Young Businesswomen!

Last week, two of our third graders, who have been working since January on building a lemonade/hot chocolate stand in the Makerspace got to see their project come to life.  During lunch time they were granted permission from our principal to sell popcorn and lemonade to their peers. I have never seen two young students so enthusiastically embrace a project, and I was also thrilled to see how many other students were inspired and motivated by what they saw the girls do. They started by submitting their proposal to our principal - what would they sell, when would the stand be open, who would their customers be, and what would they do with the profit.  Then they "hired" employees and gathered inventory (thanks in large part to their moms who not only helped prepare for the sale, but helped set up, supervise, and clean up as well.  They came up with a marketing plan - how would they make sure their classmates knew to bring money the day the stand was open?  And they practiced making change and working with money.

Once the stand was open, the other students were thrilled.  We started small - selling only to their grade level peers - with the thought that at some point they might be able to expand.  Kids in the other grades were begging to have a chance to buy treats during their lunch time, too.

This experience provided them with an opportunity that I don't think any of them will forget.  And not only did they have fun, they learned career oriented skills and they inspired others in the school to push themselves on their next Makerspace projects, too!

Makerspace Video

Here is a recap of our year so far! If you don't believe in Makerspaces, you will after this video.

Interest Based Learning

Recently a coworker sent the link to this article on interest based learning.  It really got all of us thinking about how our interests impact our learning.  What is an interest?  The author says,

"Interest is a psychological state of engagement, experienced in the moment, and also a predisposition to engage repeatedly with particular ideas, events, or objects over time. " 

And the article goes on to tell us why we should be allowing students to learn about their intersts in school:

Interest is at once a cognitive state and an affective state, what Silvia calls a “knowledge emotion.” The feelings that characterize interest are overwhelmingly positive: a sense of being energized and invigorated, captivated and enthralled. As for its effects on cognition: interest effectively turbocharges our thinking. When we’re interested in what we’re learning, we pay closer attention; we process the information more efficiently; we employ more effective learning strategies, such as engaging in critical thinking, making connections between old and new knowledge, and attending to deep structure instead of surface features. When we’re interested in a task, we work harder and persist longer, bringing more of our self-regulatory skills into play.

We've all had that student in school who is "obsessed" with one topic - video games, dinosaurs, trains, ponies, cats, whatever it might be.  We are constantly trying to get that child to read and write about a different topic, check out books from the library that are about something else, broaden their interest level.  Turns out we may be holding them back by doing so.

". . . scientists have shown that passionate interests can even allow people to overcome academic difficulties or perceptual disabilities."

I recently worked with a student who is a perfect illustration of this to me.  He has always been passionate about dinosaurs.  He reads about them, writes about them, draws about them, thinks about them, and talks about them all the time.  When he was given the opportunity recently to do a self-designed project in the Makerspace, he chose to center the project around dinosaurs.  I was tempted to ask him to stretch himself, but fortunately I didn't, because the results were wonderful!  He modeled a tyrannosaurus rex out of Model Magic, learned how to program the MaKey MaKey using Scratch, found a royalty free sound file of a roar, and made his model interactive.

This boy learned more during this project than I could have ever imagined, largely because of his level of engagement in the topic.  Would he have done as much if I told him his model needed to be of a farm animal instead?  I feel certain that he wouldn't.  I can't wait to see where this passion takes him next!

Paul, Annie M. "How the Power of Interest Drives Learning." Web log post. Mindshift. KQED, 4 Nov. 2013. Web. 17 Mar. 2015.

Dr. Seuss in the Makerspace

We had so much fun this year integrating Read Across America week and our new Makerspace.  We found a fantastic resource online that had ideas for STEAM projects associated with many of our favorite Dr. Seuss books.  During Read Across America week, each grade spent time in the Makerspace creating, designing and building.  The results were GREAT and we had a blast!

Kindergarten read If I Ran the Zoo and designed animals out of found materials.

