5th Annual Cardboard Challenge

This was the fifth year we had a Cardboard Challenge at TMS.

We changed it up a bit from last year - and will make more adjustments if we decide to do this again!

Changes:

• This year, we called it the Cardboard / Creativity Challenge. It was the first of our four (hopefully) Independent Inquiry projects.
• Students had one full week to plan, prepare, and present their work. We changed it so that I could have my 1:1 conferences (regarding their evidence of their quarter grade) with students during the planning time.
• Students were asked to create something (without purchasing anything) that could either benefit themselves or others (or both).
• Nobody made anything on the day we presented - it was all ready ahead of time.
• We hosted it on Halloween (not too bad of a choice)!
• I asked Grammie to come in - and she did! - the entire week we planned. What a benefit to the kids and to me!
• Our two associate principals and our superintendent popped in during the week to listen to students' ideas and give feedback.
• Students could reflect in four different ways. See the document here. I also accepted other ideas. I learned a lot from their reflections.
• I decided to create a "How To" document for myself - for next year's planning!
• I used and modified someone else's (I'm sorry I forgot your name!) project proposal template. (Of course... I found it on the LiveBinder!)

Successes:

• Once again, we had many parents visit! You've gotta love the authentic audience!
• Only THREE students didn't have their work (less than a handful this year)!
• Explanations on the games / projects / art were much clearer than in years past.
• It was much less messy on the day of... The projects were DONE and the students actually wanted to KEEP them this year!

Adjustments that need to be made:

• We will not have any technology allowed next year. There was one project that students in the last class were clamoring over...It was not pretty. 
• As a result of the technology, some other students were upset that "no one" saw their projects.
• I need to let them know of the project a bit more ahead of time. Some students were upset because they "didn't have enough time" to make what they wanted to make. They didn't know how to work within the constraints given to them.
• I need to let them know more of the reasons WHY we do this. A couple were upset because they felt we "wasted time." They said they "didn't learn anything." I need to help them realize what they did learn, and I need to help them understand my reasoning for this project.
• I need to find a way to have EACH student see EACH project.
• I need to find a good way for them to give each other feedback during the "gallery walk." We had "shout outs" to various work in two classes, and they loved giving each other kudos.
• I need to find a good (and efficient) way to share the feedback given to them. (Adults who came to visit filled out this survey.) My coworker Karen suggested we create a checklist where students need to find a game, an organizer, a maze, artwork, etc., depending on the projects our students are creating.

Of course, this activity did not appeal to some students who like quiet, rubrics, and other aspects of traditional school. Sometimes it's our job to help them get out of their comfort zones. This will be the biggest "messy learning" in ELA we have for the school year. It's hard on some of them. I think it would have been difficult for me, as well.

I now share with you my quickly-created video of what the kids answered to my question: "What did you learn from this project?" I had my portable sound booth (also made of cardboard - and acoustic foam - thank you, Mr. Kirr) up, and the sign on the top. Many responses were not about the question, so I left those out. At least the sound was better than without the box! Here are the responses that work:



And here are the life lessons they mentioned the very next day (in writing):

You can make just about anything from cardboard.

Spray paint sticks to duct tape.

Duct tape hurts your fingers.

If you don’t give up on something, it will eventually come together.

If the cardboard gets a little wet, it doesn’t work.

Perseverance is key.

If you’re impatient, your project will fall apart.

Elmer’s glue takes forever to dry.

I can make things on my own without help.

If you are good at something, make it and see if you can help someone with theirs.

It is hard to create something you think everyone would like. Once you figure that out, it’s easy to do. You need to think about what other people would find interesting.

Things don’t just come. You have to be patient.

You need patience.

There is trial and error.

I can unleash my creative side and make cool things out of cardboard.

Next time I can make it better.

Glue is very messy and hard to work with.

Making things isn’t always perfect.

You have to work hard for something you want.

I learned how to think of solutions to my problems.

When we use our imagination and stick to what we will do, the outcome is awesome!

I never really share my creations, and this time I could.

Creativity is even more important than I thought.

Be careful where you put your hands, or you may glue your hand to your project.

I learned how to draw a big design.

You should start projects as soon as possible.

I can use my abilities.

I learned how elevators work.

It’s hard to make bottles on to cardboard, and cardboard is as fun as regular activities.

I need to be more organized with time.

If things don’t work out the first time, don’t give up.

Try new ideas / things.

Be proactive.

Stay focused at all times.

