Curious Activities and Investigations To
Get Your Kids’ Brains Sweating
As a teacher, I struggled with what to do when a student finished early. I just didn't have resources that met their needs. As a result, they’d finish early and I’d give them another worksheet or ask them to “go read a book” for a while or even, yes, help me teach the other kids.
Chess, not Tic-Tac-Toe
Do you ever see adults playing Tic-Tac-Toe? Probably not! The game is too simple. Once you get it, you get it. Tic-Tac-Toe has a low-ceiling. You bump into it almost immediately.
But you do see adults playing chess! Perhaps you play yourself. Chess is a game with a high-ceiling. As you get better, you find more to explore. You can spend your whole life getting better at chess.
The solution to “my kid is bored with these worksheets” is not to give kids more worksheets. That is boring and disheartening. The answer is to give them tasks that are more like chess. Tasks that have lots of possibilities for ongoing extension and exploration.
Start With An Interesting Question
So, the lessons at Byrdseed.TV start with a genuinely interesting question that leads students into a complex problem without one clear solution. Something they can dig into for long periods of time. Something that gets more interesting the more they explore.
Here are some favorites:
- What if we didn’t have the numeral 9? Would 8 + 1 = 10? Or… something else?
- Do donuts have more sugar than a glass of orange juice? A salad? A banana?
- Could you create a Pokemon using just Greek and Latin roots?
- Why are the number of days in each month so uneven? Can’t we create a better calendar?
- What if two holidays’ mascots had a debate about which holiday was superior?
⬆️ Yes those are actual lessons at Byrdseed.TV! Want to see them? Enter your email here and I'll send you the links!
"I love Byrdseed.TV"
Thousands of teachers and parents from around the world use Byrdseed.TV with their students. They represent every continent except Antarctica (for now!).
Here's what some folks have told me:
"This was the best money I have ever spent on a teaching tool!"
Christine in Wisconsin
"I LOVE these videos. It's like having two teachers in my classroom."
Kristi in Ohio
"I love Byrdseed.TV. It is a lifesaver"
Lori in Washington
"Byrdseed.TV has always been amazing but during the last year, you have been elevated to SUPERAMAZINGFANTASTIC status. You have saved my students from super boring lessons."
Heidi in California
"I love Byrdseed TV! I use it as a resource and inspiration source! Thank you so much for sharing your ideas and knowledge."
Kari in Texas
"I am the coordinator for our district gifted program. Byrdseed.TV is one of my favorite sites and one of the best investments I have made for the program."
Jeannette in California
"I absolutely LOVE all of the ideas on your site. I am using Byrdseed TV to differentiate activities for my clustered students to work on when the rest of the class is doing something they've already mastered."
Wendy in Washington
"Love, love, love Byrdseed TV... I used many ideas and lessons this year. The kids loved the lessons and were engaged!"
Tiffany in California
"I just subscribed to Byrdseed.TV and am loving it -- though it is kind of scary addictive in a binge-watching kind of way (that, by the way, is a compliment)."
Elizabeth from Florida
But my favorite bit of feedback came from a student. They said that everything they do in school is so linear, but "Byrdseed.TV makes us think diagonally!"
I can think of no better way to explain what I'm going for!
Want to see kids working with Byrdseed.TV? Here are some samples teachers have sent in.
Hi! I'm Ian Byrd and I make pretty much everything here at Byrdseed.TV. I was once a teacher, then I worked with districts all over the US as a consultant, and now I work full-time on the lessons here. You can find me on Twitter as @IanAByrd or email me at [email protected]. I also write about education at Byrdseed.com.