There are so many ideas and things I tried this semester that I am itching to share. You'll hear about more of them over the summer in addition to topics I present about at or learn from Innovation Exchange or learn about at ISTE and nErD Camp Indy. I will also participate in EdChange Global for my third year and EdCamp Voice again. Both of which are free, entirely online, and a great way to connect. (I'll have to write a more extensive blog post about them.) But one thing I need to share right away is about how I started meeting with departments in the Makerspace like I mentioned in my posts "It's starting!" and "Do what you can, when you can." Back in the winter, I was at a meeting with other district librarians, and a small group of junior high librarians were brainstorming and sharing ideas about how to bring teachers and classes into a makerspace. One of the librarians mentioned using PLC (professional learning community) time to meet with departments about the makerspace. Eureka! This is the opening I was looking for! Our district implemented a new PLC structure this year. We have an early release on Monday's and then are to meet with our departments during that time to work intentionally on goals set as a group, data analysis, assessment creation, etc. I could use time departments already had to meet instead of adding an extra meeting and thing to do to their plate to get them into the Makerspace. Genius! Within a few days, I fleshed out my ideas for how to do this in my building and ran it past my principal. After getting the green light, I presented the idea at the upcoming department head meeting. Multiple departments scheduled times with me to meet in the Makerspace during PLC's second semester. I was so excited to have an opportunity to show departments how the Makerspace could be tied into their curriculum, so I wanted to have some of my preparation tailored to each group. the meeting's preparation Before each meeting, I would think about that particular department's curriculum and topics/standards. For departments in the subject area I formerly taught or that frequently use the library, I thought about units and topics I already know they use or am familiar with and used those as my starting points to generate ideas for makerspace curriculum extensions. For content areas I was less familiar with, I scanned over the state standards for that grade and subject and look for topics I could use as examples of possible extensions. I would type up these ideas and print them out before each meeting. I would also print out copies of the Makerspace Teacher Reference Sheet and Makerspace Items Resources documents that I had previously emailed to all staff. I would bring a notepad, pen, slightly tailored agenda, and the document copies I named. I would also get out one example of each makerspace resource that I could bring to the tables (i.e. Bloxel set, Makey Makey). We would meet around a large group table in the Makerspace. The meeting's agendaAt some point, stress that the teacher does not have to be an expert in what they want to try.
Resources I plan to revise the reference sheets I mentioned before next school year, so I may share them after I edit them, but here are examples of the ideas I brainstormed and shared with departments for different curriculums: Reflection At first I wasn't sure how bringing ideas and examples to the table would go. I'm so glad I took the time to do that for each grade level and department. It's worth the effort. My ideas helped them see how this could be incorporated into curriculum and was also a launching pad that groups would use to come up with their own ideas and brainstorm together. They also genuinely appreciated that I took the time to do that for them.
Going over all of your Makerspace items can definitely overwhelm some folks. On one hand you want them to know what all you have, but on the other hand, it's important to talk about picking one thing to start with, not having to be an expert, etc. so they don't feel stressed. (One department talked about each person choosing one thing to try and then sharing/showing the rest of the department. I loved that idea!) It was good to have an example of most resources at the table with me (except for the ones I couldn't move and had to point across the room to like the 3D printer) and explain to them what they did. But there wasn't as much time for the teachers to play/explore as I would have liked because of that. So I'm trying to think of a way to add in more time for that next year. I did mention to groups that they could come back again to meet with me, and we could have more open exploration time. I am currently thinking about making that a priority for repeat departments next year. They could start out with a quick look at what's new, and then have more of an unstructured time to play, explore, and brainstorm based off of their own interests or needs.
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