Essential Question: What would you need to coordinate a “Maker Day” for your school?
According to "How to Make a Maker Faire" (2004-2016), Maker Faire is an organization that sponsors two large maker faires: one in the Bay Area, and the other in New York. Their goal is to showcase and connect makers. They also allow mini maker faires which are sponsored by others around the world. They have a planning section that seems helpful in considering what goes into sponsoring a maker faire even if you do it on your own and don't set it up with maker faire. They suggest thinking about the following 5 areas:
I think in the future it would be cool to incorporate design thinking. However, to start out with this would be a challenge. No one is used to this type of an event or even the process. Things would need to be more guided to get people on board with the process. I would use suggestions in the Maker Day Toolkit 2 to help accomplish this goal. I like moving toward design thinking because it makes it real. You try to solve a problem while at the same time making, which is really cool.
One last thing is the design of this classroom. It is amazing and makes me want to rearrange my classroom more. Would definitely need a layout for a maker day as well. Maybe this could be a design challenge for students? I have seen posts of others doing it. Students could redesign the layout of the classroom to fit their needs and the class could vote on the best design.
Sources
Crichton, S., & Carter, D. (2016, January). Maker Day Toolkit 2. Retrieved July 14, 2016, from http://innovativelearningcentre.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/MakerDayToolKitver2reviseMay31e.pdf How to Make a Maker Faire. (2004-2016). Retrieved July 14, 2016, from http://makerfaire.com/global/ Maker Challenges. (n.d.). Retrieved July 14, 2016, from http://www.makerspaceforeducation.com/ Martinez, S. L., & Stager, G. (2013). Invent to learn: Making, tinkering, and engineering in the classroom [Kindle].
8 Comments
Teresa Harrie
7/14/2016 10:43:32 pm
Those Maker Challenges are great - I especially like the Makey Makey ones. I bought a Makey Makey kit and did a few things with it but I like the ideas here. For instance, I had used Play Dough with it but hadn't thought of marshmallows. Thanks for including such a useful resource.
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Sara Lucas
7/17/2016 04:47:08 pm
I just got a makey makey yesterday. I'm really excited to start using it to see what it can do.
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Aleta May
7/15/2016 10:01:39 am
Sara,
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Sara Lucas
7/17/2016 04:48:34 pm
I wasn't sure which challenges I would pick. I thought I might narrow it down to things we had or could get and then let the students pick.
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Catherine Allison
7/15/2016 06:53:19 pm
It is obvious you have given some thought to a Maker Day. I love the Makerspace for Education website! The challenges are great! Operation was my favorite game when I was younger, and I also liked seeing music made with marshmallows and game controllers made out of play dough. Through this class I've seen and read some things about the Makey Makey kits, but I don't know a lot. I guess it is time to check into it more. Thank you for sharing this resource!
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Sara Lucas
7/17/2016 04:50:06 pm
I really want to add making to at least one of my classes in the upcoming school year. There is just so much to consider but it is all exciting!! I just got a makey makey yesterday and have not had time to test it out, but I am looking forward to using it.
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7/16/2016 10:19:35 am
Great planning! Looks like you are ready to have one when school starts. :-) I didn't quite get as detailed, but I struggle with trying to come up with some challenging high school related maker projects. You described some good challenges that are 9th grade level maker projects, and I suppose you could modify the other ones to incorporate high school level projects. I would definitely team up with some elementary teachers to coordinate and help if they decide to have one. Most cool projects are elementary based anyway!
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Sara Lucas
7/17/2016 04:52:27 pm
Making is so new and not something I have done much with. I'm really excited about it and have wanted to try it. With all this planning I feel more ready to take on the challenge. With making not being something that has been done at our school I think even middle school projects would interest many of my high schoolers. Mostly because it is a new thing and not something they are used to. Maybe with planning simpler projects it would be easier to build up to harder ones.
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