Maker Spaces and Blog Share

 

I have been a maker as long as I can remember. As a young child I loved absolutely anything I could draw, cut, collect, build, or transform into something unique. Art and making things offered a happy emotional outlet throughout my childhood and even today I still get excited every time I start a new project. The only place I love more than the library, is an art room. So, when my kids where young I was thrilled to see the maker movement really take off in school and library programs. Celebrating creativity and the magic of discovery in the inquiry process is such a huge part of transforming information into an experiential learning process. Even something as simple as dumping a box of supplies on a table of first grade class and issuing a creativity challenge will show you the natural innovation and out the box thinking the kids will engage in. Maker Spaces have certainly grown in popularity and picked up some cool tech additions along the way. From printers, sewing machines, painting, or makey do's, there are endless possibilities to fit any budget or time constraints. There can be initially a greater of focus on the aesthetic or technology components of making things but underneath whatever project is being completed, there a world of meaning making happening and neural connections being developed. In the Maker Space School Edition handbook, the authors cite a greater purpose of the maker movement as a  

 means to evoke the “kind of passion and personal motivation that inspire innovation” (Maker Media, 2013). Teachers everywhere are looking at ways to promote intrinsic motivation with active participation from students in the classroom and maker programs have shown promise as an effective means to accomplish those goals.

👈This handsome guy pictured here (my son) is the next generation of makers and is currently 3D printing cookie cutters to sell at the school holiday fair in a few weeks. Maker spaces also encourage student's to become entrepreneurs with their creations. Cultivating financial literacy skills is a another great offshoot of the student maker movement. 

My Blog Share this week comes from Shannon McClintock Miller who writes a blog called the Library Voice. I found her blog on twitter and it is chock full of fabulous library ideas and information. This week her post, “So You Want To Build A Library...Check Out This NEW Book & 3 Makerspace Extension Activities To Do With Your Kids Too!” caught my eye as means to connect picture books with maker spaces. I appreciated Miller’s approach that connects multiple opportunities of learning within the think, create, and share domains that uses a book to inspire a hands-on group maker project. Who wouldn’t want to build a library?!? She bridges classic literacy skills with engagement of building with teams and includes 21^st century skills like programming with Tinkercad. The ideas are a great example of how school librarians can utilize technology in ways in that incorporate curriculum objectives while promoting student creativity.

https://vanmeterlibraryvoice.blogspot.com/2021/10/so-you-want-to-build-librarycheck-out.html

 

Maker Media. (2013) Maker Space Playbook: School Edition. Makered.org

retrieved from: https://makered.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Makerspace-Playbook-Feb-2013.pdf