One of the biggest strengths of our curriculum is giving students vocabulary and visual models to acknowledge and learn from failure. We use the term STOP Signs to describe obstacles and help students look at them as a learning opportunity. Draw a STOP Sign on the whiteboard, and every time a student faces a STOP Sign: Acknowledge it as

Turn and Learn pic.twitter.com/wqLr7t8LYm — Kimberly Melchor (@KimberlyMelcho6) July 8, 2022 Bad Motivation Bingo It’s hard to change people’s values. It’s easier to appeal to the values they already hold. When you push your principles, people shut down. If you speak to their principles, they open up. Motivating others requires knowledge of what matters to

Summary Horace Pippin was a boy with big hands who loved to make art. Because he was so big and strong, he had many responsibilities in his family, but he drew pictures whenever free time he had. His classmates loved his artwork, and he even won a magazine contest for his drawings. When Horace was

Hook, Challenge, and Constraints Hook Welcome to New York, home to some of the tallest buildings in the world — skyscrapers! It’s also the home of the newest resident of Superhero Metropolis, Arachnikid. She uses strong, stretchy strands of bubblegum to swing from skyscraper to skyscraper and catch bad guys on the run. But when

“I’m done!” and “I’m not done yet!” are two of the most common things you’ll hear during building time. We’ve got you covered for those tricky moments that always seem to come just as building time is starting or right before it’s over. “I’m Done!” If one of your students completes a challenge and is

1. IMAGI-NATION!   2. Welcome Teams!   3. Teams that work well together will dominate this competition.   4. Dude! Are you trying to gt us disqualified?!   5. Karen’s Family Construction   6. The coolest Gube Goldberg machine yet!   7. Mind Blown   8. Remember, sometimes it works. Sometimes… YOU LEARN!   9.

Are You Smart? What does it mean to be “smart”? Seth Godin (@ThisIsSethsBlog ) offers a characteristically astute answer. pic.twitter.com/bYjyXu2eNQ — Daniel Pink (@DanielPink) June 9, 2022 Avoiding Pessimism Is Key Optimism has little bearing on health. Avoiding pessimism matters more. 61 studies, 221k people: health is predicted more by the absence of pessimism than

Summary In this expansion of the original nursery rhyme, Humpty Dumpty goes into greater detail about the emotional toll his accident had on him long after the king’s men were able to physically restore him. He wasn’t the same at his fall. He was too scared to return to the wall where he once watched

Hook, Challenge, and Constraints Hook The Platinum Patroller just moved into town. He’s a guy cool — he wears a cool suit made of platinum and flies around fighting bad guys. As he was doing that yesterday, he landed on one of our bridges, and it collapsed into the water, leaving him soaked. He was

In order for our growth mindset strategies to take hold with your students, they need to be reinforced at home, whenever possible. Facilitate Car Ride and Dinner Time Conversations Take pictures during building time. Even if parents only skim your emails, they’ll likely check out pictures, and pictures generate questions and connections. Look out for i-Can! moments to share. Give

1. Hello from the SkyStar Observation Wheel!   2. Wheels and Axles, Levers, and Inclined Planes   3. Let’s go!   4. Are we there yet?   5. Welcome!   6. Tidal Wave   7. Oh, ye of little faith…   8. I got an idea, brah!   9. The Greatest Invention Since Sliced Pita

Feel Your Feelings. Happy #MentalHealthAwarenessMonth! This May, we’re focused on feelings: identifying them, sharing them, and most importantly, FEELING them. pic.twitter.com/2H4c1QrokF — The Mental Health Coalition (@mentalhealthcln) May 2, 2022 Don’t Forget You Can… Motivation going into the weekend, go easy on yourself! 😌 pic.twitter.com/BT44F1oy5O — Kristin Portsmouth (@design_by_kp) April 30, 2022 The Perfectionism Spiral

Summary On the day of the school talent show, like every other day, Beatrice wakes up and completes her morning routine. She gets dressed, makes her bed, feeds her hamster, and packs lunch for her brother Carl. She remembers to do everything, and she does everything just right. When Beatrice and Carl leave to go

