Princeton Hive

Recently, due to a world pandemic and global health crisis, humanity now relies on Design and STEM careers to defend them in a war against an unseen enemy. Limited human contact in order to stop the spread of a contagious virus is creating ongoing problems and challenges that humanity has never seen or experienced before. School districts across the globe close their doors in order to play their part in “flattening the curve”. Many of these school districts were forced into virtual schools and virtual learning as a solution to continue education for our youth. And while these world events continue to play out in our lives, Design Thinking continues to be a process and mindset humanity leans on in order to design solutions and responses to some of the biggest challenges facing mankind. A process that, at one time had no time and distance restrictions as parameters in design, can continue to be utilized in our newly acquainted virtual world. School admins and teachers are no...

Congratulations! You are now a remote teacher--and learner! Now what? What do I do? Who do I ask for help? How are my students going to manage? When will everything get back to “normal”? Where in my home will I be teaching--and learning!? Why wasn’t I more prepared for this? Huh? Does anyone really know how to succeed at remote teaching? Wait! What if what I’m doing--and learning!--now is preparing me to be a better teacher--and learner!--in the future?! Whew! Now that you’ve got all of that out of your system, what if you turn to curiosity as the key to unlock what you can do next? Curiosity is the cornerstone of all deep learning and doing. Asking “what if?” and leading with wonder is how we naturally learn. Curiosity makes learning relevant and gives learners a deeper connection to what they are learning by giving them a sense of ownership to what they learn; learning is transformed from being for someone else’s sake into an answer hatched from the mind of the person doing the learn...

Image by Mediamodifier from Pixabay Our circumstances and the physical locations of where we teach our students may have drastically changed, but at the heart of this, we are still professional teachers. The main responsibilities of teaching through differentiation, making curriculum compelling, and cultivating relationships with students are still at the forefront. Here are a few tips to help you adapt to online learning. 1. (FAIL) First. Attempt.In.Learning! You will most likely fail and make mistakes during your attempts at virtual learning. There might be feelings of frustration but ask for help from your colleagues and PLN. Keep an open mind, many of the platforms might be new for you and you may need to be constantly updating and changing your lessons. Learn from your mistakes, it's what we tell our students! And be your authentic self during this journey, it will be appreciated by your students and their families. 2. Simple and Engaging Provide students clear dir...

The Virtual Classroom in a Virtual World The world is on the verge of another major shift in how we work, play, and interact with society.  This was happening slowly as new technologies have pushed their way into business, entertainment, and education. While being thrust into this virtual world can be frustrating and scary, we can still take this as an opportunity to further our chance to grow as learners and educators. According to UNESCO , 9 out of 10 children are out of school worldwide . So while many of you are jumping headfirst into the deep end of video calls and learning how to navigate the complex world of real-time virtual learning through tools like Skype, Google Meet, and Zoom, there is another option.  Enter the true virtual learning space of virtual reality. This may sound intimidating to some of you. It isn’t any harder than learning new video platforms, and there are several benefits that your students will find engaging and you too might love.  Usi...

To Members of the Hive, In a time of uncertainty and global chaos, we as educators need to provide our students with a structural and social backbone.  Educators have been asked to deliver high-quality instruction in a digital format virtually overnight.   We all need help in ensuring that we are meeting our student’s needs in this new format.   We must show our kids that education, and more importantly educators, are the glue that holds together the very social structure that binds us all together.  As every education system around the globe has been disrupted by the coronavirus we must work together to support one another.  We must crowdsource materials.  We must think across grade levels, standards, and content.  We must focus on learning and the art of thinking.  We must be mindful of the social and emotional needs of our students.  Let us provide our students with a remarkable learning experience in the times ahead. We ...