Why have a Makerspace in the classroom? For me, it starts with my heart and knowing that this type of learning, making, creating is tangible. Children, students and adults are in a zone when they are seen as intelligent able beings that can contribute to their learning and to others. We need to have a place in our teaching where we give students the strength to create, make mistakes, learn and communicate what they are doing. Worksheets alone don’t create memories. It is the memories that stay with us and the excitement of something we learned. I need to be the teacher that helps create memories in her students by helping them to problem solve and reflect. Having this Makerspace in my classroom with my students is creating kaleidoscope of memories
This year my teaching practice dramatically changed as I learned about teaching with technology, Makerspaces and design thinking. I started out by using DonorsChoose to get Squishy Circuit kits and cardboard tools. My students were so excited when one of them got their playdoh to light up. The excitement spread throughout the classroom. We talked about negative, positive, electrons, circuit boards and why a connection was or wasn’t working. My students had a chance to just build something out of cardboard that had to do with a read aloud project. There was freedom and a chance to make something unique that had a story behind it. It wasn’t just a worksheet with one expected outcome from the teacher. These experiences opened up my eyes. I was learning, they were learning and we were learning together. Teaching isn’t just the teacher doing it alone. My students have discussed and demonstrated their learning in assemblies and are working on providing each other with help and feedback. I realize now how valuable peer feedback is and that it has lacked in my classroom. The transferable skill of communication is definitely a large part of making. Students have the potential and confidence to be teachers and also the learners. It isn’t cut and dry what is “perfect” or what is Mrs. Hook only looking for. The idea that there may be more than one way to complete the task or demonstrate learning is a different way of teaching a lesson. To be able to teach kids to be flexible, imaginative problem solvers and creators is important. As my new learning increased, I shared this excitement. I began showing my students Ted Talks during snack, so that they could see the new technology and the possibilities. They were amazed by the Makey Makey and the inventions that you could make by using conductive paint and pens. It is like opening up a whole new world to them. I have never felt so much excitement about introducing my students to new learning that they are capable of doing too. From these new experiences, my Makerspace has grown in my classroom. There is an understanding that it is okay to make mistakes and that there are materials for them to use to design at their will. They are trying new things and have also been creating new memories by learning to code using Dash and Dot the robots. Just the idea of a robot to the kids, is fascinating. When they found out that they could make the robot do certain things, this created a memorable experience. They were allowed to learn and experience the robots on their own. This experience in the Makerspace then led to using Scratch Junior. The combination of technology, designing and creating is challenging and brings a new type of learning. They are learning skills that are valuable for the future as new technology is being invented. Students need practice with technology in the classroom that is coordinated and valuable. I see these learning experiences as not being extra to my teaching but as adding a missing element or accommodation. Technology and my Makerspace in my classroom are creating and changing my classroom for the better. I now have a classroom blog that creates more communication to parents, so they can see what their children are learning. Parents got to experience a Maker event put on by their kids where their children were the teachers and they were getting to be the makers. My first and second graders got to interview two coders and see that this type of learning is important in the real world too. I plan on continuing to learn about new technology and making for my students to add to my curriculum. I am going to keep on looking at my practice and how I can assess my students learning. This Makerspace is creating memories for me as I make cardboard automata with my kids and realize that it is a process and how I may do it differently next time. A Makerspace is like a duck diving under the rippled surface of the water. You wait for it to appear, so you can see its unique greatness.
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The Lego We Do 2 Robots were amazing!!! Students learn step by step how to build a robot out of legos and then they can code it to move. I also liked the Ozobot. I think this would be a neat tool for students to create a path of what the robot should do. I am not sure yet how this robot would add to my classroom. We also tried the mouse coding game on the green tiles but the mouse had a hard time going straight after you programmed its path.
I loved the Scratch app. I had heard of it before in a previous course but I hadn't had a chance to use it. Students get to practice coding and designing what Scratch will do. It would be neat if it developed into a game. I loved, loved the Bee Bots because you can use it cross curricular. You could program the Bee Bot to practice whatever you are teaching. You could ask a students to find a moon phrase and they would program the bee Bot to go to the right square. It is expensive for the mat, but once you have one, you can make one out of a shower curtain. I also loved the turtle coding board game. This would be a great center for a few students to work on. This game teaches strategy, collaboration and coding.
Students began making cards to invite their families. They will be teaching parents how to use Squishy Circuits and designing with cardboard and caps. We are also going to make cupcakes and let families decorate them at the event. How exciting!!
Students were excited to try out the Dash robot. One students has already made it move and make sounds!
I brought my sons to this museum a few weeks ago. Boy, was I excited! They had changed the centers upstairs to learning about tinkering with toys. They had big blue building blocks, connectors, and toys that you could press and look into to see how they work. If you haven't been to this museum, then I definitely suggest that you do!
The students and I were very excited to try out the Squishy Circuit kits. We watched Sylvia's Super Mini Maker show, which was great for the students to see another student making. I taught the students how to put batteries into the power source and about negative and positive charges. Students had to decide on a toy that they would want to make with their play doh and then light it up. After one of my students figured out how to get the led lit, they were hooked. Some students came up with ways to set more than two amounts of playdoh to have more leds light up in other places. They took the initiative and I stepped back and observed. Students shared their sculptures at the end with peers. This was a great learning experience for them and myself. I even tried using a motor with the squishy circuits. i got it to run once but then had trouble finding the right spot again. I wonder if not enough electricity could get to it.
I thought the tutorials were great on youtube of how to do this. I had good luck with getting the design to fit and then making a copy of it after you do the trace bitmap image. Everything went fine until I added text below it. I used text from within the Inkscape program. I thought it would then be easy and I wouldn't have to do to much to it. When I tried to preview my image, the text wouldn't let me copy it. Why is this? Still not sure. I like this design because it has to do with my students and the willingness to keep trying.
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AuthorI teach a combined first and second grade at Tunbridge Central School. I love my school and getting a chance to improve my teaching every year. Archives
December 2017
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