Introductions - Please take a moment to introduce yourself by replying in this thread!

[Angi Chau]

I'll start: 

I have a background in electrical engineering and bioengineering. Prior to joining Castilleja as the director of the Bourn Idea Lab, I taught at various colleges in the Bay Area. My goal as director is to figure out how to both support our technically-inclined students as well as encourage students who don't identify themselves as "techie" to experiment with building and tinkering and along the way, gain some valuable broadly-applicable skills like dealing with open-ended problems, design thinking, etc. 

Very excited to meet everyone, both through this group and in person at some point (I hope)!

Angi

[Gary Donahue]

I run a Makerspace at an international school in South Korea with grades PreK-5.  We use Lego NXTs, Lego WeDo, Pico Crickets, Pico boards, tools, and art supplies to help integrate STEAM and design thinking into the broader curriculum.   We are planing on adding additional fabrication tools such as some 3D printers and a laser cutter.  I personally tinker with Ardunio / Lilipad, a variety of different materials, and of course Legos.  I'm interested in connecting with other Makerspace educators and learning about the nuts and bolts of how you run your space and integrate it into your curriculum. 

[jaymesdec]

Hello. I am the FabLab Administrator at The Marymount School of New York. I've been working in FabLabs with kids for the last four years. I'm passionate about integrating maker culture into schools. I believe that making things, and especially digital design and fabrication, has the ability to inspire kids and increase interest in STEAM subjects. I'm really excited about creating a network of maker spaces (not just FabLabs) for kids all over the world. I'm looking forward to collaborating on a list of content rich activities for young makers. Also looking forward to learning from this amazing network of educators! 

[prmagomes]

Hi everyone,

I am really excited to be part of this group and learn from you all.
I currently teach biology and AP environmental sciences at College Preparatory school in Oakland (private high school). Previously I ran a science education program at UCSF where high school students got to design and develop their own research project in synthetic biology (merging engineering and biology). So in many senses these students were "fabricating" new biologic organisms. I had a blast!
I am a newbie in the Fab and Maker movement but am excited about all I saw at FabLearn 2012. I am going through the process of thinking of ways to integrate fabrication into my curricula and am interested in seeing the process of starting a maker/fablab space at a school.
Finally, I am excited to think about the design of learning spaces/environments that promote creativity, innovation and collaboration.

[dheld]

Hello everyone. I am David Held and I work as the Technology Directory of Poughkeepsie Day School in upstate New York. I started my career long ago as a film/multimedia sound artist. Long story short, I just started teaching again a class in art and technology. 

Our first project in the class was inspired by this video. There is a music teacher at the school that is teaching a class on building and performing percussion instruments. Our plan is for his students and my students "jamming" together. 

We are in the process of putting together a dozen solenoid motors that we will program in different musical rhythms.

[Jeremy Sambuca]

Thank you for including me on the Google Group. My name is Jeremy Sambuca and I am the Director of Academic Technology at The Browning School in New York, NY.  I have over 10 years experience in both the private and public sector working in the technology education field. Our school is currently going through a multi-phase construction project and was able to help design the new technology lab. The new layout (slated to open in Sept 2013) will allow our school to expand our curriculum K-12. I'm looking forward to meeting new educator and collaborating on projects. 

[fredbartels]

Hi All,

I have 30 or so years experience working with digital technology in schools; everything from teaching typing to tikes to AP Comp. Sci. to upper schoolers. I'm also very interested in sustainable design and just recently finished a certificate program at Yestermorrow, a small design/build school in Vermont.

Currently I'm developing an online teaching practice, offering computer programming courses to students at schools that don't have upper school programming teachers. I'd like to develop and offer an online course in sustainable design that could involve something like a virtual maker space.

A lot of my design work in SketchUp is at http:/dws.editme.com and I blog at http://fredbartels.posterous.com. I'm fredbartels on twitter.

Looking forward to learning with all of you.

Fred

[Paul Way]

Hi all!