Be more decorative.

Be prepared.

Don’t leave stuff at home.

Think of all materials needed.

All projects cannot be complete, so you might change it and make something you want people to see.

Failures motivate you.

Work hard, or don’t work at all.

If something doesn’t work right, fix it / go with it.

It may not seem fun, but judge it AFTER you try it.

If you work hard, you can be more successful.

It is good to help others.

People may be excellent pretenders.

Creativity has endless possibilities.

Cardboard can build cool things.

A box can be used to make anything.

Have a back-up plan.

Hard work pays off.

You can make something out of anything.

Don’t wait until the last minute to print something...

Think of a good structure before you build things.

Don’t put off a lot to the end.

Not everything in your head goes perfectly in real life.

You can never have enough duct tape.

Too much duct tape can be bad.

Success can’t be achieved without hard work.

It’s okay to mess up a few times.

Bring what you need on time.

Patience is KEY.

Tape doesn’t fix everything.

If you have to work on something for a week, you have to like it.

These lessons make me feel as if the planning and executing of these plans was all worthwhile... What are your thoughts?

The Kids Ran the Show - 4th Annual Cardboard Challenge

The KIDS ran the show, and showed their creativity, perseverance, and adaptability last Thursday during our fourth annual Cardboard Challenge.

Highlights of my day: 

• Many parents came to see creations and to talk about the day and their children! The kids were so very happy to have them play their games!
• Mrs. Ryan, our new ALF (advanced learning facilitator), helped one group of students at the end of the day - one of the boys lost his phone outside during the fire drill.... She helped us locate it!!
• A couple of teachers came down to visit and play!
• Mr. Slowinski's class joined us all day this year - it was great to have his students collaborate with mine. I also got to learn a few more names and faces.
• Check out the Storify archive of some reflection notes from scholars in room 239!

What I wish had gone better:

• One student lost his phone during our fire drill. He brought it with him to showcase Google Cardboard. The kids in his group had even created a "Virtual Reality Booth" (pictured here).
• Only a couple of teachers this year made it down to the library to visit.
• I have to not focus on who is NOT at the Cardboard Challenge, and instead focus on WHY we do this. We do this for the kids - not for any notoriety. Their reflections were enlightening.

I love reading student reflections, and reflecting myself...

The best suggestions I got from this year:  From a student who enjoyed the day, but had some issues...

I think we should do cardboard challenges more in the future because it brings out the creativity in middle schoolers or in any age group.  This challenge is a type of homework that all kids of all ages will enjoy.  When I was building my game, my game failed many times because it was a slingshot and it would bend and break all the time.  My dad helped me find new parts to build it and it worked out perfectly.  When I did the cardboard challenge, it taught me to not give up and to try new ideas if something didn’t work.  When we did the actual cardboard challenge at school it was very fun watching people cheer when people were winning the cardboard games and getting those silly prizes. The only problem that I had with my game was that everyone wanted my groups’ prize so they were crowding around me and not giving me any space. Also they would not listen to my instructions, especially the one that stated that everyone could only play twice.  Since everyone was crowding around, they partly broke my game too which was very upsetting.  Because of the crowds around my game, I did not have any chance to play anyone else’s game, which was disappointing. I hope that the teachers can make sure to tell the students this. Next time it would be better if everyone is able to have a chance to play other people’s game and not have one group not be able to play the games. Also, it would be a good idea to tell the students to be gentle and not be so aggressive with other people’s games.

The biggest joy I got from this year:  Reading a reflection from a student who struggles with many aspects of my class, and life, in general. This student took the challenge, and conquered many obstacles during the 80 minutes. This student really showed persistence and adaptability. Here is the reflection:

I think it's a good idea to continue to do the Cardboard Challenge because we get to learn and have fun at the same time. The challenge requires planning, research, and teamwork.  It used measuring and testing to make sure the game actually would work.  The challenge forced me to adjust my original plan.  It's required persistence to make sure the game would work for others. If I ever have to do this again I learned what to do differently next time from my observations with this challenge.

The biggest lesson I learned this year: Some students were upset... by some other students' "great" creations. Two instances come to mind - one I observed, and one that a student wrote about in his reflection. In one I observed, the student walked around the room with the cardboard creation in a bag, and didn't want to put it out on a table after getting a glimpse at the other projects. This student did not feel confident at all when comparing his/her own completed project to the other students' projects. It was very disheartening, and made me wonder how many times this had happened in previous years and had not been noticed by me. Some students seem okay with not having the "best" project (we don't judge them at all as a class), but I can see now that some students are not okay at all with it. Here is proof of another student's feelings of disappointment...

