So as the school year is winding down, I am reflecting on what goals I have accomplished this year, especially those I had set for myself concerning the makerspace I have set up for Marvelous Mornings each day. I revisited the last blog post I wrote about this at the beginning of this year and saw that I had just begun taking the Art of Tinkering course, looking for inspiration, and here's the update.
We built some scribbling machines. I ordered motors and batteries, and special rubber bands and kids used these to create machines that would draw. They were cool, but here's what was REALLY cool...
With those motors and batteries and rubber bands, the kids started building other things - creations of their own minds. They put these pieces together to create fans, they have tried to make numerous objects fly, and one student has been working on a project that he believes he will be able to propel in water once it is done. Each day they arrive and tinker, and with each day I can see the potential of giving students the opportunities for open-ended projects of their mind's own creation, given the tools I have put in front of them.
From this experience, I learned that some of the best ideas grow organically (and sometimes not so good ones grow too, but it was still an original idea). A school-wide pajama day prompted the spontaneous making of pillows. A donation of samples from a carpet store inspired a jewelry making session that lasted for weeks! Today a student started making something that looked to me like a kaleidoscope. So we wondered what we needed in order to really do this, looked it up, grabbed some mylar from the art teacher and BOOM! we were making kaleidoscopes.
I follow all the great leaders in #makered. I buy and read the books, I download the project templates. But I can truly see the beauty in an open-ended makerspace experience.
Learning is often organic and is most meaningful when you are passionate about it.
Making and tinkering can be the same.
From my experience, and upon reflection, I have found that often times the most innovative ideas that my kids are passionate about have come about organically, and while they might be able to find these ideas in a book, or online, the spark came from their own mind.
And that has made all the difference in the Marvelous Mornings makerspace!
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