Category: Makerspace

Making Meaning Out of a Maker Experience...

3/4/2020

Making, STEM, and Design Thinking are some of the more popular buzzwords floating around the educational world. Some people use these terms interchangeably. Is that okay? Are Making, STEM, and Design Thinking that similar? I believe each of these terms have skills and characteristics that overlap, but that each area holds true to its identity and connection to creativity.

Over the last two years, I’ve been working to engage educators around our area in conversations around this exact topic through a Creative Challenges Cohort at Grant Wood AEA. As part of #MakerMarch, I thought it would be great to open up this conversation to everyone in a blog series that will run this month. First, we are going to tackle the topic of Making.

Today, we are going to peak into the conversation with three of our Year 2 Cohort Members. Let’s see what they have to say about Making….

Melissa Kane (@Abookworm813)
Messy and merry - this is how it might look if you come in the high school library during a making session. The laughs might come from the students trying to match the picture or instructions I found online and seeing what we actually come up with. We may not always get it exactly like the picture, but we have fun trying. I have found that following instructions isn’t always easy for everyone but we sometimes get even better results when we go out on our own to see what we can do.

And there is always a mess on the table, floors, and sometimes even following the students out the door. I am sure the janitors secretly curse me on days we turn the library into a mess but it is truly one of the best 30-40 minutes of my day when we have time for it.

We have made our own stockings to stuff for the holidays and tried our hand on DIY soap and shampoo for the hygiene supply store we are starting in our health office. And one of the biggest hits for Makerspace supplies has been the beads that stick together with some spritz of water to make shapes and designs. I have already had to replace the beads twice as students will show up when they need a break or want to see if they can make something better than what their friend did

There are some days when I have up to five creations sitting on my desk to dry and pick up at the end of the day. And it is always great to see the smiles when they pick them up and show their friend what they made as their friend is asking when they can come and make one for themselves! I think that the joy is probably the best part of making. Even if you don’t end up with exactly what you set out in the beginning it is okay because you had fun along the way. With high school students it is always fun to see their inner child come out as they are glueing or cutting or picking out colors. I sometimes worry there is not enough “learning” as we make, but I have come to realize sometimes it is okay for my students just to have the time to be creative and see what shakes out and the smiles along the way make it even better.

Bridget Speer (@sewfun82)
Have you ever looked at the back of a cross stitch pattern? The front is a beautiful design, but when you look at the back you see all the links between stitches, knots, leftover strings. When I think about cross stitch, I think about all the work that went into creating the design and hiding all the imperfections. I believe the Maker Movement is a way to allow students to explore and design so that one day their products will be a beautiful design.

Making is messy, but that doesn’t mean that it is disorganized. I tried to make a cross stitched pillow with a pattern I found on clearance. I quickly realized that I needed to be organized in order to complete this project, as well as needing some practice. I needed to organize the threads so that I would be able to match the colors to the intricate design.

Making is a way to help foster problem solving. Each of us brings past experiences to the projects we build. When we allow students the chance to have experiences building with cardboard, creating green screen and stop motion videos, and exploring the wonder of 3D printers, we are helping them gain experiences that can help them in the future. As Mr. Rogers said “Children’s play is not just kids’ stuff. Children’s play is rather the stuff of most future inventions.” (https://twentytwowords.com/incredibly-inspiring-mr-rogers-quotes-that-will-brighten-your-day/)

I believe that making is an important part of the school day. We need to allow students to try new things; to provide a safe place to try hard things, fail, and try again. I went to my students to help me write a description of our school’s makerspace

STEAM lab is experiments within boundaries.
A creative place to express your imagination.
Free to say any ideas without anyone criticizing you.
A place where you can express your true self.

Gina Miller (@GinaBeckMiller)
Making to me is taking your thoughts; dreams, fantasy, play, creativity, desires, inventions, dramatics, art, engineering, problem solving, and combining them into mental ideas that are then able to be transferred into a plan that is written, drawn & labeled. That plan can then be evolved into a creation to express those thoughts, revising as necessary/desired.