The cardboard challenge has its up and down like a roller coaster. The rush of adrenaline filled me when I had sensed that I was building my own idea, and that the only limit was my creativity and cardboard. When you are going up, you feel happy about how many people get to play your game, a sense of enjoyment when the wandering eye stumbles across your envisioned work. You get to make someone’s day brighter, the simplistic cardboard manages through all odds to remove all school’s stress of grades. You can make people addicted to the game, playing over and over to manage to beat that one little issue you had, perhaps missing one of the throws in a basket hoop or tilting a ball into a hole of demise in a of game of a maze full of traps.

There is an issue though, which is the falling part of the roller coaster because when someone doesn’t do what all the other students call advanced, the game isn’t played. You could get teased for how much time most have been placed into the cardboard. If you game doesn’t have any interesting parts or difficulty then the game is rejected, torn by rejection while it sits on a table. If you don’t offer interesting prizes or an advanced model for a game, you might as well just move around, playing other games.
And if you break a rule, as if you found an easy way to beat the game, you are told to leave and never play again because it’s “Your fault if you do a trick that you noticed in the game’s architecture, not the creator who didn’t plan for such trickery.”
So in my opinion I would say, the Cardboard challenge game can be fun if your game is rewarding or attracting to your fellows, but when you game is called “easy to make” or “trash” and you're not having fun with anyone game, then no, the Cardboard challenge can just depress you.  
So in my experience, I believe the challenge could be a lot better if there were better guidelines.

I will ask this student what guidelines would be suggested, but I'm thinking that would take away much of the freedom that this activity provides. I need to do more research with these young learners, as the LAST thing I want them to come away with is disappointment in their own creation...

My favorite sentences in all of the reflections... all from one student who barely says a word in class:

My group and I had prizes and such but all that didn’t matter, the stuff that really did matter was how we got to see all the glorious faces of all the happy kids enjoying the game and having a spectacular time playing and giving themselves some sort of challenge.

When I played the games I had bonded with people that honestly I rarely had ever talked to, I got to know them better and I got to make them hysterical at times and I feel like I made some tight friendships. 

This cardboard box challenge changed me and me feel like a better person and really introduced myself to myself and to others and I had a phenomenal time.  

Next year, I will share these reflections with students. We'll talk about it. Hopefully we will grow from the experience. I know I grow from it every year.

Third Annual Cardboard Challenge

Additions / Changes that made this year even better than last year...
     Give students a paper reminder for guidelines the Monday prior.
           Use only the supplies you bring - don't count on others for supplies, including adhesives.
           Have a title, your first name(s), and directions ready to display.
           Be nice to customers, and do not give up!
           (Only one group forgot their cardboard - but they created a game anyway!
           And not like last year, only ONE student came totally unprepared!!)
     Ask students the day prior to name who is bringing what for their group.
     Invite parents the weekend prior - and give them specific times. TWELVE parents came!
     Remind parents the night prior - letting them know it's still on.
     Create a "Welcome" sign.
           This year I added our article from the Imagination Foundation website, too!
     Set up part of the room for creating, and the front part of the room for final displays/games.
     Stop the class a FULL five minutes to help students decide who is bringing what home
           or use the time to recycle their project.
     Make cardboard strips to tape onto the wrists of students (great reminder!) who are
           bringing home their games after school.
     Have bandages ready for when you slice your finger with the box cutter...

With these changes, this was our best year yet! Many thanks to Caine's Arcade and the Imagination Foundation for starting this wonderful idea!

More articles and blog posts on why this day is so very valuable...

     Innovation: Error and Insight

     Why We Do the Cardboard Challenge in ELA Class

     Reflecting with Students
     Cardboard Challenge Reflection Part 1 (What I Did NOT See!)

Juggling

I started our day today... juggling. Yup!

I was thinking of how to review and reflect upon our Caine's Arcade Cardboard Challenge without it being boring. Last year I required a student blog post on the day, and I graded it, of course. This year, since our blogs are authentic, I'll suggest a reflection post, but won't require one. So how to start a lively discussion...? Juggling! For each topic, I juggled as I spoke, and they were entranced - they were listening, at least!

After a quick talk about how ONE young boy started a chain reaction, I spoke in "threes."

