My DEN Crib by Lee Kolbert

(cross blogged from my GeekyMomma blog)

Just a week ago, I was at a school in my district (shout out to: Poinciana Elementary School) giving a teacher workshop. We were in one of their computer labs. On the walls of this lab, were these sculptures made from old CDs. A conversation with the Computer Lab teacher, who by the way, is absolutely AMAZING, quickly gave way to how much collaboration goes on in that lab and how much project based learning went into just creating those sculptures (not to mention the robotics lab and all other very cool hands-on experiential learning that takes place).

So when Kevin Jarrett, K-4 Computer Teacher & Technology Facilitator at Northfield Community School tagged me (via Twitter) to contribute to this Passion Quilt meme, I didn’t have to look very far to pick a photo that exemplifies what I am most passionate about.

So my photo, although seemingly simple and not very artistic or colorful, is the picture above (the CD airplane) that I took with my cellphone. The CDs were collected from the old AOL, NetZero and CompuServe mailers which teaches the students to not only recycle but that old technology is still good for something. Designs were drawn, storyboards were sketched and decisions were made, so collaborative learning had to be at an all time high here. How did they come up with the idea for an airplane? Why that particular airplane? Why on that wall and how did they know if it was straight (or not) and centered?

In addition, I love that their ideas resulted in a more beautiful environment, not just for them and their classmates, but for future classmates in years to come.

Mostly though, this phots shows my passion for teaching because it reminds me that the classroom can be a happy, less stressful place where learning can be rigorous, relevant and FUN!

So, now it’s your turn. I challenge you to add to this meme Passion Quilt. Here are the rules:

3 Simple Meme Rules:

• Post a picture from a source like FlickrCC or Flickr Creative Commons or make/take your own that captures what YOU are most passionate about for kids to learn about…and give your picture a short title.
• Title your blog post “Meme: Passion Quilt” and link back to this blog entry.
• Include links to 5 folks in your professional learning network or whom you follow on Twitter/Pownce.

At GeekyMomma blog, I passed the baton, specifically to these bloggers:

1. Kim Cavanaugh at www.brainfrieze.net
2. Tanner Johnson (I think a young person’s perspective is important here) at www.tannerrjohnson.blogspot.com/
3. Karen Seddon at web.mac.com/seddonk/e-cubed/Welcome.html
4. Karl Fisch at thefischbowl.blogspot.com/
5. Steve Dembo at blog.discoveryeducation.com/digital_passports/

HOWEVER, here at My DEN Crib, I’d like pass the baton to every one of our STAR DEN members. Won’t you post what you are most passionate about on your page and keep this meme going? Hey, if you’re like me… at the very least you’ll be searching Google for what “meme” means, right?

Ok folks, don’t let me down.