Hook, Challenge, and Constraints Hook A super villain named Sir Ion, who can control metal with his mind, has destroyed all but one of the bridges in Superhero Metropolis. He accidentally sat on a bowl of chocolate pudding, and when people started laughing at him, he got extremely upset, destroying all the metal bridges in

There are three simple materials you can add to your stock that are sure to boost creativity in your classroom. Rubber bands Binder clips Hot glue guns Hot glue, in particular, allows for more complex and sturdy creations. It’s a great alternative to tape, but comes with some unique challenges. We hope you’ll keep these ideas in mind when sharing

1. Hi there. I’m Special Agent L, the head of Imagineerz.   2. NASA will undoubtedly encounter a lot of problems on the way to Mars. That’s where we come in.   3. Disaster in Orbit!   4. The Trolls Take Off   5. We’ve Hit a STOP Sign   6. Our mission today is

First Three Dominos Don’t skip the first three dominos. pic.twitter.com/HEY4YKvtH8 — Janis Ozolins (@OzolinsJanis) March 28, 2022 Recognize-Understand-Label-Express-Regulate You’ll always have emotions. It’s time to learn how to deal with them! – @marcbrackett from his book “Permission to feel” pic.twitter.com/euz1sLvI1U — Saba Yazdani (@saba_yazdani) March 24, 2022 Make It Your Explicit Goal to Be Uncomfortable

Summary One day, a little boy gets a chance. It appears in the form of a shiny golden origami butterfly, but it could represent anything. The chance flies all around the boy, but he isn’t sure what to do with it. When he starts to grab for it, he hesitates and it flies away. The

Hook, Challenge, and Constraints Hook The Amazing Brainiac has a new roommate, the Incorrigible Sulk. She’s a superhero with super strength as well as a great friend, but she gets upset easily and whenever that happens, she tends to destroy everything! When she went to the ice cream shop to get some mint chocolate chip

What’s an i-Can! Story? Here are some tips on sharing our stories in your classroom. An i-Can! Story IS… An opportunity to review STOP Signs and common problem-solving strategies with your students. A chance for students to visualize and internalize growth mindset. Lots of fun — an opportunity for you to laugh along with students! An i-Can! Story ISN’T… Supposed to go any certain

1. Welcome New Agents     2. Introducing Special Agent L   3. Four Steps   4. Boys! Boys! I’ve got it!   5. Welcome to your first lesson in troll dodging.   6. STOP Sign!   7. I CAN!   8. I-CAN MAN   9. Oh man! Building time is over?!   10. Blast

Wellbeing Bingo! A really easy way to check in with my tutees… The most interesting fact involved a bumhole and 2 raccoons 🤦‍♀️ #formtutorsarevital #studentwellbeing pic.twitter.com/TE74xEPNi8 — Naomi-Jane Roche (@NaomiJaneRoche) February 17, 2022 Kid Hotline Offers Advice An inspired art project that teaches empathy. Imagine if we liberated all teachers & kids from the tyranny

Summary Sophie is a little girl who loves gardening. One day, when she is struggling to solve a jigsaw puzzle, her older sister walks up and solves it for her, telling her she wasn’t smart enough to solve it herself. The next day at school, Sophie is still upset and convinced she isn’t smart. Her

Standard Materials Make sure you have enough tape for each lesson (students go through tape like a goats eating grass). We recommend 1 roll of tape per 2 students as well as a few backup rolls for the entire class. We discourage adding complex materials (e.g. googly eyes, pipe cleaners, etc.) that may make challenges easier or inhibit students’ creativity. Card

Hook, Challenge, and Constraints  Hook The Amazing Brainiac is the world’s smartest superhero who can predict crime before it happens. She has been getting picked on by an evil supergenius, Egghead, who just built himself a cool, secret lair that’s really tall and fancy. Now he’s making fun of Brainiac’s old, dusty hideout that

45 minutes of building time is key. Keep your opening to the lesson concise (no more than 15 minutes), so your students can maximize their building time. Students need at least 45 minutes to build, fail, adapt, and repeat the process. Encourage students to think about WHAT to build, not HOW to build it. If

