Tinkering

The Importance of Exploring Materials- Reflecting on #SXSWedu Part 2

/ gravescolleen / 4 Comments

This is the second post reflecting on SXSWedu 2017. Read the first post reflecting on the need for sharing our maker education classroom fails or what Sam Patterson calls the “anti-Instagram” moments.

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Exploring Materials in #4ways4makered

Four Ways for MakerEd was an excellent workshop at SXSWedu hosted by Christa Flores, Patrick Benfield, Sean Justice, and Erin Riley.

These fabulous maker educators set up four different explorations across this gigantic room and gave us time to play. After introductions, I hurried to the cardboard corner and began exploring cardboard techniques thanks to this cool handout from Erin Riley.

 

As I sat there playing with cardboard, those around me were making and building awesome things. I was feeling a bit uninspired making-wise, plus I was nervous about my own upcoming session.

Here I was in the middle of this room of so many awesome folks who were quickly inspired and making cool stuff.

And I had no ideas.

I was starting to feel pressure, because I’m a maker and I should be able to sit down and make cool stuff,right?

No. That’s not right. Sometimes even the most creative types can be uninspired. Instead I thought, “It’s okay. I’ll just play with cardboard and try all these cool techniques since I haven’t tried some of these before.” Meanwhile, my friend Liam built a chair out of cardboard, another guy at our table built a castle, and another learner made interesting cardboard art (with shadow play!)

Meanwhile, I was still cutting pieces out, putting them together and playing with techniques. Nothing creative or amazing….

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As I kept exploring cardboard, I started thinking it would be fun to play with linkages. However, there weren’t any brads to connect my pieces. I tried linking thin pieces with dowels and came up with interesting combinations, but it wasn’t really working as far as linkages go. I began to feel like I should just maybe give up, but I continued to explore the different techniques like straight cuts, smooth bends, and exposing corrugation. After awhile I decided to walk around the room to see what the other 3 groups were making. There were toy guts in one half of the room (Christa’s parts,purposes, and complexities), amazing makerspace designing in another (Patrick’s workshop), and a lightbulb/paper clip exploration (with Sean Justice.) Wait… did I just see paper clips? I bugged Sean for a few paper clips, and quickly went back to work at my table.

I cut four thin strips of cardboard and attached them with paper clips and within minutes I had a working grabber!  One of my table mates suggested using the “smooth joint technique” to attach grabbers to the end of my pinchers.

So even though I felt like I didn’t have any ideas, what I really needed was time to explore the materials and tinker with techniques. I just needed an hour to mess around, and that experience led me to a quick working prototype.

This was important lesson for me. Sometimes it is OKAY for our makers to just explore materials. It’s more than okay, exploration is a necessary form of making.

When reflecting later with Patrick Benfield he said, “All making is valid.” Patrick told me how at the d.lab he makes time for his makers to explore materials before building projects. Before teaching paper circuits, he lets his students explore making art with copper tape. Another aha moment for me! What might seem like a waste (exploring copper tape by making art/ exploring cardboard techniques and just cutting up cardboard) is not actually a waste.

Instead it is a learning experience that some of our makers really need. Exploring the materials might give them the creative confidence they need to inspire paper circuit designs or make some simple cardboard grabbers.

Reflections

When I interviewed Patrick this summer for Challenge Based Learning, we discussed the importance of reflection. As a writing teacher, I always felt like my students really synthesized their learning in that last critical step – reflecting on an experience.  It’s one reason I institute maker journals in my professional development workshops.

What is even more stunning is seeing other participants in the same workshop reflecting and having the same a-ha moments as me.  Notice in the tweet below, Nicole Cimo goes through the same process of exploring materials, manipulating techniques, and suddenly having an aha moment that leads to that creative confidence “We got this!” moment.

How do you let your learners explore materials? What techniques do you share that lead to creative confidence? In what ways do your learners reflect on their making and experiences? Share your stories and your work in the comments!

 

Messy Makerspace- Cleaning up the Project “In Progress” Shelf

/ gravescolleen / 4 Comments

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Early in February, I decided it was time to tackle the messiest area of our makerspace. Nope, it’s not our maker supply storage, thanks to Leslie Terronez, we cleaned that up last year. It’s not our littleBits cabinet (although, yes, it needs frequent re-organization.) It’s a little old area, I’ve been tinkering with since 2015…..

…..the maker “In-progress”project shelf.