To be able to complete that cycle is a life skill that will take students into their futures. Many studies have been completed asking major employers about the skills necessary for new employees, more so than their education at times it their ability to function in society working together with others, accepting others and creative problem solving. So making is not only extremely FUN! It is also preparing this new generation for employable skills necessary as adults.

What does Making or Maker Experiences mean to you?
We'd love to hear your thoughts! Add a comment below to join in on the conversation and make sure that you are following along with #MakerMarch all month long.
And remember #HaveFunMaking!

~Amber Bridge, Digital Learning Consultant
@abridgesmith

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Think, Make, Innovate: Connecting Literary Characters & Students through Making

12/18/2019

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A new Think, Make, Innovate is out and we are giving you a behind the scenes connection with Sara Pflughaupt, Solon Community School District's Teacher Librarian (@scsdlibraries) in this guest blog post.

A makerspace is an area where students can build, create, and innovate. Students take part in a variety of hands-on activities to develop critical thinking, problem-solving, collaboration, and decision-making skills. Having a school makerspace gives teachers the ability to increase learning opportunities for students and design curricular opportunities that build connections across grade levels and content areas. Despite our best efforts as educators, when concepts are abstract some students cannot develop the level of understanding required. Sometimes we need to tap into multiple modalities in order to help make abstract ideas more concrete. This is where making comes in!

The fourth grade students at Solon Intermediate School recently experienced one of these unique learning opportunities. As the Solon’s Teacher Librarian, I collaborated with the fourth grade teachers to create an activity that would engage students in making and connect to the learning happening within their classroom. Their first reading unit was focused on reading intensely to interpret characters. To do this, they used the book, The Tiger Rising by Kate DiCamillo as a mentor text. The activity stemmed from one particular quote from that text. “He made all of his feelings go inside the suitcase; he stuffed them in tight and then sat on the suitcase and locked it shut” (p. 3). The character, Rob, was discussed at length and there were discussions about what they suitcase symbolizes. Students also shared what kinds of feelings or thoughts Rob put in his suitcase. Next, the students transitioned to a making activity that required them to create a model of a suitcase using a wide variety of materials.

The following day, the students were brought back together. This time the students were given some time for self-reflection. They were to use this time to draw or write on small pieces of paper what some of their thoughts or feelings are that they would put in their “suitcase” similar to Rob in The Tiger Rising. When students were finished, they placed these pieces of paper in their model suitcase and everyone sat in a circle around the room. Students were then given the opportunity to share some of the things they had put in their suitcase, although this was not required. The teachers started the discussion by sharing some things in their “suitcase,” and at first, only about five students shared. However, once a few students shared, more and more students started to open up. A sense of trust was built and students felt comfortable sharing some of their biggest worries, fears, and struggles. Tears were shed and relationships were built as students learned about each other. In addition, students developed empathy for one another and started to realize that many of their peers were struggling with some of the same things they were and that they were not alone. This was an incredible experience for everyone involved. This makerspace activity tapped into multiple subjects and multiple skill sets in connected ways. Most importantly, students were given the chance to express themselves in creative ways within the curriculum.

See What Our Student Makers Created

~ Sara Pflughaupt
Guest Blogger
Solon Community School District

#HaveFunMaking

A Maker Minute: We Love Cardboard!

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Why do you believe Creative Challenges are Important?

11/1/2019

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A makerspace is formed at the intersection of creativity and community

Last year, an amazing group of educators assembled to be a part of a new course called Creative Challenges Teacher Cohort. The goal of the course was meant to give teachers an opportunity to think and learn more about Making, STEM and Design Thinking and build up the community of teachers around the area who are working to try new things in their classroom to get their students creating.

At the end of our year, many of the teachers said they’d like to continue on, so we have been moving forward with more creative adventures. And in this go round, I want to give more of a voice to our cohort members. Keep reading to learn more from a few of the teachers in this Cohort about creative challenges and the importance of student creativity.

