Today was our first build day in the 6th grade Makerspace FLEX. Students tried out the 3Doodlers, built with cardboard, brainstormed and experimented with electronics using littleBits. This is already a productive, creative group! I can't wait for next week!!!
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The Creekside Makerspace just received a generous donation in the form of a $500 gift card from the Jackson road Meijer. This gift card will be used to purchase consumable materials for Creekside student makerspace projects and organizational materials for the makerspace. Thank you very much to Meijer for supporting our makerspace!
6th grade flex began last week - we talked about what Makerspace Flex will look like and began coming up with some ideas of what to make! The 5th grade Genius Hour/Makerspace Flex starts next week, it will be lead by Mrs. Smith and Ms. Darling. I can't wait to see the ideas and projects that the students come up with!!! All current media students now have access to the online Learning Management System - Edmodo: www.edmodo.com
When your student logs in, there is a parent code that you can use to access their course information, if you would like to. If you can't find it, email me at darlingj@dexterschools and please include your student's full name and their home room teacher's name and I"d be happy to look it up for you. Next week - 5th grade students currently enrolled in media are participating in the Global Cardboard Challenge. We have cardboard boxes and makedo tools to use for this. However, if they'd like to bring anything else to use for building or decorating, please have them bring it in. Also, if your student brings in items (tape, buttons, glue, paper towel rolls, etc.), please indicate whether you want the extra (if there is any) to be taken home or donated to the makerspace. I am SO excited to see what they come up with! Our Makedo kits - tool sets that bring cardboard construction to the next level - have arrived! Today I repurposed our card catalog (remember those?), to hold the makedo tools. To date - it has been sitting in the back room of the library and until today it still held the original index cards with the Wylie/Creekside cataloguing information. I kept the cards....just in case we come up with a good use for them.
THIS October, the Creekside 5th graders will be participating in the Global Cardboard Challenge. Each class will be given the opportunity during media to work together to create a cardboard masterpiece! I can't wait to see what they come up with! I recently completed the Makerspace Operations Bootcamp through Maker Works. This week-long intensive training was inspiring, boundary-challenging and helped me to get a better focus on the direction(s) in which the Creekside Makerspace could go. It provided a wonderful framework for how to organize and manage a makerspace in a way that is efficient, ignites creativity and most importantly - prioritizes safety.
I learned a whole body of content and information that is well outside of the traditional educator/librarian framework - lean manufacturing including the 5S workplace organization methodology, using and creating SOPs (standard operating procedures), the importance of vision and so much more. In addition, I was able to experiment with and/or observe the use of a laser cutter/engraver, plasma cutter, embroidery machine, various power tools, raspberry pi, arduino, vinyl cutter, 3D printer and CNC router. The display case in the library will house some of the items created by these tools, as part of an Exploring Makerspace exhibit through the end of September. Obviously, some of these tools are not feasible for a 5th and 6th grade makerspace and for other items there will be a bit of a learning curve before I am able to effectively teach students how to use them. However, we will be experimenting, building, tinkering and making starting in September. We will also be adding more tools to the space throughout the year. There will be lots of trial and error, many successes, lots of mistakes and, I hope, a lot of fun, learning, creativity, innovation and collaboration. I can't wait! Screencasting Options for the Classroom
Screenleap: http://www.screenleap.com/ Push your content to multiple devices. Has audio capabilities. Displays entire screen. Free – 2 hours per day (limited to 8 devices). You can only broadcast from a mac or pc due to the java. $19.99 per month gives you 30 devices for 8 hours a day. Recordit: http://recordit.co/ Can make animated .gifs, can embed in websites (iframe), can lock down the url and require a password. Screencast-o-matic: http://www.screencast-o-matic.com/ Publish to Youtube. Publish to video file. Publish to Screen-O-Matic ($15 for life for pro version). Snagit: http://www.techsmith.com/snagit.html Lots of annotation features with the image capture – numbers, callouts etc. $25 education, 30 day demo. Free snagit Chrome extension that is limited (does screen capture with some annotations). Screencastify: https://www.screencastify.com/ Works on Chrome chromebooks and chromeboxes (as well as other devices). Can include webcam and share to google drive. Available as a plugin for Chrome. 