Students were excited to pursue maker projects in my class. My students were told that the main criteria for their maker projects was to pursue an interest and to make something (physical or digital).
Unfortunately, when I asked my students to write project proposals, a lot of their suggestions were not reasonable. They either chose projects that didn't promote any new learning such as building a car out of Lego, or they chose projects that were not going to be possible with the supplies and tools available (and the skills of their teacher) such as building a remote controlled airplane.
I hadn't done a good enough job educating my students about the potential and limitations of the resources available.
We had been given a generous supply of maker materials, a wide variety of resources. For building students could choose from Lego, K'nex, erector set and straws and connectors. I also purchased wide variety of craft supplies from the dollar store. For coding, students were introduced to scratch and arduino, for electronics projects, Makey Makey's, little Bits and squishy circuits were available.
I was surprised how few of my students chose to make use of these unique and exciting (to me) resources. Surprisingly, a lot of students wanted to build structures out of cardboard or build furniture out of wood. Embracing the maker spirit, if I decided that if a project was going to be do-able then students should be allowed to pursue it, which meant for me, a lot of class time spent helping students to safely use hand tools and helping to cut cardboard.
I didn't feel it was my place to make subjective judgments about whether a project that a student had chosen based on their interests was worthwhile or not.
In the future, when leading up to maker projects, I will spend a lot more time familiarizing students with the full potential of the resources available. I did plan several skill builder activities to give students a chance to explore and to play with the resources available, but I'll admit that i rushed these. What was meant to take five classes was condensed into two because it was getting late in the year and the date for our first maker fair was approaching. This was a mistake, students needed a lot more exploratory time.
I also rushed the project proposal phase. I let some students begin on projects that were either too simple or too challenging, hoping that their plans would evolve into something more reasonable along the way.
Student's project proposals need to be subjected to a lot of scrutiny, simply fulfilling an interest is not enough. Some students need extra guidance when it comes to choosing a project and the type of project that can be successful depends a lot on the individual learner. For example I had several students who proposed to build model houses out of cardboard. The results ranged from intricately designed scale models complete with furniture, rooms and stairs to a painted box with few windows cut out.
Introducing the maker philosophy to students and engaging students in effective projects is a full year process which should not be rushed. Students need a lot of assistance in choosing the project that is right for them. Prepare for this process to take several weeks and don't be afraid to say no.
Unfortunately, when I asked my students to write project proposals, a lot of their suggestions were not reasonable. They either chose projects that didn't promote any new learning such as building a car out of Lego, or they chose projects that were not going to be possible with the supplies and tools available (and the skills of their teacher) such as building a remote controlled airplane.
I hadn't done a good enough job educating my students about the potential and limitations of the resources available.
We had been given a generous supply of maker materials, a wide variety of resources. For building students could choose from Lego, K'nex, erector set and straws and connectors. I also purchased wide variety of craft supplies from the dollar store. For coding, students were introduced to scratch and arduino, for electronics projects, Makey Makey's, little Bits and squishy circuits were available.
I was surprised how few of my students chose to make use of these unique and exciting (to me) resources. Surprisingly, a lot of students wanted to build structures out of cardboard or build furniture out of wood. Embracing the maker spirit, if I decided that if a project was going to be do-able then students should be allowed to pursue it, which meant for me, a lot of class time spent helping students to safely use hand tools and helping to cut cardboard.
I didn't feel it was my place to make subjective judgments about whether a project that a student had chosen based on their interests was worthwhile or not.
In the future, when leading up to maker projects, I will spend a lot more time familiarizing students with the full potential of the resources available. I did plan several skill builder activities to give students a chance to explore and to play with the resources available, but I'll admit that i rushed these. What was meant to take five classes was condensed into two because it was getting late in the year and the date for our first maker fair was approaching. This was a mistake, students needed a lot more exploratory time.
I also rushed the project proposal phase. I let some students begin on projects that were either too simple or too challenging, hoping that their plans would evolve into something more reasonable along the way.
Student's project proposals need to be subjected to a lot of scrutiny, simply fulfilling an interest is not enough. Some students need extra guidance when it comes to choosing a project and the type of project that can be successful depends a lot on the individual learner. For example I had several students who proposed to build model houses out of cardboard. The results ranged from intricately designed scale models complete with furniture, rooms and stairs to a painted box with few windows cut out.
Introducing the maker philosophy to students and engaging students in effective projects is a full year process which should not be rushed. Students need a lot of assistance in choosing the project that is right for them. Prepare for this process to take several weeks and don't be afraid to say no.