When I envision what my ideal classroom looks like, I see students communicating with one another, collaborating, creating, problem solving... in short, movement and student voice. I am very excited that the maker movement is taking root in schools across America. We feel passionate about giving our students the opportunity to create, explore, discover and problem solve. It has been exciting to see our vision take shape this year!
Much of my inspiration comes from the students themselves, but when we set out to design a makerspace of our own, we did a whole lot of research, questioning, and listening. I discovered the blog of a media specialist in New Milford, New Jersey, Laura Fleming. Laura, with the support of her leadership team, created a makerspace for her students. I was so excited to find an example of a quality makerspace at the secondary level. Reading Laura's blog and resources inspired us to take action and make this possible for our students.
Our inspiration was based on the Constructivist Theory where we move students from consumption to creation and then knowledge into action. We believed that making is a gateway to deeper engagement in science and engineering as well as art and design...but what is a makerspace? It is a place where people (kids & adults!) can learn to use tools and materials to develop creative products of value. This means that kids are using real world tools to create real world work.
One of the challenges we knew we needed to be proactive in addressing is giving up control to the students. This is a shift in thinking. It is not about our learning. It is about their learning. Making is a process deeply connected to learning. It is a process guided by natural inquiry and self-directed and self-paced learning.
A dedicated educator is needed to facilitate this kind of learning. You need someone who helps students diagnose a problem so that they can create a solution and guides students through the inevitable highs and lows of making while empowering the students to take ownership of their learning.
In our research, we learned that one important factor to the success of our makerspace would be changing it up and keeping it new and relevant. We knew it needed to be available to students an teachers all the time. We chose our library, because we had a large space in the back of the library that was not being used.
We began by asking for donations of broken electronics, recyclable materials, fabric, ribbon, etc. etc. We were lucky enough to have TWO sewing machines donated! We also invested a small amount of money to purchase some makey makeys, Rasberry Pi, Legos, Arduinos, spheros, thought provoking games like chess, etc.
There is no right or wrong way to set up a makerspace. It depends on the needs of your campus and students, the budget and space available, and the staff willing to carry out the vision. Just keep in mind that a functioning makerspace has less to do with adults and everything to do with kids. Keep your learning space flexible and change what is in your makerspace frequently to keep it relevant.
Step out there and take a risk. Give your students this opportunity. They deserve to have these kinds of learning experiences. They deserve our best!
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