There is a lot of talk about maker-spaces or hacker-spaces these days. There is a lot of books and websites and blogs etc. about them. One of my favorite books is Invent to Learn: Makings, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom by Martinez and Stager. It has inspired me and several colleagues to jump in.
Why? It is a great tool for creativity and engineering design. They do not have to have high tech stuff. They can be used for ELA, Science or any subject. But they should be used frequently.
They are for tinkering and playing and creating...basically having constructive fun which leads to learning. I have a simple one but it is growing and I have collected computer parts and art supplies and bottles and TP rolls etc. Just to have a lot of different things to spark the imaginations of my students.
It can be used for extension when kids are done in class. But my focus is on having students demonstrate their learning by creating things almost daily for example:
The Digestive System: students (at tables 3-4) each use the materials in the maker-space (back table with supplies stored on old unused AV carts I ordered from the district warehouse, to create a model of the digestive tract. Students can use anything. But each part...mouth, esophagus, stomach...etc... must demonstrate structure and function. So the mouth must make chomping or chewing movement, esophagus peristalsis etc.
Muscles: students will create a working model of an arm or hand etc.
Sometimes I let them decide what they need to create to demo their knowledge of the standard or TEK. Materials can be reused most of the time too.
I also leave the maker-space a bit messy to inspire them to partake. They need to feel like it is a place where they can design create and recreate etc.
I will take pictures and continue to document the use of the maker-space when school starts.
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