My 21st Century Learning Word Cloud

 

Some guiding words to keep me grounded and focussed on my educational journey towards 21st Century Learning in my classroom. 

My Maker Journey Has Begun

 

My journey to immerse myself in Maker Culture has begun. Makerspaces are one way I can encourage my students to explore, create and develop essential skills for the 21st Century without spending time on screens in the classroom. I am pleased that my initial search was fruitful. Current and creative resources are abundant. Here are a few books, journals, and videos that I’ve chosen to help me get started.

In 'Tinkering with Makerspaces' Christopher Hunt's maker journey is featured in the Canadian School Library Journal. Photos, links and mini journals describe the maker culture in the Sardis Elementary School Library. Storage of materials, cardboard challenges, Lego Walls and making bread are some of the featured projects. He also features a ‘Breaker Space’ for dismantling retired electronics and toys. He briefly mentions his next project: sewing plush monsters to build literacy connections with books and student writing.

I have sewn plush monsters with my students as well. Felt is easy for children to cut and sew without worrying about the fabric fraying at the edge. The ‘stuffies’ have so much visual character that it is a natural writing prompt to imagine, and then describe the character ‘traits’ their creation might have.


Tinkering with Makerspaces


Makerspace: Essential or Phase?

Jennifer Brown is the teacher-librarian at Castle Oaks Public School in the Peel District School board. “The biggest impact on our school is the realization that makerspace is really all about creating community. "When our students recognize that they are at the center of the learning, they take ownership and responsibility for themselves and the entire learning community.” Jennifer brown summarizes her school’s journey in fostering a maker culture. She states that the maker culture is more important that the actual maker space and insists that student voice and interests should be the focus of all aspects of the makerspace.

Uncovering the Truth About Makerspace



Tinker Tubs

The Regina Catholic Schools published a YouTube video highlighting their Tinker Tub project. The inquiry based ‘travelling’ kits are used throughout their district to help develop the essential skills of critical thinking, communication, collaboration, creativity and a maker mindset. In our BC curriculum we call the same skills The Core Competencies as outlined in Building Student Success B.C. Curriculum (gov.bc.ca). The Tinker Tubs contain a variety of kits that help students prepare for the 21st Century, specifically to become empowered learners, innovative designers, computational thinkers, knowledge constructors, creative communicators, global collaborators, and digital citizens.

Tinker Tub Project

BC Curriculum


Future Ready Librarians

In this Tedx video, teacher-librarian Mark Ray challenges us to rethink libraries as a future ready space for our students. He compares the quiet library of his childhood to current libraries that feature technology and creativity. He says, “Students consume less, and make more.” He describes a student initiated Maker Test Kitchen where commercial 'maker kits' are assessed by students, and school libraries that have sewing machines and other 'maker' devices available for student use.

Changing the Conversation About Librarians | Mark Ray | TEDxElCajonSalon - YouTube

Kickstart Guide

This ‘step by step’ book on how to create custom maker spaces sounds practical. It describes the seven attributes of a great makerspace. It is a workbook style planner for educators planning to set up a powerful learning environment in a classroom, school or district.

The Kickstart Guide to Making Great Makerspaces by Laura Fleming, Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin, 2018.

 

The Art of Tinkering

I actually have this book already in my classroom. It has an assortment of ideas but some of the projects are too expensive to be of practical use. My students still enjoy looking at images and talking about the projects. It is inspirational. There are several ideas that use recyclables which are much more economical for public schools. The front cover is a functioning circuit.

How do I best move forward as an educator in the 21^st Century?   What should educational balance look like in my classroom this year?

I have used bold text to highlight key words that are guiding my educational journey. I have embedded guiding questions that will help shape my new direction in teaching.  With intentions of transitioning my own career from classroom teacher to teacher-librarian many of my sources and long term planning reflect this shift.

The social emotional and academic needs of my grade three students are complex. Added into the mix is the glaring impact that the pandemic protocols have had on students and parents.

My newly assigned class this year may be the most affected. These students were in kindergarten when the pandemic shut schools down and their grade one year was interrupted with multiple staff and student absences. In a nutshell, they missed critical instruction in their formative years.

How do I meaningfully teach digital literacy to students whose parents do not want their children online at school? Parents have been vocal that they are not happy with the amount of ‘online learning’ that occurred last year. They feel their child spent too much time on screens at school especially in math and reading.