From Gina Miller (@GinaBeckMiller), Belle Plaine Community School District
Creative Challenges are basically problem solving and adaptability in action.

When I think of the purpose of creative challenges it is to instill within our students the ability to recognize a problem and develop the ability to brainstorm possible scenarios or strategies to assist their current coping, with problem solving regardless of the size of the problem they are facing. Too many times students immediately run to an adult to have them fix it, give them the answer, do something for them.

My largest goal as an educator is to use purposeful activities/lessons that assist in problem solving practice, critical thinking, tying it to real world applications, empathy training/sensitivity to others, and, in turn, prepare students for their futures. We definitely do not do kids favors by doing things for them, rather than walking them through, what are your options for solving this problem? What have you done before to solve this type of problem, what have you noticed about the way(s) others have solved similar problems, or research to find how this problem has been or could be solved. I encourage students to use engineering design models or scientific process models to tackle any problem.

I also strongly feel that I push students to look at something, to not just see it, but to observe everything about something, how it works, what it was designed to do, the intended design and then encourage them to reverse engineer and / or think of new and original ways that object could be sued, or revamped to fit new needs.

My other biggest passion/and even pet peeve, is tenacity & resiliency development. I have so many students that want something to be perfect immediately, to not have to make revisions, to believe that they should be able to make something come to fruition because they can think about how it should/could be and they cannot make the connections between their brain and their hands or their dreams and their plans. (hey that rhymes!)

From Bridget Speer (@sewfun82) Benton Community School District
Quote: There is no end to education. It is not that you read a book, pass an examination, and finish with education. The whole of life, from the moment you are born to the moment you die, is a process of learning. ~Jiddu Krishnamurti
   As a teacher, mom, and aunt, one of the things I am very passionate about is reaching all learners. I was a typical good student. I did my homework, didn’t get into too much trouble in class, read a lot. However, the things I remember most are the times when we got our hands “dirty” in projects. One time, our class made popcorn balls and sold them to raise money to buy trees for the playground. Another time, I remember creating types of Native American homes as we learned about different tribes. One of my favorites was creating a model of the Mississippi in our 8th grade science room complete with a pump to circulate the water! I can’t believe that anyone let us (or our teacher) haul that much sand, dirt and rocks into the classroom.
As I think about my work with students in our STEAM Lab, my goals are

Build community
Connect student learning with the curriculum
Sharing out with community stakeholders

The STEAM Lab is a place where everyone is welcome. At Benton Community, our motto is “A Place to Belong”. One of my personal goals it to get to know and use all my students’ names. As I work with students in creative challenges, I get to know more than just their name. I also have learned in almost 15 years of teaching, there are so many students with more knowledge than myself, at least in a few subjects! Our STEAM Lab should be a space for students to share their expertise. It can also be a safe place to take a risk and try something new. Students and staff can build strong relationships and a sense of community as they investigate creative challenges in collaboration.
Often people see makerspace as an arts & crafts session or unorganized mess. However, I believe that with creative challenges, we can expose students to powerful connections to learning. I have seen students demonstrate understanding of angles and polygons while coding robots. Other students developed empathy by researching and creating realistic habitats for a skunk that was at the center of their class read aloud. Makerspace doesn’t have to be extra.

From Melissa Kane (@Abookworm813), Anamosa Community School District
Thinking about thinking seems like a redundant statement but as I started thinking about the importance of a Makerspace that really is the key. So often we only see the product that is finished when our time is done; not the struggle it took to get the fabric to stand up to cover the wagon or the thirteen changes made to the code to make the wheel spin.

We need to take the time to talk through the process and explain the learning that happened. We need to use words like clarity, precision, empathy, and persisting as we discuss how we made it to the end product. This needs to just be part of the process and reflection as we work to and finish the product. I think of digital tools like Seesaw and Flipgrid that could allow students to create video clips about their learning and then edited together to share or review the journey of learning.

