Full STEAM Ahead! The Digital Artifact and Final Reflection Part 2

"A person who never makes a mistake has never tried anything new." Sidewalk sign on Hastings St.

My journey to become a teacher of the 21st Century is well on its way. My vision of implementing a Maker Culture has been established and growing. My technological skills are developing every day. At first I challenged myself to learning a new digital tool each week and teaching it to a colleague or student. I do this much more often and can't believe that in a short time I have become a 'go to' person for trouble shooting tech at school. 

My mindset has changed. I used to be so anxious about making a mistake that I wouldn't try. Now I start, and if I make a mistake I try something else and maybe eventually ask for help. Speaking of help... thank you all for your thoughtful suggestions and feedback.  Your wealth of knowledge is humbling and I deeply appreciate your openness and generosity. 

My digital artifact is a video that educates others on the value of Maker Culture in schools. The concept of my final artifact changed several times... It took me awhile to figure out that what I wanted to say, and needed to say were not the same. Speaking of help, again... I could not have pulled it off without help from a friend (who happens to be a former student), which is a really positive and impactful way to learn, mistakes included. 

My plan for sharing this digital artifact is to first share it with staff at a 'lunch and learn,' then with the Parent Advisory Committee (PAC). With staff I will also be highlighting the STEAM Trolley (including assessment rubrics with the new reporting language that will be implemented next year) and inviting teachers to use it in their classrooms. As you may have read in my previous blog, our librarian and I have started a lunch time Maker Club with Grade 7 students taking on leadership roles.  

With the PAC I will feature the STEAM Trolley and have a couple of students share about their favourite activities. I will be challenging the PAC members to support our school by investing their hard earned funds in tools and digital technologies that can be shared by the school. Building a Lego Wall in the library and purchasing a few sets of screw drivers (Breaker Space), Makey Makey, or micro bits are the first requests. 

After several edits I decided that the video would be most useful to me if it was quite general. That way I can potentially share it with older students, but more importantly with my new staff, and PAC when I eventually get a job as a teacher-librarian. I would love to share some of the most popular activities at a school district workshop and the video might be suitable for that presentation as well, or I can make new one now that I know how. 

I have never spent so much time on a single project before! I wish I had logged the specific time spent just on making the video. I am going to guess it took around 30 hours. Writing the script was the first task. I think it started as five pages then I edited down to three.  I kept thinking to myself, 'Less is more!'   At the same time, I was collecting and cropping classroom photos, and screen shots to use in Google Slides. It seemed like a good way to organize the presentation so I could visualize potential  images as I read the script. 

I absolutely needed help with recording my voice and all the video related technology. I had never done anything like this before.  My friend borrowed a good quality microphone and we set up a little 'studio' in my bedroom closet. It took several tries to get the sound right. I needed to hang more blankets and lay down a yoga mat to get rid of the echoes. I think we recorded the script (or sections of it) fifteen times. I have a whole new appreciation for how much time and work goes into a five minute presentation. My friend used Audacity to split the audio into the right files and then helped me move it into Canva Video. I needed to watch several youtube tutorials on how to use Canva video. They were helpful in adding a level of professionalism to the final project. Most of editing process in Canva is 'drag and drop'  so it was very beginner friendly. There was a plethora of stock images and videos to use. It was finicky to get the images and sound lined up as well as the general animation timing. I already had a google account so uploading the project to youtube was straightforward.  I learned a great deal during the process and I am proud of my final project. I hope you enjoy it as well!

                                                                    My digital resource. 

My greatest take away from this learning journey is that as a future teacher-librarian I will need to be a digital mentor. I have a long way to go to catch up on skills, but I have already started and more importantly I have changed my mindset so that I am enjoying the process now (rather than being anxious). The technical skills I acquire(d) are gifts that I can use in my personal and professional work, as well as share with others. 

I have also learned that there is lots of solid research supporting Maker Culture, and STEAM activities. Making always 'seemed right' for my students, but it felt like a reward or extra activity. Creating a maker culture is really embedded deeply in our current curriculum and school district vision and goals. 

I have connected with great colleagues across the country. It is really refreshing to speak and write with teachers and teacher-librarians that are outside of my district and can offer a different perspective (or the same).

In the future I hope to get hired as a teacher-librarian where I can share my love of inquiry-based learning, literacy, social justice and Maker Culture. I will continue to grow as a learner myself so I can be a mentor and support person for my staff. 

In preparation of reflecting on my rationale I went back and read over my first blog entry. I just noticed that I did not title it or put on any labels. I was a nervous wreck when I wrote it because I wasn't sure it was going to be 'good enough' compared to others who have been posting to blogs for years. It took me awhile to figure out how to upload photos. 

As for the content, the key concepts have held true throughout my journey.  Curiosity, creativity, collaboration, authentic assessment, risk taking, educational balance, inquiry, engagement, and digital technology have remained central throughout my research, writing, and action. 

A significant challenge that has presented during this journey is equity. I work at a small school with a PAC that works hard to raise money, but doesn't come anywhere near other schools in more affluent areas. This is most evident in the lack of resources our school has in technology tools. I am hopeful that my video my help divert funds to our school library and STEAM initiatives. 

Students testing wind turbine (photo release with permission)

Finally, I really tried my best to respect the privacy of my students when posting photos. I used mostly my own photos because it represented my journey best. I took lots of videos in my class but if I cut the students faces out of the frame it wasn't effective. I wanted to include a video of my students testing their wind turbines but I could not get permission for photo release for one of the students. In the end, I didn't use any videos although I would have loved to showcase the joy in my students' faces and voices. 

It was really overwhelming to choose a topic for this learning journey but I am glad I chose Maker Spaces. Full STEAM ahead!  I've got a Maker Culture to nurture and grow.

Works Cited & References

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