I was cleaning out my craft cabinet at home, and came upon a bag of corks. Instead of throwing them out, I decided to bring them in and see what my students would do with them.

The corks have been showing up in various makerspace projects. All have been awesome, but the other day, I saw something which really peaked my interest.

Me: “Hey! What is that?”

Student: “It’s a walkie-talkie!”

Me: “Really? Wow!”

Student: “Yeah!”

At this point she talked into her not-a-cork walkie talkie, and her friend listened to her not-a-cork walkie talkie, and responded. Both looked at me with huge smiles. “See?!”

Me: “Fantabulous!!!”

Resources:

The “not-a-cork” phrase is a reference to these two books.

• Not a Stick by Antoinette Portis
• Not a Box by Antoinette Portis

They are fantastic and give readers/listeners wonderful ideas and inspiration to use possibility thinking to open their minds and life to the more. If you haven’t read them, and used them with your students, run out and get them now! And if you do, please comment and let me know how it goes!