Reblogged from Kenwood School Makers
After graduating from the Maker Certificate program in the spring, I was left wanting to expand my experiences and understanding of Making in the classroom. Carinne Paddock, a fellow cohort in the program, approached me with a plan to teach a two day Maker training at her school. And, if we were willing to jump through the hoops, the course would also be offered for credit at Sonoma State University.
I love being a teacher. Never in my career have I felt more moved to want to share my knowledge and experience with others. I jumped at the opportunity!
When Carinne and I made the commitment to develop a class, we quickly realized that a lot of thought goes into each moment. We needed to find a balance of giving the participants hands on open ended challenges, text to support why this type of learning is so important, and time to discuss our findings.
Carinne and I laughed the other day when she discovered a little rhyme: Once you go Make, everything else is fake! When a person/teacher understands the authentic learning that occurs when a participant is making connections with their own hands, once they “own” their knowledge, rote learning becomes a thing of the past. Our course had to reflect this idea this of owning knowledge. If teachers could discover the power of Making on their own, they would be moved to at least try it with their students.
The feedback that we received from the over thirty participants was overwhelmingly positive. As a true Maker, Carinne and I want to iterate the course! We want to fine tune our language and our transition areas. Fingers crossed for the chance to iterate Maker Education and NGSS: An Overview for Implementing Maker TK-8.