Challenge and Constraints Our first mission comes from Madame Amazonia. She’s a superhero that speaks with animals and teams up with them to save the environment. She needs us to make some animal sidekicks for her. She has requested that we only make animals that have legs that can stand on their own, so no

Every month, Imagineerz Learning is sharing more of our favorite ideas and resources: Suggested Read Alouds Growth Mindset Tips Design Thinking Challenges Food for Thought Suggested Read Aloud:  Your Fantastic Elastic Brain (Grades K-5) An informational text that promotes growth mindset by introducing young readers to the parts of the brain and their jobs Your Fantastic Elastic Brain:

Every month, Imagineerz Learning is sharing more of our favorite ideas and resources: Suggested Read Alouds Growth Mindset Tips Design Thinking Challenges Food for Thought Suggested Read Aloud:  Thanks for the Feedback… I Think? (Grades 2-3) A social story about a boy who learns the value of compliments and constructive criticism as well as ways to

Every month, Imagineerz Learning is sharing more of our favorite ideas and resources: Suggested Read Alouds Growth Mindset Tips Design Thinking Challenges Food for Thought Suggested Read Aloud:  Whoosh! (Grades 4-5) A biography of a boy whose creativity, persistence, and problem-solving skills led him to create the Super Soaker Whoosh!: Lonnie Johnson’s Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions by

  Ever wonder what we can do to help our students be resilient? At Imagineerz, a group of educators  have been studying how to make that happen. To share the ideas and resources we have developed, we are excited to launch a monthly blog post, Nurturing Resilience containing: Suggested Read Alouds Growth Mindset Tips Design Thinking Challenges Food for

Summary Peter is a little boy who wants to whistle. One day, he sees an older boy playing with his dog and whistling, so he tries to whistle but can’t. He spins around and makes himself dizzy. Later, Peter sees his dog, Willie, and hides in a box. He wants to whistle in order to

  From delicious eats to movies under the stars, July is full of fun family opportunities. Our top five are below:    MATH MADNESS. Engage in hands-on math activities while exploring angles, patterns, structures, and shapes to construct your own designs at The Lawrence Hall of Science.  These math-themed outdoor Summer Fun Days will run

  Summer is here! From yearly events to reopenings to new experiences, June is serving up something exciting for everybody. Our top five are below:   SAN MATEO COUNTY FAIR. The San Mateo County Fair is back! From June 5-June 13, enjoy performances, agriculture exhibits, food, and main stage concerts. Check out the new and

  Summer is so close, but no need to wait to have fun. Here our top five activities to keep your family feeling like they’re on vacation throughout May! Feel like shopping and supporting children’s creativity and entrepreneurial skills? Check out the Acton Silicon Valley Children’s Business Fair on Saturday, May 15, from 10:30 a.m.

  As we embrace springtime in the Bay Area, we wanted to share our five favorite activities to keep your family having fun in April! Want to participate in one of California’s largest prominent celebrations of Asian traditions? All from the comfort of your own home? Attend the 54th annual Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival®

  Your child is in the driveway practicing free throws, but very few balls make it into the hoop. As the time ticks by, you start to see the look of defeat on your child’s face.  Eventually, they trudge back to the house and say, “I can’t do it.”   What can you do? Help

  In the park? In your living room? A house full of friends? On your own?   No matter where you are, who you’re with, or what time it is, i-Can! activities are a great way to flex your i-Can! mindset AND have fun!   i-Can! activities use a modified version of the Stanford University

  It’s 6:00 p.m. and your family is juggling homework, dinner, and evening extra curriculars, when you hear it, the voice of your children speaking the dreaded sentence, “I’m bored.” Your eyes widen slightly in disbelief and you wonder, “How could anyone be bored amidst this avalanche of activity?” But this time, instead of letting

  In a world full of parenting advice, we try to keep things simple. We tell parents to keep just three things in mind as you try to foster an i-Can! environment at home: Play Connect Believe   Play: It’s fun AND It Builds Your Brain Dr. Stuart Brown calls play, “The brain’s best form