Makerspace first impressions

When Mr. McGowan first approached me about this project, I didn't really know what it would entail, but I knew I wanted to be a part of it.  To be honest, I wasn't entirely sure what a makerspace was, and as Mr. McGowan explained it to me, all I could see was incredible opportunity and potential.  As I Googled what a makerspace was, I could see the various set ups and uses different schools had and started to think about how flexible the idea was... which is an ideal situation for figuring out how this could work in our community and in our schools.  

In a time where we are constantly using buzzwords such as "Common Core" and "standardized testing," we need to remember to give students time to be kids.  This is what was so appealing to me about the makerspace- the basic concept encouraged kids to invent, be creative, explore.  In the makerspace, they can use their innovation and problem solving skills to literally have a space to just make things.  It's an incredible concept! 

Our first few weeks bringing the mobile makerspace to Ashland Middle School was extremely successful.  I enjoyed seeing the creativity students were using as they learned about circuits and came up with their own project ideas.  I think the most powerful part of our program so far is the collaboration between students across grade levels.  Our high school students, the Makerspace Mentors, took an active approach to working with the middle school students, showing them how parts worked and encouraging their ideas.  It was inspiring to see our high school students turn into teachers through hands on demonstrations and explaining to students how things worked.  I was especially impressed at how the high school students could articulate to the middle school students the technicalities and potential of the kits they were using, instead of merely telling them what to do.  It was a true learning opportunity on both sides!

I don't know what types of projects the Mindess Elementary School students will come up with in our next session, but I know everyone will have fun and will leave wanting more.   Thank you to all of our supporters- we can't wait to continue to show you what fun everyone is having!

Our Mini Mobile Makerspace Kit

Based on some requests, I am posting a guide to the kit we put together for the Middle School Mobile Makerspace session. Each kit was designed for four kids to use with enough batteries and parts such that each could have at least one set. I purchased everything loose from Amazon. We also used Light Up Edison kits to explore the basics of circuits, from Eduporium.com.

Please feel free to ask questions through comments or via Twitter @ashlandtechteacher

The Kit

Mini storage container (Stack-on 13 compartment)
9V batteries
Button cell batteries
Battery connectors
Alligator clip leads
Wires with a mix of male & female connectors
Buzzers
Push buttons (toggle & temporary)
Switches
LEDs
Copper tape (3' per participant)

In addition to the kit supplies we brought a spare parts kit, scissors, plyers, various types of heavy weight paper (chipboard, railroad board, card stock), fabric scraps, lots of tape, glue guns, a heavy duty hole punch, and screwdrivers.

PS - It turned out that the students really liked working with the button batteries and ended up going through almost twice as many as we put in the student kits.

Pilot Program - The Mobile Makerspace

Two participants create while guided by a Makerspace Mentor

Within weeks of developing ideas for our permanent space, it was clear we didn't have the patience to wait for full funding, remodeling, etc. We felt we had something critical to offer our community and the team was ready to make it happen. To fast track our vision and meet the interests of our district schools, we came up with the idea of launching a mobile makerspace. This would give our Makerspace Mentors (high school students) an opportunity to pilot and learn what it is we are doing and what it is we don't yet know.

We devised a plan for two three-week sessions. These sessions would run more like a workshop, where we bring all of the materials, present some concepts and let the students guide things in a direction. Both sessions will

Our Makerspace team is growing, Now what?

Step 2 - Build a Vision

I didn't know where we were headed when we decided to pursue the Makerspace. While watching others share their interesting and inspiring stories through Twitter, online articles and beyond, it became clear there was no one way to go about setting up a Makerspace. What did we want to create?

Our primary objective is to build a space where students of all ages can feel safe taking chances to design, build, and create for the world we live in. Our computer science program has been growing strong over the past few years, and more and more students seem to be branching off into the land of Arduinos and Raspberry Pi's. Starting with these areas as foundational components of the 'what', we needed to answer a few other important questions.

Makerspace - From The Ground Up

The Ashland Innovation Center - starts from nothing

Last fall I sat down and introduced one of my administrators to the concept of a Makerspace. I warned her that I was about to change her life. And so I have. She immediately jumped into research mode, then excited mode, and then we started working together to build a team and build our dream.

Six months later we have built an amazing team of teachers and administrators from around our district and we have started getting funding commitments. In this blog, I hope that we will be able to share our process, our goals, and ultimately, our results.