Collaboration

Makey Makey Certification Workshop at Mess Labs

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Earlier this month I led a Makey Makey certification workshop for educators and makers in downtown Dallas at a hip new makerspace called Mess Labs.

It was a jam packed day of learning about Makey Makey, circuits, and invention literacy. For the better part of the morning, participants explored how Makey Makey worked, hacked poetry, and invented switches. (See inventive switches in ‘Gram below.)

Demo or Die Design Challenge

However, one of the most awesome things that came from this workshop, was seeing tables work and learn together and build their own table community. Because of this full day of learning together, in the afternoon when it came time for the design challenge where makers had to follow the design process to invent something helpful…. well…. you’ll have to see for yourself! Groups had less than an hour to identify a problem, ideate solutions, and create a prototype. I was WOWED by their work and I hope you are too!

Table Group 1: Inspired by IDEO design Process

Table Group 2: Inspired by communication boards for special needs students

Table Group 3: Inspired by “misuse” of fidget spinners

Table Group 5: To help a four year old

Table Group 6: Inspired by child safety!

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This group made a child safety alarm! #MakeyMakey #makered

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Table Group 7: Inspired to combine literature and Makey Makey

Excited about Makey Makey madness? Want to get your own students #beyondthebanana ? There are five more days left in the #evilmakeybook giveaway! Go to this blog post for details!

#ISTE 2017 – Tips and Tricks

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ISTE is just around the corner, and it’s in Texas this year! I loved Nicholas Provenzano’s post about ISTE tips, so I thought I’d share a few of my own.

  1. Bring a re-usable water bottle. Texas is HOT in the summer, ya’ll. Most conference centers have water inside, but if you bring your own bottle, you can refill it and take it with you on your walk back to the hotel.
  2. Make a plan. Pick sessions (and back up sessions) ahead of time. Be flexible about running to a different session at the last minute, but you really need to pick some “must attend” sessions before you even leave home. (See this helpful ISTElib guide if you are feeling a tad overwhelmed.)
  3. Visit the Playgrounds! The playground sessions are super fun and mostly not run by vendors. Play with gadgets and concepts and move on when you are ready. (Plan these too, they change up by time and by day! I missed the STEAMPUNK playground last year and I’m still sad about it.)
  4. Attend workshops. They might seem pricey, but most workshops come with free SWAG. (And if they don’t, you’ll still get your money’s worth in learning.) I’m pretty excited to help Jie Qi with this paper circuit workshop.
  5. Stay and play! If you attend a maker session and it is hands-on…. STAY AND MAKE STUFF! The best way to learn about maker education is to immerse yourself in it. I love attending hands on sessions and learning with my peers. In fact, I’m pretty stoked about attending a #computationaltinkering workshop with the infamous Tinkering Studio peeps and Mitch Resnick. (#makered #fangirling)
  6. Say hi to tweeps! If you see someone you follow on Twitter, don’t be afraid to say hello. It might seem weird, but it is actually fun to meet your tweeps face to face.
  7. Sign up for evening parties. Don’t go overboard, but sign up for fun parties/dinners/drinks/etc. (Like maybe this Maker Ed one on Monday night…. ) Networking is one of THE BEST things about ISTE.
  8. Eat tacos. Eat tacos for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. REPEAT. In Texas we take our tacos seriously. And don’t ask for Tabasco sauce. Just. Don’t. (Salsa and Sriracha are acceptable Texas taco accoutrements.)
  9. Take breaks. Don’t overdo it. Take sit down breaks to catch up on social media, or just chill for a bit. ISTE is HUGE and there are so many people. It can seem really overwhelming. So ask a friend to go get an iced coffee and chill on the riverwalk for awhile.
  10. Visit the Alamo! Take an afternoon, go visit the Alamo, check out other cool San Antonio stuff (list one or list two), and save your river-walking for the evening when it’s not as hot outside.

Did I forget something? Post your own suggestions for surviving ISTE  (or attending sessions) in the comments.

See you in San Antonio!