The First Attempt at a Project Shelf

The concept behind this space is having a dedicated place for where students to keep projects they are working on, so that they can work on them over extended periods of time. This idea became a necessity back in 2015 when I was hosting an extended design challenge in my middle school makerspace at Lamar Library. The MakeyMakeyChallenge was one of the longest running project adventures my students embarked upon, but I quickly found they needed a place to store their inventions. So at the time, I just took a flexible shelf (I think it was hosting bricolage for making), cleaned it off, made a simple sign and told students to keep their work here.

As you can see, it’s quite messy, but it was frequently in use! I continued this method at Lamar because it seemed to be working. However, students would never grab a “project sheet” and put their name on their work. (Go figure!) Plus, when the middle schoolers were at the heart of their KNEX giraffe “alpaca”-lypse making, other students were starting to mess with their work.

Second Attempt at an In Progress Shelf

At Ryan, I kept an empty shelf right by our tinkering tables that also functioned as an project “in progress” shelf. I had better success when I dedicated one shelf to my sewing circuit club, but I was still having issues with this area of making.

In fact, the area was so messy because students still weren’t labeling items. But often times, projects and supplies would sit… and sit…. and sit…. on the “in progress” shelf. At one point, I realized something….

Not all projects are meant to be finished!

How many times have I started and not finished a project? Probably HUNDREDS of times! So, not only were my students not leaving their names on their work, they also weren’t coming back to disassemble any unfinished projects. Plus, the students that were utilizing the space correctly noticed that other students would take pieces from their projects. The “in progress” shelf was “too accessible” since some student work was not safe from prying hands.

I apologize for not having any pictures of the extremely messy area for comparison, but it wasn’t until I cleaned the whole area up that I realized how beneficial it would be to see the area before!

Third Attempt at an “In Progress” Shelf

To combat messy shelves, lingering projects, missing names, and student interference with projects that were not their own, here is what I did. I bought containers, created signage, and created “expiration dates,” and a “re-purpose it bin.”

I went to the Dollar Tree to buy a plethora of storage containers. I wanted small containers for paper and sewing circuits, larger tubs for oversized work, and medium size containers for flexible work.

Since I’d recently moved all my makerspace storage items to a “classroom” area of the library, my previous shelving by the circulation desk was open for new business! This means we could do a better job keeping “in progress” projects safe! I also decided (again with the help of Leslie Terronez) that the BIGGEST problem in this area were that projects would turn “stale.” So I created an “expiration date” label to put on every bin.

Expiration Dates

Projects are labeled with a two week “expiration date” and can be “renewed” if a student needs more time to work. But this way, if a student starts a project, and doesn’t work on it again for two weeks, I won’t feel bad taking it apart and putting it away!

These red tubs are great for classroom projects (like our stop motion book trailers) and design challenge activities!

Signage

My student aides designed a “how-to” poster for the area, that I hung up next to my Canva made “Projects in Progress” sign. My favorite part is the declaration “We keep it safe!” They also made some “Project in Progress” slips for students to put their name and date on before tucking their bucket onto the shelf. The slips combined with a specific bucket, seem to be helping some students with remembering to put a name on their work!

Repurpose it Bin!

Lastly, we have two large bins at the bottom of this shelf labeled “Repurpose it!” Once student projects go “stale” or sit too long “in progress,” then my aides will move the items into the repurpose it bin (or back to maker storage if it isn’t a consumable item.)

Successes and New Problems

It will take awhile to teach students how to use the area properly since I’ve done this mid-year, but all in all, the area has stayed clean! Also, while we were knee deep in greenscreen and stop motion book trailers, the tubs just made sense to most students. They felt safe leaving their work, remembered to label their names, and came back the next day to finish working. Plus, the small tubs for paper circuits were considerably helpful when students were making “electric love letters” for Valentine’s day.

So, now I’m at point where I have to actually upcycle/recycle the stale student projects. It’s still difficult (for me personally), but will be easier with a clear date that shows me the student hasn’t been back in awhile.

And a new problem I’m experiencing is a student that is hoarding supplies. One of my frequent makers sees the “in progress” shelf as a great new way to hoard littleBits. He is working on a specific project, but happens to be utilizing almost every LED bit! His project is complicated, so I understand the need to save Bits so he can work from day to day, but I’m unsure how to get him to be respectful of others wanting to tinker with littleBits when he isn’t working on his project.

So how do you keep track of student maker projects in progress? Do you have a dedicated space? What works? Better yet, what doesn’t work? Share your successes and failures so the whole maker community can benefit!