teched

#LTCMaker Workshop / #BookfaceFriday / New Makerspace Lesson Page

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Presenting and Sharing Makerspace Knowledge and Tech Education

It may be summertime, but I’ve been busy. My ELA teachers asked me to present our All Songs PBL Podcast projects at the Texas Ignite conference.  It was great to share with Texas teachers how our collaboration led to authentic learning for students.  Visit the presentation here:

Today, I was able to present ideas on starting your own makerspace to librarians on a national level with Makey Makey creator Jay Silver.  I had a great time discussing how to start, where to get money, and suggestions for programming and design challenges.  If you didn’t sign up for the workshop, I think they might do another in the fall. Plus, I have an article coming out soon about “How to Start Your own Makerspace from Scratch.” (Just a few weeks actually- so stay tuned!) Here is more information on the Lead the Change- Maker Workshop

Exciting National Publications

I’ve also had a pretty great month as far as publications go! My “Evolution of a Makerspace” article was published in School Library Journal. I was mentioned in the New York Times for my #bookfacefriday Instagramming: “Oh Those Clever Librarians, and their #Bookface”  (I changed the name of my Instagram so here is my current profile.) Plus, I was a contributor to the School Library Journal (Maker Issue) article: “Maker Bookshelf: A Starting Collection for Current and Aspiring Librarians” Plus, I finally got to collaborate with my NWP buddies, Donalyn Miller and Kerri Harris, on a Nerdy Book Club post.

Finally, a local paper came to Lamar Library the last day of school and did this great write up about winning the Scholastic/School Library Journal School Librarian of the Year Finalist award.  Journalist Sarah Bays even made a great Youtube video of me (and some of my aides) geeking out!

New Page up for Makerspace Curriculum

Last but definitely not least…. I’ve made a new page specifically on lessons created by me for your Makerspace! When I spoke today for Library Journal’s Maker Workshop, I mentioned that a year ago I played my first Makey Makey banana piano.  Now, I’ve got lessons published on their site! This wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t tinkered alongside my students and worked at getting my brain “beyond the banana.” I suggested to #LTCMaker participants to start making and creating and writing their own lesson plans.  We can change education together. Let’s get Maker Education integrated with the curriculum! Start writing and start sharing. Here are some lessons I’ve written so you can collaborate with your teachers: https://colleengraves.org/maker-ed-lessons-by-resource/

(Now you go tinker, learn, and write your own to share with me!)

You say Goodbye ….. I say Hello!

/ gravescolleen / Leave a comment

Goodbyes

This is my last week at Lamar Library.  It’s been a wild and transformative three years.  When I started at Lamar, I moved EVERY single book in the library.  I spent the summer re-organizing, updating furniture, and adding teen friendly design elements as well as creating a Google Site resource for staff and students.

I moved the computers from the front of the library and added cafe seating so that when students walked by the library they wouldn’t see dangling cords, but other students reading, studying, and enjoying the library.

Before and After

Top half is before 2012 and after 2012. Bottom half is before 2012 and after 2015.

I also removed a lot of encyclopedia sets including an “About the Author” set from the 1960s!  This freed up a lot of space and allowed me to have a long queue of patrons if I needed it (Or maybe practice for TLA book cart drills.)

The new shelf space also allowed me to create a showcase where I organized books by genre and gave them all facetime! It’s become the go to spot for most of my students because it’s easier to look at a small section of a genre than it is to browse a long shelf of spines.

Books organized by genre

Books organized by genre and ALL faced out

Reorganizing and decorating go a long way, but a change in programming is what really made the difference at Lamar Library. I started makerspace programming in May of 2013, but finally got funding for real supplies in April 2014. Plus, I got permission to have Maker Monday during the school day.  These changes in our maker programming this year have completely changed the library.

Our Makerspace is hopping with activity before school, during Advisory, and especially during Maker Monday.  See more of my makerspace in action on this Tackk I made about the Lamar library transformation:

Librarian as Instructional Partner

I’ve also spent the last three years making sure teachers see me as an instructional partner.  I think the hardest thing about leaving Lamar, is that this year this aspect of the transformation has come to fruition. I love working with my teachers at Lamar and I love seeing the students on a day to day basis and teaching alongside my teachers.

Hellos

So, now that I’m going to a new school that needs the same type of TLC….

What will be the same? 

  • Adding color, creativity, and establishing a learning commons.
  • Creating a genre showcase.
  • Making fun and eye-catching signage.
  • Finding space for a makerspace IN the library.
  • Re-organizing books.
  • Research- I just can’t wait to bring research at Ryan to the next level! I’m excited about incorporating tech tools and authentic audiences, learning processes from authors, teaching databases and advanced Google searching techniques.
  • Social Media- Start a Ryan_library Twitter account and Instagram.

What will be different?

  • First off- I’m going to start a teacher/student panel that will assist me in the library makeover. While TAB helped a lot with Lamar that first year, I did a lot of work with my director the summer before school even began.  Now I want teacher input and student ideas to drive the redesign at Ryan High School.
  • Forming a Makerspace committee– I love Maker Education, but I can’t do it all by myself.  When I start at my new school, I’m going to find interested teachers and students to help guide EVERYTHING we do in the library makerspace from ordering to planning to incorporating into classroom curriculum. I’ve already ordered some awesome stuff to entice my teachers during professional development.
  • Starting the year Makerspace strong– I’ll be chatting a lot more about this at my #LTCmaker workshop for School Library Journal and upcoming article for Edutopia. In short, I’m hoping to train teachers through professional development before school starts and lead them through design challenges and then have teachers brainstorm ways to incorporate the maker resources into the classroom curriculum. (Plus get them excited about makerspace activities!)
  • Word Nerd Book Club– One of the best things about being a librarian is chatting with authors, meeting authors, and finding out more about books!  So I’m hoping to start a book club with teens where we interview authors about writing and books.  I want to interview authors on a monthly basis and broadcast on Youtube.

Thanks to my buddy at Keen Bee Studio, my new library already has a rocking new logo.

Ryan_Logo

I couldn’t help but make this video on my last day @lamar_library!