April 10, 2018 by plemmonsa

2018 Barrow Maker Fest

In addition to having regular makerspace sessions every Tuesday and Thursday in the spring, students also have the opportunity to work on an individual project to showcase at our annual maker fest. To participate, students fill out a Google form sharing their possible project topics and whether they will complete the project at home or in our makerspace during school hours. They also have the option of working alone or having a UGA mentor to help them.

I collaborate with Gretchen Thomas at UGA College of Education. I love seeing the relationships that my students develop with the UGA students, and they thrive knowing that they have a mentor to visit with and work with while they make their creations. In the spring, she divides part of her UGA students to support our Tuesday/Thursday makerspace sessions while the other part supports students working on individual projects. My maker students don’t always meet with the same UGA student, but they have someone every Tuesday/Thursday who can support their work.

When students begin preparing for Maker Fest, we meet with them individually to see what type of project they are thinking about.

This year, I offered several categories for them to think about:

robots
cardboard
makey makey
littlebits invention
duct tape creation
3d design
Scratch program
finger knitting
origami
strawbees structure
stop motion video
magic tricks
puppet/puppet show
magic tricks
something else! (This category meant students might explore our many craft books for ideas on projects to create)

Once students decided, we gathered the materials they needed and stored each project on the shelves in our makerspace storage room. This part is hard to manage and it feels a bit chaotic until we have the materials that each student needs. Each Tuesday/Thursday they come for a 30-minute work session, gather their materials from the shelves, and work with me or a UGA student. Some students complete their projects at home.

During the actual Barrow Maker Fest, we created a schedule so that every student who made something had two 30-minute windows to showcase their work. There was also a schedule for classes to sign up and come to view the projects. The entire UGA class came as well so that they could view the final projects as well as help students at tables.

In the end, 26 students showcased creations on a variety of topics which included:

a cardboard Earth robot
mason jar lights
a robotic arm
a cardboard pirate game with secret codes and a spyglass
a Python computer program similar to Google Translate which translated English to Pig Latin
a shadow puppet theater
a Littlebits throwing arm and car
Lego scenes and building station
3D slinkies, Rubik’s cube, and Minecraft swords made with 3D pens
3D action figure designed in Tinkercad
a cardboard robot suit
a cardboard tower
a car made from a mail tube
a stackable jewelry holder
magic tricks
Merge cubes
Osmo

They were so excited to share their work, have an authentic audience to entertain and ask questions, and see that their work inspired other makers. Several students who came said they wanted to make something next year.

You can see many of these projects along with projects from other K-12 schools in the Clarke County School District at our CCSD Maker Fest. It will be Saturday April 14 2-4PM at Clarke Central High School. It is free and open to the public. We hope to see you there.

February 10, 2017 by plemmonsa

Design Challenge Makerspace

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I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again. We are so fortunate to have the University of Georgia right next to our school and even more fortunate to have instructors like Gretchen Thomas who collaborate with local schools. Gretchen and I have been collaborating for about 3 years now, and each year we try some new things. We’re always looking for ways to improve the makerspace time at our school as well as the opportunities available to students.

Gretchen teaches an undergraduate course at UGA all related to maker education, design thinking, STEAM, and more. Every Tuesday and Thursday, at least 4 of her students come to our library to work with students who sign up for our open makerspace time.

This semester we are once again trying something new. Rather than try to do something new on Tuesday and Thursday, students sign up for a 2-day makerspace that gives them time to work toward finishing a project rather than feeling rushed. In addition, we are thinking about design challenges as well as seeking solutions to authentic problems.

This week, we had our first UGA group of the semester and they offered a chariot building design challenge. Students had access to Strawbees, popsicle sticks, cups, straws, tape, paper, scissors, and anything else in our maker supply cart. Students from 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade came to the sessions.

The UGA group started out my explaining what a chariot is. Then, they gave students the task. Design a chariot that can be pulled by a Sphero robot. Students grouped themselves in groups of 2-4 and brainstormed designs on paper.

Next, students started construction of their chariots. There was a lot of trial and error during this process. Designs on paper didn’t always translate to physical designs so adjustments were made. The UGA students also got out some Spheros so students could check their design to make sure the Sphero fit in the right places. No driving was done on day 1.

Students left their designs on the table in the makerspace so they were ready for day 2. On day 2, students finished designs and began testing their work with a Sphero. Most designs did not work out on the first try, so students brainstormed modifications and got to work. I loved listening to their thought process in deciding what was problematic and how they could fix that aspect of the design.

I also saw students considering the settings of the Sphero to change the driving speed in order to navigate an obstacle course of coffee cans and ramps with their Sphero.

I really loved this two-day model because I saw students able to finish a project and actually take time to redesign. Students loved coming to makerspace 2 days during the week rather than just one. We’ll keep considering how this supports students creation and how it might get in the way of opportunities.

I also have a group of students who are wanting to work on individual projects and Gretchen is going to help me pair UGA mentors with these students as a 2nd piece of makerspace.

We’ll see where this goes, but the potential is looking pretty miraculous!

November 17, 2016 by plemmonsa

Closing Out Fall with a Makerspace Recess

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The fall semester is coming to a close at UGA, which means our open makerspace times on Tuesdays and Thursdays is about to take a small break until January. To close out the semester, the entire Maker Dawgs class returned to Barrow to host a makerspace recess.

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Setting this time up take a little more work than having makerspace in the library, but each time we take our makerspace beyond the library, I’m reminded about how it makes the opportunity visible to students.

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Gretchen Thomas arrived early and started setting up tables under our pavilion on the playground. Each table featured something we’ve done in makerspace across the semester.