I also like the idea of sharing this learning out to others. I think it would be great to try and share the process with an engineer or professional in the field of what is created to get some feedback on the connection to real life could be a powerful tool for students as well. Tagging on Instagram and Twitter could be a way for students to get this interaction outside of the school walls.

If we allow these things to happen as we are using the Makerspace the importance may be seen by others outside the space as well. What are some ways you use to help your students think about their thinking in the Makerspace?

A big thanks to Gina, Bridget, and Melissa for sharing!
Amber Bridge
@abridgesmith
Digital Learning

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Maker Joy

9/21/2018

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Not only is #havefunmaking the last line that we say of our Think, Make, Innovate episodes, but we really hope that anyone that takes up one of our Think, Make, Innovate challenges has FUN while making! It has been magic to be able to capture these moments as part of past episodes of Think, Make, Innovate.

#Maker delight in next episode of Think, Make, Innovate dropping tomorrow. Want to be notified of new episodes? https://t.co/U0C2Vz6156 pic.twitter.com/HDpc7k6YS9
— Amber Bridge (@abridgesmith) October 31, 2017

Check out the newest Think, Make, Innovate featuring #bcmakers cardboard wearables! https://t.co/p0kRZX7FAQ pic.twitter.com/Ko9dF10RCJ
— Amber Bridge (@abridgesmith) May 1, 2017

Have you checked out the #makerjoy from the #learnersleadersleopards in the latest Think, Make, Innovate? https://t.co/O8N9ZupcEV #havefunmaking pic.twitter.com/KwrvjFSfHh
— The Digital Learning Team (@DLGWAEA) September 21, 2018

Maker opportunities create these amazing moments worth celebrating. Making discoveries in learning through making, it gives you this magical “wow” or “what just happened” moment. You did not know this was going to happen, but It usually hooks you, and gives you a internal drive to want to know and do more.

When you make something, it gives you a lot to be proud about. You get to see and hold your work in your hands. It’s this physical evidence that you did something and you want to say to everyone, “Did you see what I made?” During a maker experience, you learn SO much along the way. It gives you this great opportunity to connect your in and out of school experiences to make and collaborate with others. In the Sphero Boats episode, one student was captured saying, drawing on past experience in science class to jog her classmates memory.

"Remember the science lesson where we had to go into the water?" Audrey, 3rd Grade, Lemme Elementary #havefunmaking

Plus, when you make something, you are eager to share it out with the world! The world? Wait, how am I going to do that?
Well, we hope that we can offer that to you through our online student maker community. If you have your students participate in one of our Think, Make, Innovate Maker Challenges, we’d love to help you share their work with the world by highlight them on our website and resharing through our social media accounts.
Choose the path that’s best for you to share with us:

Email us at makerspace@gwaea.org
Tweet or Instagram us @dlgwaea
Use the hashtag #havefunmaking

We have been working to revamp our #havefuncommunity to showcase student creations from our different maker challenges and love some feedback from you.

Think, Make, Innovate Get Inspired #havefunmaking

You can now see where our makers are from with our new Maker Map.

And you can search by maker topics and get inspired by our makers’ creations. Check out the screen shot below that highlights new search features. You could even pull up one of the examples and to share with the class and ask the student to figure out how they did that or can you figure out a different way to do this?

What else would you like to see added to our maker community? Leave us a comment on this blog to help us best share and inspire your students to get creating!
And of course....
#havefunmaking!

~Amber Bridge (@abridgesmith)
Digital Learning Consultant, Grant Wood AEA

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Who’s ready to get creative? Think, Make, Innovate is coming at you!

8/16/2018

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On September 1st, we’ll be releasing the newest episode of Think, Make, Innovate. You are welcome to join our mail list to be reminded. The biggest update to our new season is our new co-host. Mindy Cairney will be joining the Think, Make, Innovate crew helping to kick off the challenges each month. Mindy’s love of making includes using the Makey-Makey in creative ways, tinkering with video and photo editing, and designing new spaces in her home.

Until then, we’ve been working hard to update our Think, Make, Innovate page on our website, and we can’t wait for you to check out and give us feedback.

