As the school year has been drawing to a close, I’ve been spending a lot of time reflecting on the library Makerspace we’ve been creating at my school. We started out back in January with a couple of bins of K’nex that our science department no longer used. We just left them out on the … Read more
While most educators I talk to seem to be completely enamored with the idea of Makerspaces, I know that there are also naysayers out there who wonder what it’s all about. I’ve had curious people ask me why I have all these “toys” in my library. “Aren’t the students supposed to be here to learn?” … Read more
A few weeks ago, we held our very first Mini MakerFaire at my school. Our Makerspace is still in it’s infancy (it’s really just a bunch of tables set up in the middle of the library) but I wanted to have an event that would raise awareness of what we are doing among students and … Read more
Learning mess: n., a mess that is created as a result of the learning process; also a mess that encourages further learning My library doesn’t have a dedicated area yet for making. At the moment, our Makerspace is a collection of tables with bins of K’nex, LEGOs and Snap Circuits out on top of them. … Read more
Invent To Learn: Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom is an amazing book. I’ve read tons of articles on Makerspaces, and several books as well, but this is certainly one of the best when it comes to focusing specifically on how making can be used in the classroom, and on starting up a school Makerspace. … Read more
This past weekend I attend the GulfCoast MakerCon, which is a Tampa based mini-MakerFaire. This was my first time ever going to such an event, and it was a great experience. I got to network with a lot of local makers, learn about Makerspaces in the Tampa area, and even found out that we … Read more
Are you the type of person who likes to fill in worksheets? Click here to download a FREE printable 5 Questions worksheet! (Post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase using them, I get a small commission that helps support running this blog) So you want to write a Makerspace grant… It seems like everyone … Read more
I’ve been focusing my professional reading lately on books related to the Maker Education movement. Design, Make, Play: Growing the Next Generation of STEM Innovators, with a collection of writings by different experts and organizations in the Maker movement, did not disappoint. This is a must read for anyone interested in Maker Education. Here’s my … Read more
You may remember that a few weeks ago I wrote about how I started a K’nex club at my school. We’ve only had a few meetings so far, but the kids are loving it, and I feel like they’ve already really started to bond together. So far, I’ve started out each meeting with a brainstorming … Read more
As I’ve been researching and reading up on the Maker Movement, one of the most common things I hear from other librarians and educators is that they aren’t sure how to start, or they’re worried about teacher perception. One easy way to get your students and teachers exposed to the Maker Movement (or really, DIY … Read more