Defining Makers
A few weeks ago, Sharona blogged about Debbie Chachra’s “Why I Am Not A Maker” essay for The Atlantic. This is one of those articles that has gotten passed around in communities I travel in. Chachra makes a provocative … Read more >
Silhouette Cutter In Our Makerspace … And Betabrand’s Design Studio
A couple of summers ago, we heard that some maker groups were having success having a Silhouette Cameo in their makerspace and that it was helping to attract more girls into their K-12 maker project. We bought one for Michigan … Read more >
ISTE SIGLib Webinar With Laura Fleming
Editor’s note: Happy New Year, MakerBridge community!
Our future school and youth librarians at the University of Michigan are big fans of Laura Fleming, the librarian at New Jersey’s New Milford High School. From her work with transmedia storytelling to … Read more >
Guest Blog Post: Buttonmakers As Pop-Up Making
Today’s guest blog post comes from Cathy Evans, Director of Libraries at St. Mary’s Episcopal School in Memphis, Tennessee. St. Mary’s is a pre-K through 12th grade school where academic excellence and the well-roundedness are both critical goals for its … Read more >
Provocations
The kids in our elementary after-school makerspace have a huge affinity for physical making. Give them the choice between having a glider competition in the hallway or a screen-based creation activity and they’ll pick the glider 9 times out of … Read more >
Makerspace Funding
We received a Twitter request and a query during a recent presentation about funding for makerspaces. Here are some ideas:
Grants
Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) – This is the federal government’s funding agency for museums and libraries. … Read more >
What is a Makerspace? (Day 5)
Here at MakerBridge, we’ve each taken a turn this week defining what makerspaces mean to us. Today, as we wrap up our five-day series, we think about how others define it. Here are some definitions from around MakerWorld.
“A … Read more >
Makerspace Post Week: A MakerBridge Exclusive (Day 2)
This week, we continue our special week in which we take turns sharing our definition of a makerspace.
I spend much of my time during the academic year in Michigan Makers, after-school mobile makerspace projects in local K-12 schools. I … Read more >
A Charter for Your Makerspace
I got to talk a lot with educators and librarians this summer about makerspaces, maker-friendly culture, and even (gasp) assessment of maker work. Now I’m back in the rhythm of the school year, with a bit more desk time during
PACE-ing yourself when planning maker learning
As maker learning moves from informal settings like makerspaces and libraries and into K-12 classrooms, I’ve found it useful to spend some time thinking about how to effectively frame that learning in the context of school. In the Michigan Makers… Read more >