My school district’s slogan is A Natural Place to Learn. Our school is framed by a forest and a healthy creek. Much of my teaching has been inquiry based with provocations from our forest. Salmon, coyotes, bears, eagles, fungus, ferns and an abundance of fabulous living things spark student curiosity in our school community. In what ways can my grade three students share their nature based learning with others digitally? Will I find a way to enhance their understanding of stewardship using technology?

To foster my students’ engagement and excitement I am going to implement a classroom Maker Space. Students will use digital technologies to document student work as authentic assessment, rather than the source of instructional activities. In essence, shifting the use of digital resources from passive to active use.

Recently, I have noticed that children are reluctant to take learning risks and give up when the first challenge arises. I am hoping that the Maker Space will be a safe place to explore and try new skills while enjoying the process rather than focussing on the finished product. I want my students to practice perseverance and feel satisfaction and successful with their efforts.

In Equity and Social Justice in the Library Learning Commons, Brown asks, “How can we support collaborative instruction while keeping student interest at the centre?” and “What structures do we have in place to foster love of reading and develop literacy skills.”  (2017). I will be exploring ways that students can retell and reflect on their reading through both the maker space and digital tools.

Brown has developed a ‘makerculture’ in her library learning commons. She stresses that the community created by the maker space is less about the space, and more about the community created through the activities (2017). 

Curiosity, creativity, and collaboration. These are the key intentions for my classroom maker space.

 

In Beyond Books: Bringing Students Into the Library Through Creative Programming, Alicia Vandenbroek suggests, “As the role of the librarian continues to evolve, it is critical that we focus not only on books, but also on all the other resources we provide.” (2013). Some of her more successful programs include origami, drawing, paper airplanes, and avatar creations. They had sessions for making friendship bracelets and decorating cupcakes.  I would like to try some of these but also include paper circuits, and programming using Spheros.

 

In Leading from the Library: Help Your School Community Thrive in the Digital Age, Miller and Bass suggest “When we give our students the opportunity to explore and create, we also improve our culture by offering new and exciting experiences.” (2019). A classroom maker space is a new and exciting experience for me as well.

 

British Columbia’s curriculum supports this endeavour in many subject areas but I will focus on the Big Ideas stated for grade three in the Applied Design, Skills and Technology (ADST) area. “Designs grow out of natural curiosity, Skills can be developed through play, and Technologies are tools that extend human capabilities.” Underlying all of the BC’s school curriculum are the Core Competencies which provide a healthy foundation for teaching ‘core’ skills. Critical thinking, reflective thinking, and creative thinking as well as communication and collaboration, are skills that are intentionally taught through all subject areas and will be fundamental in the maker culture process.

Where do I start?

In Leading from the Library: Help Your School Community Thrive in the Digital Age, Miller and Bass suggest, “Create a place for your readers, creators, gamers, makers, writers, musicians, and all learners.”  (2019). I need to create a functional, accessible area for students to work. I need relevant materials and tools that are organized so that they can be easily used or borrowed (and returned).

 

Our school has a class set of ipads, and a class set of PC laptops. Our school district uses Scholantis and Microsoft Teams for both students and staff and insists we use these platforms so that student information and identity can be protected. Both of these platforms require students to log in with school issued emails, and passwords.

Both Scholantis and Teams can be viewed by classmates, teacher, administration and parents. Students can upload photos and videos to both but only Scholantis has a blog and portfolio. I need to teach my students how to log in and navigate these platforms. It would be wise to survey parents and ask them which platform they prefer.

‘Knowledge is power only when it is shared, and small drips of water over time have more effect than occasional floods. (Dickenson, 2004).

How do I best move forward as an educator in the 21^st Century? What should educational balance look like in my classroom this year? I think I need to make changes thoughtfully and intentionally without overwhelming myself, my students or their parents. It’s time to get started, “…small drips of water at a time.”

 

Resources

BC Ministry of Education. Digital Literacy - Province of British Columbia (gov.bc.ca)

Brown, J. (2017). Equity and Social justice in the Library Learning Commons. In Canadian School Libraries Research Archive. 

Dickinson, G. (2004). Budgeting: As Easy as 1-2-3 (Links to an external site.). Library Media Connection, 22(6), 14-17. 

Miller, S., & Bass, W. (2019.  Leading from the Library: Help your School Community Thrive in the Digital Age. (Links to an external site.) International Society for Technology in Education.

Vandenbroek, Alicia. (2013). Beyond Books: Bringing Students Into the Library Through Creative Programming. Library Media Connection, 32(2), 42-43.