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A Library AND a Makerspace

/ gravescolleen / 12 Comments

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Recently I read an article discussing how libraries are converting to makerspaces. I found this wording dangerous because I love libraries and my library is not just a makerspace. My library is still a library. Yes, we are a learning commons, yes we have a makerspace, but at our core, we are still a library.

Our makerspace is an extension of our library and really a “makerspace” is more of a mindset and philosophy we have towards learning. The makerspace is just one slice of our library pie. We house our maker materials in the library because it is the one place students have access to at any point in the school day.

Goals

The main goal of my library makerspace is to support and promote literacy. Those literacies include traditional literacies like reading, writing, and research. But also include supporting students in digital literacy, coding literacy, and invention literacy.  However, our main goal is still to get kids to love books and reading. I see the makerspace as an extension of that. When students start inventing and creating, they often need to refer back to research, other projects, etc.  So I keep maker- focused books close to our tinkering tables. I’m happy to report that our overall circulation is up 130%! 

Library

Another pertinent goal for our library is to be a place of support for students and staff. One way we do that is to be a safe place for our students. Every day, around 200-250 students come to the library to read, study, and use our computers. In this ever changing world, the kids still need a place where they know it is safe to pick up a book and learn. They need a place where they feel comfortable to study and learn from one another. Our students here at Ryan are lucky. They have a large commons area just down the stairs from the library where they can commune and eat lunch.  Plus, we let students eat lunch in our library as well. Many of our students visit the library and enjoy our space, and we find that most students who frequent the library are busy, busy, busy little bees -working, studying, and making. One of the things I love most about my library, is that we have kids here studying all of the time. The other day, a student asked me for help with a math problem and another student jumped up quickly and offered her expertise. (Whew! Showing off my inequities in math adverted!)

I’ve logged over 60 hours of planning with teachers and that doesn’t include “fly-by” planning where teachers drop in and we have a quick impromptu planning session.  I love helping teachers integrate technology and hope to get more teachers involved in making next school year!

Quiet Spaces

Some kids come to our library just to read! Yes! That still happens! We have many readers here at Ryan High School. Students grew their love of reading in elementary and middle school because they had excellent librarians and reading teachers that planted this important seed.  AND THEY STILL LOVE TO READ! Because of this, we have a quiet reading spot in the back of our library, located by our gorgeous windows. Students know that they need to collaborate in other areas and that these comfy chairs are just for chilling and reading.

Makerspace Instruction

You’ll notice in the infographic at the bottom of this post that specific makerspace instruction only makes up about 13% of scheduled library time. This 13% includes guided workshops and specific makerspace projects. Outside of this scheduled time, students are welcome to use the makerspace at anytime in the school day and they often do. It’s harder to track this and give it a specific number since the students sometimes come in for one reason and end up staying to tinker in the makerspace.

The Tapestry

 

I love this metaphor I read this week during #SXSWedu in relation to making. Many teachers and librarians can see threads, but just what is the tapestry of the library makerspace?

For me, it’s a buzzing hub of activity. It’s a space where kids come to:

  • Read
    • We still love books and reading is the most important literacy.  Every library needs a space for readers. Mine is located in the back of the library, away from collaborative areas, but still visible from the circulation desk.
  • Learn
    • We have research classes all the time. My goal for next year is to integrate more making into core classes and to help different core subjects teach with the
      “Invent to Learn” method of hands-on learning.
  • Make
    • I was highly influenced by teen spaces like Youmedia in the Chicago Public Library. This type of space focuses on a method that understands kids don’t always realize they want to make stuff. Instead, the space is designed for “hanging out, messing around, and geeking out.” I have students that purposely use our makerspace everyday, but I have many others that stumble upon making. Some come in just to hang out, and then end up tinkering and messing around on our audio editing software and figuring out how to use our Novation midis. Others walk in to have lunch and see a soldering workshop and an empty seat and decide to sit down and learn a new skill. While others walk in to renew a book and notice our new 3D printer and ask how it works and how they can use it. Then they come back to learn about 3D Modeling. This is one of my favorite aspects of the library makerspace. It entices students to come back to the library. Plus, it gives EVERY student a reason to come to the library.
  • Study or Complete Assignments
    • Our library is still a place where students come to study. About 20% of the students that come in say they are here just to study! They love to spread out in our classroom areas and work collaboratively or even tutor one another.  Another 30% of our drop-in students come in to use our computers and complete assignments.
  • Research
    • 71% of our scheduled hours are designated to research. I’m happy to collaborate with English teachers and teach our students how to use our databases and research with books. While more and more students use databases, some of our students still prefer using books.

So how does it all come together in a school day? Luckily for me I have a very large space. Our computers are in the front of the library near the circulation desk. We showcase our new books in what used to be periodical shelving to the left of the circ desk. The students eat lunch here as well and at our new cafe tables. Which means our students eat lunch surrounded by books. Sounds pretty great, right?

Our makerspace stuff is getting organized as we speak (be on the look out for an upcoming post!), and we have some tinkering height tables to the right of our circ desk and in front of my office. Our littleBits are housed in a large cabinet by these tables and a student project shelf is also located here. Plus, as mentioned earlier, I have maker books faced out by these tables as well. It’s the best way to get my new coding and Minecraft books checked out.

I’m lucky to have two classroom areas that are separated from the front sections of the library by book shelves. This makes it easy for me to teach research classes even though other students are having lunch in the library, taking stuff apart at our tinkering tables, taking a reading break, or studying collaboratively. For more info on our spaces, see this visual progress post.