Duct tape bows and bow ties
Kindness pins and necklaces
Buttons
Popsicle kazoos
Strawbee architecture
Cubelets

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Since we were outside, we could also have stations that are more difficult to do inside like sidewalk chalk art. As UGA students arrived, they each took a station to facilitate any students who wanted to try that activity. When students arrived at recess, they immediately gravitated toward the makerspace to see what was going on. One of the most common things I heard was: “I didn’t sign up”. It was so fun to say that the makerspace was open to all. Since we had numerous helpers and could spread out, it didn’t matter how many students wanted to participate or how loud they were. Because of this, we saw students who had never been to makerspace suddenly get to experience what we do.

I know that I can’t do the scale of makerspace that we did today by myself, but I do want to think about how I can offer small opportunities to tinker with our makerspace tools in spaces where students are already gathered. The tricky piece comes with managing the library while I’m in another space. Without a helper, I have to think about the best times I can do this while I have a volunteer or our computer technician in the library.

As typically happens in makerspace, we saw big groups of students who might not play together on the playground suddenly crowded around the same table sharing materials, collaborating, chatting, and sharing their creations. There’s something magical about the atmosphere of a makerspace and the community it builds among makers.

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I need to keep this thought at the front of my mind as I move into the 2nd half of the year. How can I maintain the makerspace opportunities we have as well as expand the opportunities to students who haven’t had a chance to participate?

As always, thank you to Gretchen Thomas, her Maker Dawgs students, and UGA for exploring this complex topic with me each semester. We’re doing great work together.

September 9, 2016 by plemmonsa

The Makerspace Is Open with a New Badging System

UGA is back in session which means our makerspace is cranking up again. We already have some curriculum connections planned for special projects, but our students look forward to the weekly open makerspace times on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11-12:30.

Gretchen Thomas and her UGA class collaborate with us to provide a weekly time where students can signup to explore various tools and projects in our makerspace. Four UGA students come each time and lead up to 15 students every 30 minutes in the makerspace so that I can also teach classes at the same time.

Gretchen and I are have learned a lot during our collaboration together, and I love that she’s always pushing her class to try something new. For our first few sessions this year, the UGA students are presenting a maker-related book to the students and an activity to accompany that book. There’s not really enough time to read the entire book and still make something, but they at least are able to show the book, talk a bit about it, and then make something with the students.

For our first session, the UGA students read or showed Iggy Peck Architect. At the end of the book, they invited our students in 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades to become an architect and use Strawbees to build the tallest free standing tower.

I loved watching the UGA students decide how much information to give the students versus when to let them discover things on their own. In one group, they just gave them the Strawbees and straws and said “build”.

Then, in another group they gave some examples of how the straws and Strawbees could connect to one another. The amount of guidance definitely impacted the type of structures made.

I don’t know that we have a firm answer on how much structure to offer to the students, but I’m glad that we are always thinking about how much is too much. I think we certainly stayed conservative on how much we told the students. Every structure was different and students found things that worked really well and things that failed miserably. In the end, the important thing is that we really didn’t have students who gave up or who even got extremely upset because they didn’t “win”. That’s the true spirit of making.

One new addition this year is something we’ve talked about for a long time. So many students come to the makerspace, that it’s hard to track who has learned what tool or skill. I really wanted a badging system but didn’t think I had time to make it. Gretchen and I have talked through this many times and discussed the idea of badges for specific tools like Sphero, Duct Tape, LittleBits, etc and badges for skills such as problem-solver, thinking outside the box, teamwork, etc.

Gretchen took it upon herself to make this happen for us. She started making badges that students would attach to chain necklaces. Students would earn a badge for the tool they explored and the group they worked with as well as have an opportunity to earn rare badges for skills or qualities. Gretchen and her students will continue to design badges and add them to the collection. They will be stored in plastic drawers in the makerspace. Students will hang their necklaces on a hook in the space and grab them when they come to makerspace.

We’ll easily be able to look at badges and see which students have learned which tools and which students have demonstrated the skills of a maker.

I can’t wait to see where this goes, and I’m so thankful for Gretchen and her class making this happen!

November 23, 2015 by plemmonsa

Fall Semester Makerspace Blowout!

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The fall semester at UGA is coming to a close, which means that our wonderful support in our makerspace is taking a break. We will resume our open makerspace times in January when UGA cranks back up for spring semester. Today, Gretchen Thomas’s entire class from UGA came out to support our young makers. We pulled out many favorite activities from the semester: green screen, makey makey, littlebits, sphero, morse code bracelets, and safety pin bracelets. It was noisy and fun.

Having this class come out has exposed our students to so many of the tools in our makerspace and also taught the UGA students what is happening in elementary schools today and just what elementary learners are capable of. We are already brainstorming what next semester might look like. I hope to see some more advanced projects come out of what the students know now that they have some familiarity with the tools. Instead of just snapping littlebits together, I want to see them invent something. Instead of driving Sphero all over the library, I want to see some programming or a use of Sphero that has a purpose. Instead of playing a banana piano with makey makey, I want to see students designing their own programs that are controlled with all kinds of things that conduct. The tinkering piece is important, and I love that so many students now have a level of comfort with the makerspace tools with a lot of room to grow.

We also want to look at how we can take the makerspace on the road by visiting classrooms and showing teachers and students what happens in makerspace, especially for those that are unsure or hesitant. We started to notice the same kids always coming or teachers not sending kids for various reasons, so there’s a need to get out into the classrooms. We’ll also take a look at how to do another makerspace fieldtrip to the UGA campus sometime in the spring.