In the spring of 2021, the 6th grade science teacher and I began forming a plan. She had seen the engagement of 6th graders in our afterschool Maker Days program and wanted to find a way to bring that into her classroom so that ALL of our 6th graders could have this opportunity. We … Read more
In the 2021-2022 school year, I collaborated with our 6th grade science teacher to incorporate makerspace activities into her curriculum. We decided on a hybrid approach where for some projects, students would come up to the library makerspace and for others, I would come down to the classroom. So we decided to purchase supplies (using … Read more
Over the summer of 2021, I collaborated with our 6th grade science teacher as part of a grant to find ways to incorporate makerspace activities into the curriculum. (Look for posts coming soon about some of the projects we did). Part of our work was reading the book, Making Science: Reimagining STEM Education in … Read more
How to Run a Tech Take Apart Workshop in Your Makerspace Tech Take Apart is a fun, low-budget activity that gets students excited about seeing how the inner workings of electronics function. That being said, my first time attempting this activity with middle school students was a disaster (so much so that I only … Read more
Cardboard challenges have been a core part of my makerspace programming for the past eight years. I continue to be amazed year after year at the amazing ideas students come up with when given a design challenge and simple, everyday materials. In Part 1 of this post series, I looked at some of my favorite … Read more
The Cardboard Challenge remains one of my all-time favorite makerspace activities. I love how accessible it is to students. How enthusiastic and creative they can be with such simple materials. I’ll never forget one of my favorite makerspace moments – my students at Stewart were Skyping with another school that was looking to start a … Read more
This is a multiple post series. Part 1 gave an overview of what my school has been doing during COVID and how my library’s physical space has adapted. In Part 2, I shared about programs I’ve done to encourage reading, plus collaborations with teachers. For this last post, I’ll share how we’ve adapted our makerspace … Read more
Paper circuits are SO much fun! They can be fun, crafty, and a great way to look at STEM concepts that still feels approachable for students. Paper circuits allow for a quick win for students – you can help them get a working circuit made within a 30-50 minute class period. Students can build on … Read more
Writing a post like this isn’t easy. I feel like I know in my heart what my philosophy on makerspaces is, but putting it into tangible statements seems harder. So I started thinking about this more as a manifesto – if I was to make a grand statement about what I feel the value of … Read more
When I first started my makerspace at Stewart, I had no idea what I was doing. I just had three bins of K’nex and a vision for what our makerspace could be. Shortly after we got our supplies, we began 6th grade clubs that met during school. I started the K’nex club. The next year … Read more