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

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.

Grant Wood AEA’s Digital Learning Team is introducing our makerspace challenge show called Think, Make, Innovate.  The idea behind a makerspace challenge is to spark ideas and innovation, by putting out a simple idea and seeing what can be created.

Get to know our show:

Each month we will test you with a new makerspace challenge on our Think, Make, Innovate Page.  When a challenge is released, it will include a video that can be shared with students to introduce them to the month’s challenge and will be supported with a lesson plan for teachers to assist in implementation.  The challenges are designed to be adaptable to various grade levels and will range from low to high tech.  In each episode, we do a demonstration of the challenge or highlight a school participating in the challenge, to give students some inspiration to get started.  As it often is with making, we show failure and that learning is not always perfect.  We hope that your students will take the episode idea and build off of it to stretch their creativity and try out their making skills to create their own original products.

Our hope is that you will take up the challenge and share your process with us.  Take photos or short videos of your students’ creativity and we will post on them our Community Inspiration Board.  Sharing is easy, just email us at makerspace@gwaea.org or send us the links through this Google Form.

Stay tuned, our first episode, Green Screen Photo Booth, will be released on September 1st.  
Want to know when we release new challenges?  
Or would you like to have your school highlighted in an episode?  
Join our mailing list so we can connect with you.

Remember, Have Fun Making!


~Amber Bridge and Jason Marshall, Think, Make, Innovate Hosts, Technology Consultants

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She is an enthusiastic tween who is sharing her love of science and making with the world through social media.  She started with a YouTube Show showcasing different projects she has made, which led her to become an author!  She an excellent example and role model for the students of today to inspire them in their maker journey.  

Super Awesome Slyvia could be a student in your class, who inspires you and their classmates to embrace their creative and unique self.  As you prepare for the start of the next school year, I hope you take steps to lay the foundation for making for your students, by providing opportunities and experiences and time for them to explore their maker side.

Who inspires you?  Is there someone I’ve forgotten?  Let me know in the comments section.

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


For more posts like this, please subscribe to our blog! You can also connect with us on social media if you Like us on Facebook, Follow us on Twitter or add us to your circles on Google+.