(Updated post from my Podbean Site) Updated 3/14/15

Summer 2014 I was asked to present a webinar to Ohio School Librarians for InfOhio. The recording is available here.

WEBINAR RECORDING:http://goo.gl/QTi36k

SITES TO VISIT FREQUENTLY:

• The great Maker Cookbook by PC Sweeney that got me started – AWESOME IDEAS!
• Make it at your Library: http://makeitatyourlibrary.org/  
• Make anything DIY: http://www.instructables.com/
• Sign up for a “Tinkering” Course from Exploratorium: http://www.artoftinkering.com/
• Check out Google’s Maker Camp:  http://makercamp.com/summer-2014/schedule/
• Renovated Learning by Diana Rendina: http://renovatedlearning.com/
• Worlds of Learning by Laura Fleming: http://worlds-of-learning.com/
• Makerjawn: http://makerjawn.org/

GREAT BOOKS FOR YOUR PROFESSIONAL LIBRARY:

• Invent to Learn by Sylvia Martinez and Gary Stager
• Script Changers: Digital Storytelling with Scratch by Kylie Peppler
• Soft Circuits by Kylie Peppler
• Short Circuits by Kylie Peppler
• Art of Tinkering by Karen Wilkinson and Mike Petrich
• Makerspace Playbook by Maker Media
• Worlds of Making by Laura Fleming

GREAT BOOKS FOR YOUR SCHOOL LIBRARY:

• Diana Rendina has a great post and pinterest board on this topic!

FREE WORKSHOP IDEAS:

WRITE A GRANT*- GET COOL STUFF:

Good for Upper ES- HS

• Makedo Kit (Make anything with cardboard) – Great for ES and Caine’s Arcade
• littleBits Pro library  or One of Everything – Good for learning about sensors, synths, and basic electronics
• Makey Makey (Order a class set and order extra alligator clips) – excellent resource for teaching the basics of circuits and electronics
• Hummingbird Kits (Order 5) – a little more complicated and require coding
• Arduino (Once your kids have mastered littleBits, Makey Makey, and still want to learn more….) 
• Raspberry Pi (Look at Adafruit’s project page so you’ll have some ideas on what else you need to order besides this microcomputer. )
• Sphero 2.0 ( I call Sphero my library cat, but go ahead and order a class set. These guys can help students visualize distance, rate, time, and percentages! Ollie is just for fun though!)
• Snap Circuits (You can actually order a lot of these kits from Barnes and Noble) 
• Sugru: Crazy cool stuff for toy hacking workshops, creating your own battery cases (You can also buy this from Adafruit)
• Verve: Legos of the Future (This looks like a blend between littleBits and Makey Makey)
• Circuit Scribe: Draw your own Circuits
• Bare Conductive : Electric Paint
• Sparkfun Inventor’s Kit — Great kit for learning Arduino.  You can use Ardublock on Sparkfun’s site to help kids with coding Arduino with a drag and drop platform.  (Also, learned about an extension created by Kreg Hanning where you can program your littleBits Arduino module in Scratch! Go get that at his github!)
• Digital Sandbox– All the power of Arduino without having to plug in all the tiny pieces.  A good starter to teach 4th and up about programming and move them into Arduino later (Also works with Ardublocks which looks like Scratch!)
• Wearable Electronics for soft circuits like Flora or Gemma (But again, have a specific project in mind and buy all accoutrements)
• 3d Printer (I’d wait for these to come down in price become more efficient)

Good for Lower ES

• Makedo Kit
• Bee Bot : Codable robot for littles
• Cubelets: Cool snap together cubelets that teach you about robotics! (Good for MS)
• Kibo Robot : Snap blocks together, scan, and watch Kibo go! I love that this teaches coding skills in a kinesthetic way!
• Dot and Dash: Good programmable robot that kids under 2nd grade can handle
• Paper Circuits: Copper tape, 2032 coincell batteries, pre-printed instructions
• Rocket projects- balloons duct taped to Hotwheels, DIY stomp rockets, lots of good stuff out there on Instructables! (Good for MS)
• Tegu Building Blocks
• K-nex and Legos (Also good for MS)
• Blink Blink Kit– Fun paper circuit kits
• Rigamajig – Build crazy cool stuff like catapults and pulleys- flat packs for storage
• Mobile Mag Wall for libraries– LOOKS AMAZING!

*What if I can’t get it all? Decide how you want to run your space. Do you wanna have workshops or challenges? A challenge lasts a lot longer, so you could buy 10 sets of Makey Makeys and run a challenge for a few months.  Or get 10 Spheros and do a different Sphero challenge each month. Just keep stretching your ideas and see where your imagination can take you, but don’t get bogged down ordering a lot of stuff you do not know how to use.  Buy a set of something and see where it takes you!

ASK FOR DONATIONS:

• Brushbot supplies: Scrub brushes and Electric Toothbrushes from the Dollar Tree
• Old car toys (Rocket propelled w balloons), balloons, old car toys with gears or switches, electronic motors for scribble bots (can buy from Radio Shack or get them out of a dollar store toothbrush), wire cutters, wire from phone lines (like old internet cords, etc), alligator clips, old tennis balls, old computers, old electronics, empty/cleaned coffee bags, oatmeal containers, 2 liter bottles, Modge Podge

OTHER RESOURCES:

• List of School Makerspaces willing to entertain visitors or answer questions about getting started: http://k12makers.org/list-of-makerspaces/
• Great Starting Point: http://youngmakers.org/starting-a-club/
• GRANT ideas: http://makergrants.blogspot.com
• Simple Circuits for kids: http://www.makingboysmen.com/2013/04/simple-circuits-for-kids.html
• Lesley University Resources from SXSW Makerspace Mashup: http://klo.lesley.edu/makerspace-mashup-sxswedu-2015/  (Great Curriculum resources for ES/MS)

TWITTER:

• Subscribe to some Maker lists like: Maker Ed by Diana Rendina, Makers by Clay Forsberg,  Maker Space by James Herzing,  Maker BFFS by Colleen Graves
• Use Hashtags:  #makered, #makerspaces, #makeymakey, #kidscancode, etc
• Join our PLC Maker chat the first Wed of the month from 10:30-11:30 #makerlibchat

MAKER WORKSHOPS/ LESSONS FOR THE WHOLE YEAR 

Scratch Lessons (from Pursuitery )

Chasing Game Challenge:

• Intro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3goItEqutEo
• Tips and Hints: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAYlmCj2W-4

Maze Game Challenge:               

• Intro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbx1LiWCcxI               
• Tips and hints: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gezAgBwcV3k