Tour of our Space

Many of the pictures of our space were taken at the beginning of the year when the space hadn't been used yet.  Here is a glimpse at what it looks like when all second, third and fourth graders are creating!

The mirror wall was a suggestion from our art teacher.  Students can watch themselves create. We also use it to write our objectives with glass markers The kids love looking at themselves so we thought they might actually read the objective!

A closer look at our objectives. They are difficult to read in this picture but easier in real life.

The Lego wall with projects on the Lego bench. The windows have 3rd and 4th grade projects ideas written on them. The drawers hold Legos.  The bench is nice because students can stand on it to write on the window, making it more functional. The windows look into the library so we use both spaces with safe sight lines.

A close up of some 3rd grade project ideas.

The LEGO cabinet.

PROJECTS! Right now, each 2nd grade has their own metal cart to store their projects. We have found that storage is one of our biggest issues.  The metal carts are nice because they are on wheels but they are large and take up space. We've found that having plastic bins to hold specific projects on the carts helps with organization but they are expensive so we don't have that many.

The 3D printer area.

The sewing area. You can see an iPad mini. We have found these are great to have in our space for  students to use when they need to do additional research, search for ideas, or look for a how-to.  We also have laptops available for students working on coding projects or word processing.

This is like letting the world see your messy closet!  Normally we would clean up before we took pictures but this is really how the Makerspace looks some of the time!  Actually our students are usually pretty good at cleaning up so this must have just been a rough day! Or a really creative one!

We keep all of our tools and sharp objects in cabinets or drawers that lock.  This was really important to us when we were designing the space.   We have an Eagle Scout candidate working on designing and building a workbench. The small plastic bins you see are nice to keep projects that have small pieces.

The design challenge ideas are straight from the Dyson vacuum website! They are great for when students get done with a project early or if they want to try something new.

Created by a classroom teacher, this poster gives the basics!

For each tool or kit we have, posters were created that linked a QR code to the tool's website, how-to video, or project ideas using the tool.  This way, students can grab an iPad and use the QR code reader to help them learn more.  This has made students more independent and frees up the teacher to help others.

The whiteboard is always being used to explain new things or write down directions. It is nice having a flexible work area like this one.

The Lego drawers can be pulled out and taken to a table or kept by the Lego wall.  Not all of our drawers are filled with Legos (YET) so they are also a great place to store small projects.

Every project looks different!

A mix of Snap Circuits and Legos. 

Summit Makerspace!