With the greater push for upper elementary education to be exclusively content driven, students are lacking opportunities to use imagination with hands on learning. This lack is also affecting their ability to be innovative, think critically, and problem solve. Makerspaces are known to bolster innovation, imagination, critical thinking, problem solving, and engineering mindsets. These spaces are generally in accessible areas but are stationary which can be somewhat limiting. We worked to create a maker inspired Idea Lab that is stored in one centrally located area but also has components that are mobile, increasing the accessibility and functionality as well as the opportunity for more than one class to use it at the same time. The majority of primary funding was be used for the mobility aspect of this project and other maker technology. By making the entire area mobile, classroom teachers could choose to work in the Idea Lab room or transform their classroom into the Lab. My experiences with maker culture in my own classroom leads me to believe this solution will be successful. Over the last several years I have seen a change in my students’ abilities to problem solve increase, as well as their ability to think critically. Last year, I tested my students’ abilities with challenge related rubrics and the resulting scores showed an increase from 0% completion to 100% over the course of 8 months.
Budgeted items:
MACUL - 2 Seville Classics Bin Rack Systems, Mobile Tub Storage Cart, KEva Planks, Makey Makey, Snap Circuits, Teaching Tree Building Shapes
Tuscola County Community Foundation - Mobile Tub Storage Cart, documentings stations, QuBits, Snap Circuits, Squishy Circuits, Paper Circuits, iPad, Brainflakes, Magformers, Make.Do, and Brackitz.
Michigan Space Grant - Safety glasses, mallets, pliers, screwdrivers, electrical tape, and other basic tools.
Innovative Educator Corps - Consumable makerspace items such as craft sticks, dowels, foam, tape, cups, paper plates, straws, etc.
Budgeted items:
MACUL - 2 Seville Classics Bin Rack Systems, Mobile Tub Storage Cart, KEva Planks, Makey Makey, Snap Circuits, Teaching Tree Building Shapes
Tuscola County Community Foundation - Mobile Tub Storage Cart, documentings stations, QuBits, Snap Circuits, Squishy Circuits, Paper Circuits, iPad, Brainflakes, Magformers, Make.Do, and Brackitz.
Michigan Space Grant - Safety glasses, mallets, pliers, screwdrivers, electrical tape, and other basic tools.
Innovative Educator Corps - Consumable makerspace items such as craft sticks, dowels, foam, tape, cups, paper plates, straws, etc.