2017 was my fourth year of holding a Maker Fair at Stewart Middle Magnet School (see 2016, 2015 and 2014 for the previous ones). This year, my students had to put together everything for our Maker Fair in an extra short period of time, since the school year ended early. They rose to the challenge … Read more
Figuring out how to get (and keep) your makerspace organized can be a daunting task. I don’t claim to have a magical organization system that works perfectly 100% of the time. But I have learned a few things about keeping our space organized over the last three years. Here’s my advice: How to Create Makerspace … Read more
The 2016 Stewart MakerFair Every year since we started our makerspace in January 2014, we’ve held a Maker Fair during the last conference night of the year (See our 2014 MakerFair and our 2015 MakerFair). This year’s was even bigger and more awesome. We had more interactive student projects and I had more student volunteers … Read more
While on the flight to AASL in Columbus, OH, I read Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative in its entirety. Like Show Your Work, which I read over the summer, Steal Like an Artist offers fantastic advice on being creative, promoting your work, sharing with others and following your … Read more
Since I became a media specialist, I’ve had the honor and privilege of attending my state media specialists conference, FAME, every year. (You can find my posts on 2014, 2013). Those last two were some of the first times I blogged professionally. Last year’s FAME conference was my very first time presenting anywhere. This year’s FAME … Read more
Curriculum Connections in Makerspaces In an article I wrote for Florida Media Quarterly, I describe ways that I’ve built curriculum connections into my makerspace. I get this question often, so I wanted to describe a few of the things I’ve done at Stewart. This is by no means an exhaustive list. Nor am I saying … Read more
Recently, I had the unfortunate experience of dealing with criticism. I was told (not to my face) by a visitor to our school that our library makerspace is not a “real makerspace”. This same person stated that our woodshop is a “real makerspace” because it has power tools. She suggested that I “do some research” on … Read more
