Week 7: What are the rules for your makerspace?Sitka School Districts vision is to, “Foster each child’s maximum growth in academics, social-emotional and physical wellbeing. Prepare children for their chosen careers, and inspire them to become active, informed community members by providing: Relevant, innovative, and engaging learning opportunities; Clear goals and high expectations; Opportunities for collaboration among students, parents, staff, and community using an active outreach to stakeholders; and, A culture of respect for self and others, and no tolerance for bullying. The Makerspace in my classroom will be developed to support and enhance these visions. Though Makerspaces can be a multitude of themes and ideas, the focus of this year’s Makerspace will be electronic exploration. To name a few projects students can work on:
The vision statement of my Makerspace is to, “inspire, create, design, tinker, and take chances all while engaging the mind in electronic exploration (Fleming, 2016).” The rules in the space are limited to the vision statement. The less rules I enforce, the more natural creation will occur. I want my students to take chances and go for the unknown. They may fail and have to try again, but the struggle is what helps students make relevant connections (Martinez, 2013). The greatest accomplishment of this Makerspace would be to inspire students to do more, learn, or create more. “A funny thing that happens when you make something, particularly something of technological nature. You are inspired to learn something else (Martinez, 2013).” If one students leaves my Makerspace feeling like they learned something new or found a new interest, then this is precisely what my district’s vision is encouraging. With a few tools, resources, and support, this Electronic Exploration Makerspace will succeed beyond measure. Sources: Arduino http://www.arduinoclassroom.com/ Electric paint https://www.bareconductive.com/shop/electric-paint-50ml/ Fleming, Laura. 2016. Makerspace vision statement. Retrieved from http://worlds-of-learning.com/2016/04/17/makerspace-vision-statement/ Makey-Makey https://shop.makeymakey.com/ Martinez, S. & Stager, G. (2013). Invent To Learn: Making, Tinkering, And Engineering In The Classroom. Torrance, CA: Constructing Modern Knowledge Press. Kindle Edition.
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Before I could even begin planning what I put in my Makerspace, I needed to vision it in my classroom and its layout. As quoted in the article, Stocking Up School Makerspace, “Once you have a space where you and your students can work, you’ll want to outfit it with the tools, equipment, and materials your Makerspace needs in order for your students to accomplish their projects (Hlubinka, 2013).” But then all the questions arised such as, what do I even put in this area?
As I start on this route, the advice I took from the article Stockin Up School Makerspace was to, “concentrate on one or two kinds of making and stock up on the tools and materials you’d need for your students (Hlubinka, 2013).” The Makerspace I would like to focus on is electronics and understanding basic circuts, robots, coding, and microcontrollers. Some of the items may be consumable materials such as: • conductive thread 4ply and 2ply • breadboarding pins • batteries AA • batteries 9V • 9V battery snaps • battery holders • heat shrink tubing • breadboards • resistors • switches • buzzers • motors • photoresistors • jumper wires • wire • crimps • beeswax • LEDs • batteries For funding this big dream, I will have to seek help and look to community support. This could look like holding a fundraiser to get donations from families or applying for grants and scholarships to receive extra funding (Garcia-Lopez, 2013). A few I may apply for are botball robotics or Lowes Toolbox for Education (Garcia-Lopez, 2013). Realistically, I believe I could find a lot of donated tools by going around to various businesses and asking for donations or looking for second hand items. I already started a donorschoose.org account in hopes that one of my Makerspace ideas will become a reality. However, a lot of these are unpredictable and could delay the time to get this vision going. If I were to use my own funds on this I would narrow down the most important tools and what that would cost. After looking at various websites and the cost for each item, a safe budget would be around $500. This may not get all the items I’d like, but it would definitely be enough to have one or two main projects available for students to make and create. All that really matters is that students are tinkering and playing in order to develop and create their own projects. Sources: Garcia-Lopez. 2013. 6 Strategies for funding a makerspace. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/6-strategies-funding-makerspace-paloma-garcia-lopez Hlubinka, M. 2013. Stocking up school makerspace. Retrieved from http://makezine.com/2013/08/21/stocking-up-school-makerspaces/ A common message I read among different blogs was that, “if a teacher can change their teaching style to better fit how their students learn, the right kind of teaching can help students learn. In the constructivist learning theory puts “the learner as the center of attention (from Sarah’s blog).” However, the road block to making this happen is changing our teaching habits or taking a risk and trying something new.
