-21T13:46:43","slug":"invent-to-learn-making-tinkering-and-engineering-in-the-classroom-introduction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ssedro.com\/blog\/2013\/09\/21\/invent-to-learn-making-tinkering-and-engineering-in-the-classroom-introduction\/","title":{"rendered":"Invent to Learn: Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom – Introduction"},"content":{"rendered":"

This afternoon my poor husband re-experienced the concept that learning is social. \u00a0The precipitating event was me starting to read\u00a0Invent to Learn: Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom\u00a0<\/em><\/a> by Syliva Libow Martinez and Gary Stager. \u00a0Although he was trying to complete a number of other projects, I constantly interrupted his train of thought with my need to share what I was and learning, make exclamations, and to regaling him with fascinating tidbits of information.\u00a0(Well, at least I found them fascinating.) \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

In an attempt to spare my husband further interruptions, I’ll try to do a bit of ruminating here instead.<\/p>\n

\"Invent<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The first reason I was so compelled to share the book with him was that reading the brief history making took me back to so many of our teaching roots. \u00a0I was in college in the mid-1980’s. My assignments had me reading about basal readers and Hunterization. \u00a0My free time was spent reading books such as\u00a0The Open Classroom Reader\u00a0<\/em>by Charles E. Silberman. \u00a0The type of teaching championed by that book was much closer to what I’d hope to be learning in my college classes than I was finding in my assigned textbooks.<\/p>\n

Our first teaching jobs were at a student-centered, progressive, multi-age, parent choice program. Our teaching methods were informed by the research of Piaget, Dewey, Vygotsky, and the Whole Language movement. \u00a0We worked hard to teach the entire child, addressing, social and emotional development along with academic progress.<\/p>\n

In my early years of teaching I became involved with the Minnesota TAWL network and the Network of Progressive Educators. \u00a0With such progressive roots, reading the introduction was like a meet up with old friends. \u00a0Revisiting my early years of teaching made me realize just how constructive our curriculum was.<\/p>\n