10 minutes or less is free! 3-D Printing Printrbot: http://printrbot.com/ Tinkercad – free web-based 3-D design program (based on autocad): https://www.tinkercad.com/ 123D Design software: http://www.123dapp.com/ Repetire - will host a lot of 3D printers: http://www.repetier.com/ PLA filament (printing materials): https://store.makerbot.com/filament/pla Afinia printer (more “plug and play” but more expensive): http://www.afinia.com/ Other Resources - 3-D design for 3-D Printing: http://www.3ders.org/3d-software/3d-software-list.html "Tools You Can Use Tomorrow" (Leslie Fisher Session) Assessments Kahoot: https://www.getkahoot.com/ Game based online learning, quizzes, discussions and surveys can be created, you can access thousands of already created quizzes, students use any web based device to answer questions, leaderboard is update constantly. Quizizz: http://quizizz.com/ Brand new. Works on any device. Question, answer, photo displayed. Music plays on the devices. Plickers: https://www.plickers.com/ Create questions. Students will be assigned 1-60, you can print out flat laminate cards. You can see student name and answer as they hold up their cards. Logs all information from student responses. EdPuzzle: https://edpuzzle.com/ Allows you to upload or link to a video, add quick questions. Students use the code to watch the video and interact with it. Site keeps track of their answers. Free. GoFormative: https://goformative.com/ Add questions or content. Can add images, drawings, videos, etc. Students can respond in kind. Newsela: https://newsela.com/ News site where you can select different lexiles. About 100 new stories a day are posted to the site. Includes a quiz module. May include a cost. Remind: https://www.remind.com/ Allows you to send text, photos, videos to student or parent phones without displaying phone numbers. You can also ask yes and no questions. Recently added chat (optional) – which could be used as “office hours”. AWW: https://awwapp.com/ Web whiteboard. Can use computer, tablet or smartphone to draw sketches, collaborate and share drawings. Can save at any point but content NOT locked down. Baiboard: http://www.baiboard.com/ An online collaboration option. Canva: https://www.canva.com/ Very easy design (note: gives social network suggestions). Gives adjustable templates. Includes infographic templates. Adobe Voice: http://getvoice.adobe.com/ Simply create a story (iOS only). Can add music - the program will choose music for you based on your voice inflection). When the story is done, you are given lots of sharing options (gives social network options). Team Shake: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/team-shake/id390812953?mt=8 App. Add kids names into ipad app, tell it how many teams you need and shake! Will make random teams BUT you can ALSO specify which kids should be together or NEVER be together. First day at MACUL has been wonderful! I have already learned so much! Here are some of the resources that I discovered (and rediscovered) today.
Maker Space Resources Electronics and other electronics stuff Hummingbird robotics kit: http://www.hummingbirdkit.com/ Squishy circuits dough: http://squishycircuitsstore.com/kits.html MaKey MaKey, an invention kit for anyone: http://makeymakey.com/ Wearable Arduino: http://arduino.cc/en/Main/arduinoBoardLilyPad Bristolbots: http://www.bristlebots.org/ Maker Shed (Official Store of Make): http://www.makershed.com/ Software and Websites Free software for 3-D design: http://www.sketchup.com/ TinkerCAD - Free browser-based CAD program: https://www.tinkercad.com/ K-12 Makers, a site for maker teachers: http://k12makers.org/ Invent to Learn: http://www.inventtolearn.com/ Augmented Reality Apps colAR: http://colarapp.com/ Arloon: http://www.arloon.com/ AR Flashcards: http://arflashcards.com/ AR Flashcards Space: http://arflashcards.com/ar-flashcards-space/ Daqri: http://daqri.com/ Coding Resources Apps Hopscotch: http://www.gethopscotch.com/ Cargo Bot (Review): https://www.graphite.org/app/cargo-bot Daisy the dinosaur (Review): http://www.mindleaptech.com/apps/daisy-the-dinosaur/ Online Scratch: https://scratch.mit.edu/ Code: http://code.org/ Over the last two weeks, we have been looking at trends and patterns in old technology and using them to predict future trends in new and emerging technology, discussing how these innovations have changed our society and commenting on what was surprising.
You asked for it, and here it is!
A huge thank you to Ms. Nickerson for the donation of the couch and papasan! That coupled with a bit of sweat equity from Ms. Darling and a small purchase has provided us with a new comfortable seating area in front of the magazines in the Creekside media center! What secret treasures will those drawers hold? Welcome and Welcome back to all Creekside students! I am very excited about all of the digital and print adventures we will experience together this year!
Generally, all students will be able to check out two books or magazines every week all year during Media which meets for an hour once a week (it takes a little while to create all 500+ book cards at the start of the year, and some time to collect all the books at the end of the year, so we will not be checking out during those times). In addition to checking out books, we will explore technology, learn tips and tricks for using computers, play with digital music and even do a little bit of coding at the end! There is SO much in store for you! Since we only meet once a week, it is your responsibility to approach Ms. Darling if you have been absent to find out what you missed, and what you will need to make up. Generally speaking, there is not homework, unless you do not finish an assignment during the given time in class or you were absent. If you do not have access to a computer at home, and you need to make up an assignment, we can always arrange some time during school, directly after school or I can usually give you an alternate assignment using paper and pen/pencil. This class is graded and your grade will be determined by several components including assignments and "participation". Every week, we aim to end each class with approximately 5 minutes of silent reading (this is our goal, but sometimes it is a bit more or a bit less). This means that you will need to bring back your book to renew, check out a new book, or if you've forgotten both your books, put a book "on hold", which you will first have a chance to silent read. This book selection and independent library navigation is what your "participation" grade is based on. Please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions you may have at [email protected] or at extension 6416. I look forward to a fun and productive year with you all! -Ms. Darling |
AuthorJulie Darling is a Library Media Specialist at Creekside Intermediate School, a 5/6 building Archives
September 2015
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