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I’m feeling particularly grateful this week that I get to work with some very curious kids, and that their curiosity is supported in such a special school. My students and I are trying to make sense of things through art-making. How likely is Trump's mass deportation plan? Why do people cross borders, and how did those borders form? How does the natural world cross those borders freely?

You can read more about how my students have been processing the recent events taking place on our blog here. I’ve also been posting more education-related posts here. 

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Spent last week making mathematically beautiful art with my students, talking about the Fibonacci sequence, and how to manipulate space.

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I'll be at @parkinglotartfair tomorrow! Come out and make some stuff with me!! #parkinglotartfair #artmarket #makingwhileteaching (at Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture)

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Saturday got me like... 

[meganleppla]

Build a Biosphere

Building your own closed, self-regulating system can be difficult, but experimenting with those systems under a close watch is fascinating! Our Earth is one big biosphere, and although we haven’t successfully recreated it (yet), we’re learning so much from these experiments. Making these experiments allows us to think like artists, and react like scientists. Artists like Olafur Eliasson and Robert Smithson are manipulating Earth’s systems in their work to remind others how precious our Earth really is.

For more ELA integration into your Biosphere project check out this article, and consider how University of Wisconsin students had to tackle a complex problem that required them to apply critical thinking to their understanding of Earth’s soil system. 

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Black Present

How has Black History Month changed over time? I asked my students this question at the start of February, and invited them to share past experiences of celebrating Black History Month in school. Many of them talked about writing their own “I Have a Dream” speech, or reading about Rosa Parks. Outside of Obama and Beyoncé, few of them knew many present-day black heroes. So I asked them, “Should we take time during Black History Month to celebrate Black Present? Should we take time to acknowledge black makers currently making?” They responded with a unanimous “Yes!” One student even added: “We need to celebrate Black Present to remind us of past racism and acknowledge great black makers today.”

This year I updated my Black Present list (see last year’s list here) to include makers of all types:

Black Present Makers, 2016

Artists: Ellen Gallagher, Mark Bradford, Joshua Mays, Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Mickalene Thomas

Scientists: Mae Jemison, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Stephanie Wilson

Entrepreneurs: Kimberly Bryant, James E. West

Designer: Justin Edmonds

Students were asked to make a present for Black Present, to choose a maker that inspired them the most, and make something for them. You can see some of their work, and read their reflections on Black Present here:

“I chose to make a piece of art inspired by Mark Bradford because I really like the style of his works and his idea of reusing materials that one would think of as trash and make it into art. The piece I made today was inspired by his painting the tears of a tree.”

You can play this student’s game here.

“Because I thought her work for girls to code was a great idea, we need more coders… It’s also just an important skill to know.” 

[meganleppla]

Spent the weekend watching Miyazaki movies. Bring it on, Monday.

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Monday night magic ✨ #figuredrawing #painting #portrait #makingwhileteaching (at 23rd Street Drawing Studio)

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Crystallization

It’s been a while, but I’m back at it! I’ll be sharing Edugifs each month, illustrating projects my students and I are currently making in the classroom. This month’s Edugif is inspired by the Earth science inquiry project my students are currently working on. Making crystals was a lot of fun, and gave my students a chance to observe how Earth’s systems can change over time.  

Crystals are more than just beautiful jewels. A crystal is really just a solid with molecules arranged in an ordered, repeating pattern. Experimenting with crystallization can be as simple as a salty solution. A basic solution is as easy as two parts boiling water mixed with 1.5 parts sodium borate (AKA Borax). Once you’ve got your solution, you can play around with pipe cleaners to make different shapes for the crystals to form on. 

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So much fun #printmaking with my old friends at YANC today! #youngaudiences #teachingartist #valentines (at Dogpatch, San Francisco)

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Still so relevant. Shoutout to Todd Elkin for this excellent list of black artists currently making amazing work. How are other educators celebrating Black History Month?

I’ve been following in the footsteps of rad art teacher Todd Elkin, and taking the opportunity to celebrate living/working black artists during Black History Month. If you need some references to finish out the month strong, he put together this amazing list:

Mickalene Thomas Njideka Akunyili Eesuu Orundide Joshua Mays Aaron McGruder Emory Douglas Kara Walker Abigail Deville Mark Bradford Ellen Gallagher Julie Mehretu Latoya Ruby Frazier Kerry James Marshall Trenton Doyle Hancock David Hammons Kehinde Wiley Chris Ofili Martin Puryear Gary Simmons Faith Ringgold Allison Saar Fred Wilson Yinka Shonibare Mehreen Murtaza Wangechi Mutu Laylah Ali Nyeema Morgan Nafis White Rammellzee Hennessy Youngman Cauleen Smith Sanford Biggers El Anatsui Leonardo Drew Rashid Johnson Kalup Linzy Jacolby Satterwhite

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Making While Teaching 

In an effort to celebrate the creative journey of teaching, I'm inviting educators—of all types—to document their own process of making while teaching. Share your works in progress on Instagram and use #MakingWhileTeaching to see the work from other educators making along the way. A culmination of the work made during this time will take place at the end of the school year, June 2016.

Want to get involved? More info here.

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Playing along... #12monthsofpaint #moon #indigo #blue

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This was so much fun to make!

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A post shared by Exploratorium (@exploratorium)

Making a giant Rube Goldberg machine in the @tinkeringstudio. Video by @meganleppla (at Exploratorium)

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Ada Lovelace on the Nature of the Imagination and Its Three Core Faculties

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"Lava Mae" shower bus cleans homeless in San Francisco

I shared some design resources with students today, and at the end of that list of resources, I challenged students to go out and find other examples on how design can make a positive impact. One student reminded me of this awesome organization in the Bay Area. I love learning from my students!

[meganleppla]

It’s Hour of Code next week, and I’m giving students the following assignment:

Your Mission:

Experiment with one or more of these coding resources

Record your observations in your research workbook (What was easy? What was challenging? What do you know now that you didn't before about coding? How do you know you know?)

Teach someone else the things you learned from the coding resources you experimented with

Learn something new from the coding resources someone else experimented with

Record your observations in your research workbook (What was easy? What was challenging? What do you know now that you didn't before about coding? How do you know you know?)

Why Hour of Code?

A Computer Science major can earn 40% more than the college average

The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that there will be over 1 million computing job openings by 2022

Students who learn introductory computer science show improved math scores

It's fun!

For more inspiration, check out the documentary CODE: Debugging the Gender Gap.