You can learn a ton from a 6th grader.

Challenges Drive Learning

I teach a technology course for 8th graders and a basic computers course for 6th graders. Both are a ton of fun for me as I see "eureka" moments for students almost every day.  Last week was especially awesome as I was able to have my own eureka moment. The beauty of it was that the moment was inspired by one of my 6th graders.

Students in 6th grade computers have worked through Word and Excel using training movies that
have been crafted for them. It is nice because they get to move at their own pace, requesting help as needed.  It is awesome to see in action as each student is working on their projects at a pace that fits them. My classroom is unique in that I have the students play the videos out loud. The beauty of hearing the videos playing is that I can tell where they are all at in the lessons and can assist when they are getting to training that I know stumps some students.

Version 2 by Kamryn

As students complete their lesson they are allowed to complete extensions. They are completely optional and cover topics like TinkerCAD, Scratch, Kahoots, and Turtle Academy.  This is where the story gets interesting for me. A 6th grade girl, Kamryn, was whipping through the TinkerCAD training as fast as I could create it. When she passed me, I mentioned out loud that I have always been interested in creating a car that could print with the wheels in place, then immediately roll when pulled from the printer. She attacked the project with a few notes on paper and question here and there. Three days later we had version 1 created.  When printed, we analyzed it and immediately went to work on version 2. Kamryn nailed version two and I went to work on my own version after school.  The challenge had driven both of us to new levels.

My version in transparent mode.

My eureka moment was the next week when Kamryn noted that she wanted a new challenge. She noted how much fun it was to solve the first one, even when version one failed. This week I am challenging myself to find a challenge lesson for each of the courses I teach.