Mini Maker Fridays & Maker Ambassadors

In September I created a maker field of dreams and sent a request out to the middle school universe through my class website. 

"We need YOU to become a Maker Ambassador.

Ambassadors will tinker around with their projects, help the 4th grade teachers and students at Millstone River, and present at a Maker Faire in the Spring. Ambassadors will be blogging about their experiences and sharing what they learn with the world. Join our Edmodo group!"

There are currently more than 30 makers working within an Edmodo space to learn coding on their own through self-paced units from Khan Academy and tinker around with designs with our littleBits on Fridays. As an enrichment to the regular day, the students receive no grade or designation on their transcript. They give up their studyhall period or lunch to come up to the room and create. The program is open to any student interested in learning more about making and tinkering and I could not be more ecstatic about the response. 

What is the maker movement?

Maker Resources for Makers & Educators

Harvard X - Computer Programming Self-Paced Course

Code Academy

Khan Academy Hour of Code

Cybraryman Maker Resources

Padlet of Maker Ideas & Resources

littleBits

Instructables

Maker Education Initiative 

Next Generation Science Standards & Common Core State Standards addressed within our program:

Asking Questions and Defining Problems

Asking questions and defining problems in grades 6–8 builds on grades K–5 experiences and progresses to specifying relationships between variables, and clarifying arguments and models.

• Define a design problem that can be solved through the development of an object, tool, process or system and includes multiple criteria and constraints, including scientific knowledge that may limit possible solutions. (MS-ETS1-1)

Developing and Using Models

Modeling in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to developing, using, and revising models to describe, test, and predict more abstract phenomena and design systems.

• Develop a model to generate data to test ideas about designed systems, including those representing inputs and outputs. (MS-ETS1-4)

Analyzing and Interpreting Data

Analyzing data in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to extending quantitative analysis to investigations, distinguishing between correlation and causation, and basic statistical techniques of data and error analysis.

• Analyze and interpret data to determine similarities and differences in findings. (MS-ETS1-3)

Engaging in Argument from Evidence

Engaging in argument from evidence in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to constructing a convincing argument that supports or refutes claims for either explanations or solutions about the natural and designed world.

• Evaluate competing design solutions based on jointly developed and agreed-upon design criteria. (MS-ETS1-2)

ETS1.A: Defining and Delimiting Engineering Problems

• The more precisely a design task’s criteria and constraints can be defined, the more likely it is that the designed solution will be successful. Specification of constraints includes consideration of scientific principles and other relevant knowledge that are likely to limit possible solutions. (MS-ETS1-1)

ETS1.B: Developing Possible Solutions

• A solution needs to be tested, and then modified on the basis of the test results, in order to improve it. (MS-ETS1-4)
• There are systematic processes for evaluating solutions with respect to how well they meet the criteria and constraints of a problem. (MS-ETS1-2), (MS-ETS1-3)
• Sometimes parts of different solutions can be combined to create a solution that is better than any of its predecessors. (MS-ETS1-3)
• Models of all kinds are important for testing solutions. (MS-ETS1-4)

ETS1.C: Optimizing the Design Solution

• Although one design may not perform the best across all tests, identifying the characteristics of the design that performed the best in each test can provide useful information for the redesign process—that is, some of those characteristics may be incorporated into the new design. (MS-ETS1-3)
• The iterative process of testing the most promising solutions and modifying what is proposed on the basis of the test results leads to greater refinement and ultimately to an optimal solution. (MS-ETS1-4)

RST.6-8.9	Compare and contrast the information gained from experiments, simulations, video, or multimedia sources with that gained from reading a text on the same topic.(MS-ETS1-2),(MS-ETS1-3)
WHST.6-8.7	Conduct short research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question), drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions that allow for multiple avenues of exploration. (MS-ETS1-2)