 

I decided to track just how students have been using the library each month and whipped up this interactive infographic over at Piktochart.

 

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View the interactive infographic over at Piktochart.

Review of New littleBits STEAM Student Set !

/ gravescolleen / 2 Comments

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Ayah Bdeir just announced a new kit at SXSWedu today, and I’m excited to share my thoughts on this awesome new STEAM Student Set from littleBits.

There aren’t any new Bits, but this collection has some of my favorite Science/Space kit bits from littleBits and some great accessories for building some simple inventions. Lots of cool sensors, the new updated DC motor that makes building cars easier, pulse, an inverter, fork and more. See the full set here.

My favorite thing about the kit though is the AWESOME book that comes with it. It is evident that littleBits has listened to educators and our ever-pressing need for clear instructions.

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Yes, the maker movement is all about tinkering and playing to learn, but sometimes, you just need basic instructions! I love the larger sized manual and the extensive section on learning how each bit works.  When I did my synth workshop (Thank you, Chad Mairn!!!)  at the beginning of the school year, I followed Chad’s footprints, sharing how each Korg littleBit worked, and it really helped the students focus on learning what kinds of sounds we could make. Plus, it helped us understand what is inside of a synthesizer and how some of our favorite music has been created.

The Manual

The Student Set manual has great instructions for how each bit works that will really help students slow down and learn about the functionality and usefulness of each component in the kit. I loved the theory my 7 year old had while playing with this section learning about inputs and outputs and how the “button” works.

“When I let go (of the button) the electricity is stuck, but when I press on the button, the electricity is not stuck and it goes through (to the fan).” We went on to talk about how this functions sort of like a gate, allowing electricity to move and keeping the electricity from moving.

I’m all for letting students tinker and play to learn, but I’ve seen quite a few high school students that did not grasp the “input” vs. “output” coloring system as quickly as a younger more playful student might. Instead, they gave up on the littleBits concept and tried something else in our makerspace. I’m hoping these instructions will allow students to tinker and learn with less guidance from an adult.

Real World Analogies

My other favorite thing about this manual is the “real world analogies” section for each Bit. This is another example of a connection that we, as educators, usually “hope” student make as they tinker with littleBits. However, not all students draw these connections while tinkering, so being included the manual is just bonus awesomeness for me.

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Temperature Sensor

When my daughter started playing with the temperature sensor, she immediately thought it would be cool to see if she could change the temperature reading on the numberBit by blowing on the sensor. Again, it’s important to note that littleBits are not new around my household, but the instruction manual made her see littleBits in a new way and unlocked some of that magical curiosity we love to see in our younger students.

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Prototyping Tips

I love, love, love these prototyping tips! Some of my students often get caught up in perfection and their first idea and they don’t try enough different prototypes to really understand the invention cycle.  Thank you for these tips! Can I have a poster for my makerspace please, littleBits?

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Projects

I like that littleBits has put together real steps for making specific projects. Again, I am all for students creating and inventing on their own, but it always helps to follow some basic instructions first. Especially when you are learning how something works. Too many times, if a student doesn’t understand basic concepts or how each littleBit works, they cannot create an amazing invention. Following a few projects is a great way to help students learn the language of Invention Literacy (something I learned about from Jay Silver) and demystifying how things work. Personally, I’ve been learning to use Arduino the last few years by following and completing projects written by others. I’m only finally to the point now after 3 years where I feel confident enough to create Arduino projects based on my own ideas (3 wearable Arduino projects coming out in my new book!)

The”Invent a Self-Driven Car” is a super cool project, but I wish the kit included the wireless receiver and wireless transmitter so we could invent our own remote control to drive our car, but I guess that is included in the Gizmos and Gadgets kit. Other project instructions in the kit include an art machine, a throwing arm and a security device.

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Inventing

After learning in depth about the bits and making the first project, my 7 YO was ready to start tinkering and seeing what else she could create. She quickly pulled out the forkBit and added a few inputs and outputs. She said, “Mom, why isn’t this working?” When I pointed to the placements of inputs and started to explain, she said, “Tricked you! This only works if I press this button AND move this slide switch.” Wow. My 7 year old just explained AND gate logic? And after just 30 minutes of playing? That’s pretty awesome.

 

Open Challenges

I love the last section of the manual as well. There are 4 open challenges encouraging students to “Hack your Classroom”, “Invent for good”, inventing a Rube Goldberg like contraption, and lastly a “hack your habits” challenge. I’m hoping to institute the “Invent for Good” challenge at my own library and see if my own students can “invent a product to make a difference in someone else’s life.” My students came up with some pretty cool stuff during the littleBits Halloween Challenge.

Issues

My 7 year old and I still had issues mounting littleBits on the mounting board (this has always been a pet peeve of mine), but its time for me to look into the other mounting solutions offered by littleBits and now that this manual has a full description of each, hopefully I’ll find a new preferred method!

UPDATE: My set was a sample set and luckily littleBits is already on the mounting board case! The new STEAM sets will come with new MOUNTING BOARDS! Lucky you! These look pretty cool and I can’t wait to get my hands on them. I like how they somewhat resemble a PCB Breadboard.

Lastly, the box says it ideal for 3-4 students, but I would expect to use this as more of a partner activity with no more than 2 students per set.

Last but not least….

I just found out from Diana Rendina that the Teacher Guide is available for free! So go check it out and pre-order your new littleBits STEAM Student set today!

Disclaimer: This review consists of my own opinion. littleBits sent me a complimentary student set for this review, but otherwise I am receiving no compensation for this write-up.