Eclectic Technology

Check out nine maker projects that you can do in your classroom. The projects are divided into three sections:

* Smaller Scale Maker Education Projects which includes

     - Towers of Power

     - Catapults

* Design Challenges

     - Bridge to Nowhere

     - Float the Boat

     - Egg Drop

     - Instruments

* Play with Light

      - Electromagnets

     - Squishy Circuits

     - MakeyMakey Controller Boards

Each of the projects includes a list of materials and tools needed as well as a brief explanation. Look over the ideas and consider having an evening where families could come in and experience hands-on science by completing a project (or two).

Are you interested in having your students be more involved in the creation of projects? This visual is a "learning commons working model" that looks at "key stations in the learning commons."

As a teacher what changes might you need to make in your classroom for this to work? What will you see and hear? How will you get your students engaged?

Maker stations, innovation work, project-based learning - all are experiential and many of our students will gravitate towards projects if given the opportunity. This visual provides a road map that may help you make shifts in your classroom.

Where does growth mindset and maker education meet? Jackie Gerstein had created a great visual (see above) that looks at areas where both of these concepts come together.

Would you agree that valuing effort is a part of growth mindset and maker education? How about failure being approached as interactive?

Learn more about these intersections on two resources listed in this post and click through for a larger version of the image above or for a typed copy of the list.

It is rare that I curate two articles from the same author over two days. This post by Jackie Gerstein is an exception. Gerstein has been discussing Maker Education for quite some time and in this post she states:

"...recent discussions with other educators and administrators made me realize that the idea of maker education is often vague and seems unrealistic in terms of regular classroom instruction.  As such, in the future, I am going to associate and discuss Maker Education in the context S.T.E.A.M. – science, technology, engineering, arts (including language arts), math, hopefully, encouraging regular classroom teachers to integrate maker education projects into their classrooms."

What follows is a lengthy list of articles and other resources that may assist you in learning about Maker Education and moving you towards implementing it in your classroom. The image above is also a ThingLink image, and will provide you with links to the same articles.

Jackie Gerstein discusses how we can bring maker education activities into our schools beginning with a look at three current trends:

* The Play Deficit - for many children time to play is minimal as they lead very scheduled lives

* "Lack of creativity and play in children's lives and toys"

* The Maker Movement as in Maker Education

The first two trends are also apparent in our education system. In many schools playtime has decreased with the rollout of Common Core curriculum. Students in pre-school and Kindergarten have specific benchmarks that they need to hit to move on, and it often comes with a decrease in play time.

And many toys we find on the market today do not promote creativity. We often think of Legos as a toy to promote creativity. Gerstein shares her thoughts on this, noting buckets that contain freeform Legos that promote free play are often in the back of the store while the packages of Legos that come with directions on how to build a Star Wars character or a Harry Potter character are in the front.

At the end of this section Gerstein concludes that the literature shows that (quoting from the post):

• Making, creating, innovating, experimenting is needed now more than ever in this rapidly evolving world and our children are severely lacking in these skills
• If these skills are to be integrated into formal and informal learning settings, some direct instruction and scaffolding will need to occur.

The final section of the piece explores how the Maker Movement may impact the two issues noted above and provides a look at six areas that we as educators need to consider if we are going to become a part of the Maker Education.

Finding great educational videos takes time...so I am always excited when I find a list of suggested video. Jackie Gerstein shares her top 11. They range from just over three minutes to about seventeen minutes. Below is  a list of the videos.

* Malala Yousuf Nobel Prize Speech

* Carol Dweck: The Power of Believing You Can Improve

* Sir Ken Robinson: Can Creativity Be Taught

* President Obama on the Whitehouse Maker Faire

* Toxic Culture of Education: Joshua Katz

* The necessity of the student voice | Catherine Zhang

* Rethinking Learning in the Digital Age – Mitchel Resnick

* If I Knew Then: A Letter to Me on My First Day Teaching

If you are interested in Maker Education this post from Jackie Gerstein is worth checking out. She provides three visuals, all of which are also put in ThingLink, so each has great resources linked to the image.

The three images are:

* Educator as a Maker Educator

* Perfect Storm for Maker Education

* A Making Reflection (designed for students this could be used in a variety of ways)

There is also a slideshare The Mindset of a Maker Educator that provides links to a range of materials.

What would happen if you created an entrepreneurship program to engage students in your school? A program that would "demonstrate raw critical thinking that pushes kids out of their comfort zones to engage with material, design what they want, and try to market it to the hilt?"

Why create an entrepreneurship program? This post describes many of the reasons why this is a good idea. Students have to come up with an idea which is not always easy, and then figure out how to make the idea a reality. They must learn that honest criticism is a tool that allows one to grow.

There are many life lessons that are shared in this work, as well as many projects from this year. In addition you will find a variety of resources that may help you create an entrepreneurship program for your school!

Are you interested in being known as an educator whom is also a maker educator? This post from Jackie Gerstein provides a great visual that looks as many of the roles you might play, including

* Process facilitator

* Resource suggestion provider

* Lead learner

* Relationship enabler

* Technology tutor

This visual is designed in ThingLink and if you click through from the post you will find additional resources in the visual

And you might also view a SlideShare where Gerstein provides  additional resources.

This post explores a report from the Institute for the Future, 'Transformative Changes for Children at Play' that was sponsored by the LEGO Group. The infographic provides a look at information found in the report, including sections on:

* How play is expanding social reach

* How play is empowering creativity

* How play impacts new visual literacies

* Blended play

* Deep personalization

* Emotional tech

* How tech is going mainstream

Within the post Jackie Gerstein summarizes "the key areas of the change nature of play as identified by Lego" as well as additional information from the report and provides her perspective on "some simple suggestions I have to facilitate play with technology in educational settings."