I will always struggle with knowing the perfect model of teaching, but unsure how to get my classroom and students there. It is the teaching style that steers learners towards their own goals and guides and supports when needed. It takes the constructivist theory but also embeds other theories because a rounded education does not only use one method. But again, what does this exactly look like? I read about these ideas and helpful tips and strategies to get there, but yet it still seems like I am miles away. If one relationship between teaching and learning is for certain, it is that neither one stops learning. Both are equally naive and learning happens once we overcome struggles and our own limitations. I reflect on this week knowing that I will constantly be reflecting on this question throughout my teaching career. As I read Douglas’s blog he seemed to agree by saying, “I think the whole purpose of this weeks question is to reinforce that fact that teaching and learning should mean the same thing. How can you teacher if no one is learning just as how can you lead if no one is following? You would think this is common sense, but some where we got lost.” I believe this comes down to the root of who we are. If a teacher has a personality where they learn best by reading and memorizing material, they will most likely teach their students in this style. We learn by being taught and then we teach the way we were taught. But somewhere through our training there needs to be more reinforcement on teaching to multiple styles and enforcing the whole student mindset. I believe in my teacher prep education this was encouraged, but I can see in many of my colleagues how this philosophy was never taught or forgotten. Week 5: What is the relationship between teaching and learning?Dr. Fredenberg mentioned something in his debrief on this week’s question that really struck a chord. He said, “Research can seem remote and emerging pedagogies can seem extremely far fetched until we try them and see them work.” I often find myself learning an incredible amount about myself, my teaching style, and strengths/weaknesses while I am trying to create learning opportunities. When I reflect on the lesson I often ask myself, who learned more in this lesson my students or me? One relationship between teaching and learning is that we, as educators, are not removed from learning. It is an equal playing ground where the learning is shared between teacher and students. Realizing our role in this inclusive learning environment separates the good teachers from the great.
My teaching philosophy relies heavily on being a guide rather than a teacher. I want my role in the classroom to be a shared responsibility. I am not the only teacher. I am a learner too. I support, encourage, and guide my students towards their learning potential. In our reading, Invent to Learn it says, “Piaget suggests that it is not the role of the teacher to correct the child from the outside, but to create conditions in which the student corrects himself (Martinez, 2013).” This is taking the idea of teaching and transforming it into self-efficacy. The ability to take outside situations and problems, strive through the struggle, and accomplish goals by oneself. The book goes on to say, “Self-reliance results when we relinquish our control and power to our students.” I love this idea and appreciated even more that the book specifies that this does not mean lose control of your role as an educator and let students roam freely. Help when the help is needed, but let students tinker, create, fail, and produce at their pace. My insecurities as a teacher related to this is that I struggle to create a classroom that produces this type of environment. The book suggests these ideas: Be an ethnographer, a documentarian, a studio manager, or a wise leader (Martinez, 2013.). Yet, it is taking the risk to try one of the above that makes this environment happen, but is equally intimidating. The aforementioned relationship between teaching and learning are qualities that make me the type of educator that I am. However, when I really look to summarize the relationship between teaching and learning the words that come to mind is emotional and social support. Positive and healthy relationships are the bridge between teaching and learning. Without it, there is little trust or room to grow and learn. This is further explained in, How to Transcend Traditional Boundaries of Teachers’ Identities. It talks about ethos in our country and how this transcends into individualistic teaching. The values we hold as educators today vs. traditional times has highlighted the importance of research and learning during classroom time (Diniz-Pereira, 2003). Our identity does not control the learning that occurs among our students. It is our students dispositions and our identity that allows us to adapt to our students needs (Hyu-Yong, 2008). Our students identity control the environment and their needs. A teacher’s identity is the ability to create a stable environment that takes the struggle and turns it into learning. To me, this is the relationship between teaching and the potential to learn. Diniz-Periera, Emilio. 2003. How to Transcend Traditional Boundaries of Teachers’ Identities. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED471561.pdf. Hyu-Yong, Park, 2008. “You are confusing!”: Tensions between Teacher’s and Students’ Discourses in the Classroom. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ829005.pdf Martinez, S. & Stager, G. (2013). Invent To Learn: Making, Tinkering, And Engineering In The Classroom. Torrance, CA: Constructing Modern Knowledge Press. Kindle Edition. Week 4The popularity around Maker Space has been growing ever rapidly. This past year I was able to experience a Maker Space session and the conversation didn't stop there. Article, blogs, conversation among coworkers were centered around this movement. However, never once did I ever ask myself, what actually is the importance of Maker Space? It sounded so great from the start that I didn’t take the time to analyze it for myself.