Here are the three topics I wanted to cover:
     --> what I learned
     --> what students learned
     --> what we could change, add, or omit to make it better next year.

I started with what we could change.
     I had them brainstorm in pairs first, then one person from each pair would come up to the board to write their best suggestion. I took a picture to archive each class's suggestions, so I could add their ideas to this post, and actually remember to USE them next year.

Here are their suggestions:
     - More time in class to prepare
     - Charge money for games to donate to fight cancer
     - Have more time to plan it out
     - Every game should raise money for a special/good cause
     - Compliment people's artwork
     - Put it on the announcements
     - Look on the bright side of things and go that extra step to help make others happy
     - Advertise it
     - Add prizes to motivate people to play
     - Use class-based currency
     - Show Caine's Arcade one more time
     - Make the challenge a competition
     - Supply more cardboard
     - Have a cardboard restaurant
     - Have a social network page to promote the event

Next I told them about what I learned (see prior post). Here's the recap:
     - I need to help students be more prepared for the day.
     - Students used the Genius "habitudes" the entire time. At this point, I asked them what habitudes they used, and when, and we threw one of the balls around to get responses - of course they ALL wanted to share then.
     - I can stand back, say "create," and students will create wonderful products.

And then it was their turn. I split up "what students learned" into three more categories:
     --> students who came unprepared (24% of students in my three classes)
     --> students who worked on their projects during class (the majority)
     --> students who came with their project already finished, or close to it (16%)
I made it a point to say that students in each group learned many things, but they may be very different from students in the other two groups.

Those students were then able to choose from three ways to share:
     --> written down bullet points transformed into individual blog posts
     --> written down bullet points transformed into a mini-paper of sorts
     --> written down bullet points transformed into a quickly-produced & recorded speech

Here is a sampling of what they said:
     Something I learned while doing the cardboard challenge was perseverance. Me and Erin were trying to make a Skeeball game, but that didn't work. But we didn't give up on it. We just made a "modified version." If we gave up, we wouldn't have made our game that Nick loved. Perseverance is important because you can't just give up on things in life, you have to keep working at them. 

     If we put our heads together and use our imagination then we can create things we never thought of doing before. We all brought materials to make our creation. We all supported each other by supporting others' ideas. We all helped out and it was fun. Other students played our game and when they figured out how to win at the game, a smile crossed their faces. 

     We learned how to recycle objects and use them for other things.

     We learned how to run our own mini-booth, or business.

     We learned that being prepared can be beneficial to our learning.

     If you are ever unprepared, you have to use what you can find or get help from friends. Also you have to make sure you have at least one idea.

     Including people who don't have supplies or a group will help get your work finished faster, it'll make the person feel happy and wanted, and it'll make you feel proud that you did something nice for someone else.

     People can be fun and creative.

     Building stuff with friends is more fun than by yourself.

     The first thing I learned from the Cardboard Challenge was that when working with other people, good teamwork and compromising are very important. Good teamwork is important because that way the whole group contributes and everyone works together to complete a good piece of work while in a group. Compromising is also very important while working because that way everyone's thought are contributed to the project and there is no arguing, just good suggestions. Another important thing I learned from the Cardboard Challenge was that you need to you creativity when creating something. If you're creative, your piece will be more unique and interesting. Something else I learned from the cardboard Challenge was never give up. If something doesn't work, try again. If it still doesn't work try something knew to accomplish the same meaning. One more thing I learned from the Cardboard Challenge was that you need to set a goal for yourself and come prepared. By setting a goal, you can strive for it and look forward to reaching for it. And if you come prepared, you have a better chance of reaching your goal. The last important thing I learned from the Cardboard Challenge was that you need to have fun and explore what you can achieve! Having fun means take risks and see what you can do! 

     ...we learned about passion, courage, curiosity, perseverance, etc. The most important one is imagination. We got to go out and explore other things. We also got to express our selfs. This is very important. 

     We did this to learn about expressing our genius and learning how to create using our resources.

I will add more to this post as they come in so I can keep a record of all the things students realized they learned.

Here is my presentation:

Deciding to juggle today was inspired by Dave Burgess's Teach Like a Pirate book. I put a teaser on the board the day before, letting students know we were going to have a "guest juggler" in class the next day! When I started juggling today, I said, "I never said the guest juggler was a SKILLED juggler...!" ;-)

Caine's Cardboard Challenge

WHY?

Why is Joy doing the Cardboard Challenge again this year? She teaches ELA. What do cardboard creations have to do with ELA??!!

