How to Start a Makerspace When You're Broke
Everyone’s Favorite Excuse I’ve had the honor and privilege of sharing with hundreds of librarians and educators about our makerspace. Unfortunately, I see many educators hold back on starting a makerspace because of funds. I’m always hearing excuses like:
The Secret to Classroom Management in a Title I School - WeAreTeachers
I’ve been teaching middle school for twelve years. I’ve been in an urban school in which 99% of students receive free lunch for nine of those years. And I’ve tried a lot of classroom management strategies with varying degrees of success.
Stocking Up School Makerspaces: Tools + Materials (Back to School)
Lots of teachers have been asking us how to set up a Makerspace at their school. As part of our Back to School series, we’re sharing an excerpt from the Makerspace Playbook: Schools Edition. Once you have a space where you and your students can work, you’ll want to outfit it with the tools, equipment, and materials your Makerspace needs in order for your students to accomplish their projects. But before you go on a shopping spree and max out your credit card, assess what your Makerspace will actually require.
28 Awesome STEM Challenges for the Elementary Classroom
Ever wonder what STEM challenges to serve up to your students? Here is an amazing list of clever, unique and simple set up STEM lesson plans from other teachers. You’re going to love what your students come up with and the number of standards you can meet with these. There is a range of grade level ideas K-5 in this list. source: allabout3rdgrade.com Think you could solve this Water Puddle Evaporation puzzle?
Makerspace
My MakerSpace Journey at The Public Library of Mount Vernon and Knox County Small Tech, Big Impact: Designing My Maker Space at The Public Library of Mount Vernon and Knox County (OH) (School Library Journal article, February 2016) 1 Year Later, What I’ve Learned Previous library locations
Some #MakerSpace Resources – Mattson's Musings
Hello friends! Like many of you, I have started dipping my toes into the MakerSpace waters. Our high school students have the opportunity to use the space, and the rest of our library, during their 42 minute lunch hour. While students have been eager to check out the new “gadgets” we have to offer, many do not know where to get started with them.
attempts at using tech effectively in our classrooms
On October 1st I started on my efforts toward creating a set of Makerspaces in our school district. I immediately jumped into visiting the d.school at Stanford, collecting every book I could on the topic, and applied to attend the FabLearn conference. A Makerspace has been my goal since the first day I started as STEM Coordinator last year, so when I was recently given the flexibility and permission to move forward, I jumped on the opportunity immediately. Now, what I’m going to lay out here is my vision, supported by numerous individuals, conference sessions, and books. I’ll include a list of resources I’ve referred to at the end.
The Promise of a Writing Maker Space
I am reading more and more about maker spaces and the more I read, the more intrigued I become. I value the way maker spaces offer students opportunities to merge their curiosities, interests, and the classroom. When I started hearing talk of writing maker spaces I wanted to know more. As I read and listened to the talk, I wondered what would happen if I provided tools for making in our writing workshop. Okay, I am going to date myself here, but my mind immediately flashed back to the books I once made with the fancy yarn holding all the pages together and I remembered the pride I felt as I laced up my book.
Christmas Light-up Cards w/ Paper Circuits
We sell a complete paper circuit starter kit that contains the parts needed for 10 projects or students. Use the button below to buy the kit or project book. The first thing you need to do is download the project template ZIP file and then print them out. Each project is 2 pages and it’s recommended that you print them on one sheet of paper (front and back). We’ve included a full color template and a black and white outline template so you can color it in yourself.
ISLMA Virtual Maker Meet Up – Mattson's Musings
Today I had the opportunity to share some of my MakerSpace journey with librarians around the state of Illinois in a digital maker meet up! The Illinois School Library Media Association does wonderful work to connect school librarians across the state so that we can learn and grow with and from each other. You can access an archive of the entire Maker Meet Up here. You can also check out video of my two sessions as well as the slide decks below. Enjoy! Keynote: Empowering Learners with Opportunities to Make (video here) (slides here)
3 Key Qualities for a School Makerspace
Over the past year I had the privilege of leading a team to create makerspaces in 15 high schools around the Bay Area. Our goal was to learn how to help educators create makerspaces in schools and use making in the classroom. DARPA, which funded our program, eventually wanted to take what we learned and create makerspaces in 1,000 schools. While our DARPA funding ended in December, we believed so strongly in the benefits of these spaces that we continued to support our pilot schools until the end of the year. This was particularly rewarding work.
3-D Printing: Worth the Hype?
Photo from iStock/Thinkstock If you’ve ever seen a 3-D printer at work, you know how mesmerizing it can be. LEDs flicker to life, fans and motors spin up to speed, and then, the print head (or nozzle) begins its dance back and forth along X- and Y-axis belt drives (and up and down the Z-axis), extruding its “make” into being onto the print plate. Equal parts robot, building blocks, and hot glue gun, 3-D printing is a technology that’s making its way into schools and libraries. The printers work like this: a print head draws plastic filament from a large reel, heats the filament, and then extrudes it onto a build plate to print in 3-D.
