Helpful Sites

In the last post, there was mention of upcycling and re-purposing.  If you're a homeschooling parent, a teacher, or just curious, here are some sites that have proven helpful.

• Craft Gossip's section about recycled crafts
• RePlayGround
• Instructables 

Value topic: INNOVATION

Yesterday, in the big kids' Values class, we talked about that famous innovator of the teachers' and parents generation, Angus MacGyver; who could do everything with anything he finds wherever he is at the moment.

One of the seven year olds hung around the big kids' class while he was waiting to be picked up.  He was one googly eye in his hand. 

"What is it for?" we asked.  

He answered, "I don't know yet, but I'm going to do something with it."

That was not the first time he has "done something" with stuff he finds.  Once, he made a little fishing pole out of a twig and a piece of string that he got from the frays of his clothing.  He is constantly picking up odd things (rubber bands, forgotten pieces of erasers, paper clips...) and putting them in his pockets; sometimes he does something with them right away, sometimes he puts it away for later use.  

Inspired, I rummaged through the stuff shelf and found old CDs, distributed them, and tasked them to "do something with it."

Photo from Phil B. at Instructables

When the seven year old heard the assignment, he smiled proudly and said, "We did that.  Me and [my brother] used old CDs to invent a game.  We call it Photon Tag.  It's Habulan (tag) but with light."

Teacher Tom writes about re-using old stuff and turning them into something else, particularly for his pre-schoolers.  We practice this as well at the Center For Blended Learning. The teachers often bring their old stuff from home, hesitating to throw anything away as there might be some use for it in a class.

The teachers' friends have also gotten into the habit of giving the teachers their old stuff because we might be able to use them - our favorite question: "Could you use these?" to which "yes" is always the answer.  If the items have been stored too long, then we make a lesson plan that uses them specifically.

This practice has made for less waste, as well as less expenditure for the parents. And all it takes, is the unlearning of the bias against second-hand or used items.

The Unexpected

We will only understand the miracle of life fully when we allow the unexpected to happen.

-Paulo Coelho

So I spent the last vacation Saturday at a place called Backdoor Blues.  Good live music, good company, good food.  I used to spend one day a week at such places just to relax.  The kind of chilling-out that doesn't involve noisy conversation, where most of the time I stare into space while the music plays.

photo from talk.philmusic.com

Last night was going to be one of those nights, but I ended up talking to a veterinarian, whose clinic is next to a doggy day care.  The conversation started with us talking about behavior modification and then animal psyches, and then the doggy day care; and ended with him saying, "You should bring your students there..." and then started up again with, "Hey, I work with one of the Mind Museum consultants - he's in animal (or did he say mammal?) conservation, I'll send him over..."


When the first set ended, one of the guitarists joined us and talked about an exhibit he just set up for Filipinas Heritage Library, that runs until September.  It's set up for school tours... 

You can imagine what went on in my resting head after that: visions of field trips, and exhibit tours, and passionate guest lecturers who have no other motive but to advocate life outside malls and computer games. There were no mention of x-deals or marketing opportunities - just how great it would be to see, hear, meet, and experience.


In less than an hour, 3 different learning possibilities were discussed, and the ball is rolling as we speak. I've spent longer hours, days even, looking through the internet and talking to "professionals" looking for learning opportunities; but sometimes, one just needs to sit back and relax.


Somebody brought in a cake to celebrate the bar owner's birthday, who cut it up and gave everyone a big slice with lots of icing.  And we all had cake and ate it, too.