First Grade read Horton Hatches and Egg and designed "new" animals in the spirit of the elephant-bird by combining two other animals.

Second Grade read The Lorax and designed truffula trees.

Third and Fourth Grade read Oh, the Places You'll Go and designed shoes.

Makerspace in the Classroom - Geodesic Structures

Today's post is authored by one of our classroom teachers who has completely embraced the Maker Mindset and integrated it into her third grade classroom:

Each Monday my third grade class participates in a thirty minute STEM challenge. The students are given a task or “challenge” to complete in thirty minutes.

Our last challenge was to create a Geodesic structure that would hold a book or two! As a class we learned about what a geodesic structure was using Youtube to teach us ALL (me includedJ) to learn about these types of structures and how they are used in the world.                                            

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/Epcot07.jpg

 Real world examples of Geodesic structures!

Then they needed to study the pictures (Engineering), figure out what shapes are used in the structure (Geometry) and then make a plan to build this structure (Career readiness skills).

The results were amazing! I am proud to report the winners of the challenge were two girls, both of whom are English Language Learners, who struggle with reading and writing on a daily basis. The girls were shocked to learn they were the winners! Never have seen smiles on their faces that big before! Now they can’t stop teaching others during about geodesic structures and how they won this challenge.

http://www.cdn.sciencebuddies.org/Files/5951/6/geodesic-dome-gumdrops-toothpicks.jpg

This is the reason why we take time to do Maker space!

The POWER of Maker space!

Julie LoDuca

Third Grade Teacher

Makerspace and UDL

UDL is a key component of modern instruction in 21st century, flexible learning spaces. Universal Design began in architecture and urban planning. Accessibility features like ramps and automatic doors were originally designed to provide access to people with physical disabilities, but also enhance access for everyone. Imagine pushing a stroller, wheelchair or luggage cart, and the value of curb ramps becomes apparent. 

UDL takes the concept of improved access for everyone, and applies it to teaching methods, curriculum materials, and classroom arrangements. Students come to the classroom with a variety of needs, skills, talents, interests and experiences. The goal is to provide all students equal opportunities to learn, by encouraging teachers to design flexible curriculum, and by creating a physical environment that allows for personalized learning. (OASD UDL website)

In OASD, we are working to integrate the UDL principles into our classrooms and we have seen this being done around the district in a variety of successful ways.  When looking at the Makerspace, we wanted to make sure we were meeting these three learning guidelines.  After the first couple of months, we sat down to reflect on our teaching practices and how they fit into UDL.  It was unbelievable how easily the Makerspace lessons and activities fit into UDL!  By nature, the Makerspace provides multiples means of representation, action and expression, and engagement. In turn, we have found that our learners are resourceful and knowledgeable, strategic and goal-directed, and and purposeful and motivated.  

Every Makerspace project we do varies but each one gives students choice in how they will complete the challenge.  There has never been a challenge that has a right and wrong answer and when students realize that, they have the confidence to come up with any solution they want.  Students are creative, take risks, and at times fail. Everyday, every student has a chance to be successful.

The Makerspace provides equal opportunities to learn, lends itself to a flexible curriculum, and requires a physical environment that allows for personalized learning.  The Makerspace is UDL in action!

WEMTA conference

In just a couple of weeks, we will be presenting at the Wisconsin Educational Media and Technology Association (WEMTA) conference.  If you are interested in hearing about our Makerspace experiences in person, come check it out! Presenting will be a 3rd grade teacher, our Learning Resource teacher, and our Library Media Specialist.  We also have a video with interviews from a variety of students and staff, as well as project examples and samples of equipment we've used.

Besides our session, there is a wide assortment of sessions that fit any person in education, whether you are a classroom teacher, LMS, or technology integrator.  It really is a great conference to hear about what is happening in districts close to you, as well as around the state.  

Here is the link to our WEMTA presentation resources: http://goo.gl/cJmnlm