It didn’t take long for my opinion to become validated after reading various articles this week. As put by the article, What’s the Maker Movement and Why Should I Care? She says, “her experiences constantly remind her that children are capable of powerful ideas. One student said the time spent in Maker Space helps us understand what we are capable of (Stager, 2014).” The education in 2017 focuses on how can we get our students to take ownership and accountability of their own education? Maker Space promotes this philosophy with every project or idea (Stager, 2014). With all the microcontrollers and Maker’s Space technology around, I can’t help but feel a little intimidated. I am realizing that if I feel like this then my students will be feeling the same way too. This inspires me to familiarize myself as much as possible so that I can teach my students with confidence. The article, Learning with Arduino and Microcontrollers, only tapped into this a little bit. It helped me see the potential of these technologies such as, “flying through the air in drones, rolling around the floor in giant R2-D2's, even powering a four foot tall LED grid (Patterson, 2016)” Yet, the question still remains-- how can I do this in my classroom? My research continued to reading more about implementing these technologies in the classroom. First and foremost, the environment plays the key role in whether Maker’s Space is a success or not. As quoted by an Edutopia article, “They'll (students) thrive in spaces that perpetually rekindle their desire to make meaningful contributions toward personally relevant issues, ideas, people and interests (West-Pucket, 2013).” Teachers should foster the environment they want their students to emulate. The next important point I found was to make it solely interests-based. Just like any curriculum we put on our students, if they find little interest in the topic, they won’t internalize it. Keeping Maker’s Space choice driven and geared towards what they are interested in will make the learning meaningful. Circling back to the main question, what are the benefits of this pedagogy? Relevance, desire, intrinsic motivation, are all acquired during a Maker’s Space for many students. The benefits, as many educators would see, are that students finally come to school gaining knowledge through their own discovery and creations. Patterson, S. 2016. Learning with Arduino and Microcontrollers. Retrieved from http://www.teachercast.net/2016/03/01/learning-with-arduino-and-microcontrollers/ Stager, G. 2014. What’s the Maker Movement and Why Should I Care? Retrieved from http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3758336 West-Puckett, S. 2013. Remaking Education: Designing Classroom Makerspaces for Transformative Learning. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/classroom-makerspaces-transformative-learning-stephanie-west-puckett Week 3 Reflection Reading other people’s views and ideas on this subject validated a lot of my original thoughts. Sarah talked about her struggles in education and how she sees this in her students. She knows that letting students tinker and be creative allows us, as teachers, to see their thinking and their struggles.
This also led into her, others, and myself talking about the part in the reading that pinpoints science and it’s lack of creativity. The rigid structure of science derails many students from being true scientists. I know in my own education, science felt so “there is only one way,” that I struggled immensely with it. I was scared to fail and not understand, which really affected my ability to just learn. Today, I see science as an exploration and investigation into the unknown-- why would we put barriers and structure on this? Douglas also had great ideas and I enjoyed reading about how he interprets struggle. He related it to education in Japan and their ability to struggle in front of their peers without fear of humiliation. I commented how I created this atmosphere among my 2nd graders this past year and the success I saw from it. I am hoping this inspires others that it is possible to create this climate even if the students have never grown up with it. It is truly about your classroom’s atmosphere and the expectations you make explicit. Week 3: To what extent should we allow students to figure things out for themselves? Before I dig into research articles and blogs answering this question, I look to myself. I am a 23 year old teacher who is pursuing her Master’s-- a lifelong learner some would say. Somewhere, somehow, along the way a teacher or two gave me the tools (or told me?) to learn. My education was rote and traditional. I remember a lot of teacher instruction and some self-taught/discovery based learning. Both have evidently helped me become the successful learner that I am today. I struggled immensely in school and I know that I would have failed miserably had I experienced teachers who made ME figure out every single problem. Instead, I had guidance, and sometimes more direct instruction. I think the key to my experience was that I had teachers who, “met me where I was and brought me to where I needed to be (Strauss, 2015).” Balance is important and discerning is even better. The extent to which we let students struggle should be a case by case measurement. Assuming all students have grit-- perseverance and self-control-- and can flourish when struggling is a huge misconception. The article, “What is the value of letting students struggle?” talks about how socioeconomic, ethnic, and racial barriers make the idea of struggling in school an absolute losing battle. Instead, we need to find a balance of guidance and self-discovery dependent on each individual student. There is no formula. I see in my students and in myself that the greatest learning happens when we are able to overcome an underlying belief that we do not know the answer. However, this happens with balance. As teachers, it is our job to, “find the right level of struggle or challenge— a level that is both constructive and instructive (Seeley, 2009).” As adults, there is no written manual for learning, developing, creating, or exploring. We practice and fail in order to learn and succeed. Yet, in some schools we pretend to teach children that science isn’t about exploring and designing must follow a rigid step-by-step process (invent to learn). The chapter we read this week had some thoughtful points that made me reevaluate how much I let my students design with confidence and little structure. I definitely stray on the the more “rigid” side, but see the beneficial aspects of letting them design-- think, make, and improve. Seeley, C. 2009. Constructive Struggling. Retrieved from http://www.mathsolutions.com/documents/9781935099031_message17.pdf Strauss, V. 2015. What is the value of letting students struggle in class? Teachers answer. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2015/04/21/what-is-the-value-of-letting-students-struggle-in-class-teachers-answer/?utm_term=.f5056355d6fd |