I never heard the words, but I imagined them. Was I feeling guilty for not teaching reading or writing this day? Maybe. Guilt is ingrained in me. It didn't matter if I didn't hear the words coming out of teachers' mouths. What I did NOT hear --> support for this endeavor from coworkers after I sent out the all-staff email inviting them and their students to come for a visit (I even sent them "fun passes"). What I did NOT see --> coworkers coming down to visit and play with us. That speaks volumes to me.

So I'm laying it on the line here. If you don't agree with me - that's fine. I'm not writing for your approval.  I'm writing to reflect on the day and why I spend one class from my students' year asking them to design cardboard creations. Really, what is eighty minutes in the scheme of things?

What I noticed:
     - Eleven students (17%) had prepared and finished their project at home, and were ready to play today!
     - Students worked hard for 80 minutes - without any grade incentive.
     - The library was alive with noise and action.
     - Nobody was sitting down (unless it was on the floor to plan or create).
     - There was constant movement.
     - There were no arguments.
     - Students learned to use what they have in the time allotted, & change as necessary.
     - Students shared space & loaned or shared supplies.
     - They suffered natural consequences when they were not prepared.
     - Discussions about engineering & design were abundant.
     - Students were able to bounce around from one activity to another.
     - A very lively atmosphere, with smiles, laughter, shouts of excitement...
     - I was going to make a list of "What I heard," but it got too long for this blog post!

The genius "habitudes" students experienced today:
     - Imagination - Need I explain?
     - Curiosity - What is everyone else doing? How did they DO that? How can I change my own?
     - Self Awareness - Students KNEW what skills they had and what they didn't, and called on friends for help.
     - Perseverance - oh, so much trial and error! So much failing happening today!
     - Courage to display their work - completed or not.
     - Passion - Oh, the exclamations shouted today! They were INTO their creations!
     - Adaptability - When one thing wouldn't work, they readily changed the process.

We talk about these habitudes weekly during Genius Hour (thank you, Angela Maiers!), and throughout the week when I commend students for demonstrating these habitudes during guided lessons.

This ties right in with lessons I'm trying to teach this year regarding the Four Cs of 21st Century Learning:  creativity, innovation, critical thinking, problem solving, communication & collaboration. Do we not need these to thrive in life? Do we not need these when we attack a complex text or a challenging writing prompt? Will students not need these skills when they are figuring out their genius hour project for fourth quarter? Today's lessons will help us make those connections.

What I learned:
     - Seventh graders are C-R-E-A-T-I-V-E! Was I ever that creative??
     - Next year, the sign I make for the outside should say, "Come in and design, create, and PLAY," because students did a lot more planning and creating than they did actually playing.
     - Because sixteen students (24% = way too many!!) were not prepared, I'll need to have some activities I choose for them to do. These students did not bring ANY materials. I felt as if they'd been sleeping under a ROCK. I'll also prepare them better - instead of asking them to write the "homework" of bringing materials to class, I'm going to give them colorful reminder slips, with a checklist on it for them to bring WITH their materials. Is this spoon-feeding? Maybe. But 24% is just too many for me. Those 16 students didn't learn all that the rest of the students did. They didn't just sit around doing nothing, but they didn't all create, either. Seven of these (still 10.5%) wandered around, playing other people's games, and then chatting until I chased them off to do something else... Suggestions?
     - Gosh darn it - at what other time in the school year is learning so ultimately open and FREE in seventh grade? At what other time in your plans do you give students the direction, "Create," and then step back entirely? I don't think they're given this direction at home, and there are many distractions from this type of learning - their afternoons and weekends are already planned for them, and if they're not, how many of them revert to the old standby of television or video games?
     - Sometimes I feel like I'm on the "lunatic fringe" at my school (thanks for the great phrase, Karl!). But you know what?! I'm not at school to please (or appease) other teachers. I teach because of children.  Lessons learned today, whether consciously or unconsciously, will help these children with the rest of our lessons throughout the year - in any teacher's class.

Here is a 15 minute glimpse into our day of learning...

After reading all this, are you going to tell me you don't know what the Cardboard Challenge is? I didn't provide background, but take eleven minutes to learn about Caine Monroy if you haven't yet...

Many thanks to the two teachers and three administrators who showed their support, and to Mr. Todd Hillmer for letting us make a mess in the LMC! The students noticed it, and we had room to breathe, share and flex our creative muscles...