Check out these new quick buttons to the ‘Lesson Plans’ and the ‘Maker Community’. Let us see your creations! Click on the ‘Share” button to email us photos or videos of your students engaged in a Think, Make, Innovate challenge. Or, feel free to tag us on social media using #havefunmaking or @DLGWAEA.

Each month, we release a Lesson Plan including steps, material lists, and extension ideas you can use to help bring this challenge into your classroom. Resources are also listed here that will help you learn a little bit more. Click on the Lesson Plan library to access all of the ‘Lesson Plan Library’ to check out every lesson we’ve done.

Click on the envelope to join our mailing list and have an email delivered right to your inbox once a month when new episodes are uploaded. In our updated email for this year, you’ll hear directly from classroom teachers that encourage a maker environment in their classroom.

We have also added new ways to search and find past episodes of Think, Make, Innovate. If you are looking for challenges related to a specific theme, you can filter by Maker Category. Or, if you are looking for examples of making at a specific building level (elementary, middle or high school), filter by Featured School. You can pick up any challenge at any time and send us your photos or video and we'll add you to our online maker community.

We'd love to hear what you think or any other suggestions you have for episodes ideas or content you'd like to see us add. Just leave us a comment in this blog!

We hope you have a great year of making! And as always...#havefunmaking

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We Challenge You..

12/12/2017

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Have you checked in with Think, Make, Innovate lately?

It's hard to believe that we are into Season 3 of sharing maker ideas and highlighting schools who are encouraging their students to be makers. There are 22 different Think, Make, Innovate episodes out there waiting for you to take up the challenge. As always, you can complete any challenge in any order you want to best fit your students' creativity. We have recently reorganized our Think, Make, Innovate page into maker themes, like No or Low Tech Challenges or Coding Challenges to help you easily find maker challenges for your students.

But I would say that the biggest, WOW for me has been how you've taken up the challenge!

A part of every episode, either the students or Jason and I will say, "We Challenge You" to encourage students in Iowa or anywhere to take up the maker challenge. We've added so many schools from across the state (and a few other states as well) to our online maker community. It's been super inspiring to see!!

A huge surprise for us has been how you have empowered yourselves to challenge each other!

Check out rockstar librarian, Chelsea Sims & her maker crew (@sejhlibrary on Instagram - if you are not following you are missing out) challenge other schools in her district to take up a cardboard challenge.

A challenge to NW and NC!!! @nclibrarybuzz #sejh

A post shared by SEJH Library (@sejhlibrary) on Oct 25, 2017 at 12:16pm PDT

And then, there are these two inspiring teachers, Gina Miller (@ginabeckmiller) from Belle Plaine and Manda Marshall (@mw_techlabA) from Mary Welsh Elementary in Williamsburg. Their story of collaboration is so fun and authentically awesome. Coming from two different school districts, crossing paths through professional development and being inspired and by each other. They had an idea to bring their students together for Bot Smackdown Challenge Day and it all came together yesterday. It was an amazing day of collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity for these students. I was overjoyed to be able to help be a part of it and capture it to share in the NEXT episode of Think, Make, Innovate coming out in January. Click here to subscribe to our mailing list if you want to be notified of future episodes like this one!

Listen to them tell their story, and tune in to their Think, Make, Innovate Episode in January!

How have you taken up the maker challenge?
We'd love to hear from you, share your students' work on our maker community, or collaborate with you on a future Think, Make, Innovate episode! We love to see you tag us on social media or use #havefunmaking to share the fun and joy of making that your students are involved in.

Leave us a comment and let us know how your school is moving forward with the maker movement.

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Making Meaning Out of a Maker Experience...

Think, Make, Innovate: Connecting Literary Characters & Students through Making

See What Our Student Makers Created

A Maker Minute: We Love Cardboard!

Why do you believe Creative Challenges are Important?

Maker Joy

Who’s ready to get creative? Think, Make, Innovate is coming at you!

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