I am the Academic Technology Coordinator at Crossroads School.  Am very interested in project based learning at schools and the Make movement.  I work with independent study kids to build stuff, and write code.  I teach using Processing, and am looking for ways to use my new Raspberry Pi.  

Crossroads is looking to revamp its science curriculum and facilities, and I would love to see how a building / projects space could fit into all of it.  

[fzammarano]

Hi, 

I am Francesca Zammarano, Junior School Technology Integrator at UNIS. I have been at UNIS for 1 year and prior to that I was at Marymount for 7 years. Here at UNIS (United Nations International School, NYC) we opened up our Colaboratory this September. This is a makerspace geared to K-4th grade students. All projects are made using the Design Process. We have 2 MakerBots and are building a materials list for all kinds of projects. I am happy to share the interdisciplinary projects we have done to date. Thanks for setting this up Jaymes!

[Christa Flores]

Hello Fellow Makers of Makers, 

I am the 5/6th grade science teacher at the Hillbrook school in Los Gatos, CA.  I have also recently assumed the role of the iLab director at the school.  The iLab, short for innovation lab, is an incubator for educational research, innovative teaching at the school and a mini maker space.  Prior to coming to Hillbrook I taught a various independent schools in NYC, including The School at Columbia, Calhoun, Berkeley Carroll and Brearley.   Currently our maker space consists of an Epilog Mini 45W and a Makerbot Thing-O-Matic.  We also have non-digital fabrication materials in a large prototyping bin wall for quick iterations.  As a school we have been moving more towards Design Thinking, but this year is the first to have two grade levels of science dedicated to problem solving specifically.  I am prototyping a new curriculum around design and its definitely messy but showing some really inspiring results.  Check out our iLab story here: 

Hillbrook's iLab Story

I am so glad to have this community started, thanks Angi for getting it started. 

Christa 

[Trevor Shaw]

Hi Everyone!

I am the Tech Director at the Dwight-Englewood School in Englewood NJ. I am very new to physical computing and the maker movement, but I have very much enjoyed playing around with Arduino boards with a middle school club that I started this year.  Last year, our LS kids did some work in Lego Robotics, and we have an US group that enters the First competition each year. I wanted to start something in the MS so that we can keep kids interested in problem solving and building things. So far, it's been a blast, but I still have much to learn.

I look forward to hearing from others on this list.

Trevor

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--
******************************
Trevor Shaw
Director of Technology
Dwight-Englewood School
315 E. Palisade Ave
Englewood, NJ 07631
"Challenging Minds for a Changing World"
v 201.569.9500.3244
*******************************

[lbartels]

Hi Everyone,

After 30 years of being a "computer teacher" that ran the gamut, including facilitating 1:1 laptops in the hands of grades 7-12 kids and their teachers, I am now a lower school STEAM Integrator at Riverdale Country School just minutes north of Manhattan. This is both a new position for Riverdale and a new focus for me; it's like somebody turned me lose in the playground! Am making it up as I go, with input from the online community, folks at Riverdale, Maker Faire, and my ever resourceful husband.

I have visions of a maker space for lower school kids where they can build, craft, design, tinker, experiment, fill in your verb_____ (in no special order) to address both their curiosity and *issues related to them. At the moment, we have kids in two after-school clubs doing Scratch with Lego WeDo sensors, a Pico board, and a Makey Makey awaiting exploration, and 5th graders tinkering with littleBits and making their own Squishy Circuits. Later in the year they will be exploring robotics with Lego Mindstorms & NXTs.

*For instance, the 3rd graders are studying water and energy, and my hope is they could have a maker space where they can design and build a model for a community water system.

Looking forward to learning and exploring along with all of you!

Cheers, Laurie

[Sammie]

Hi! I'm Sammie Smith from Jackson Hole High School in Wyoming. We are recent recipients of a grant that will allow us to get started creating a Fabrication Lab this year. My background is varied. I'm a Science teacher (chemistry, IB Biology, Anatomy, Earth Science) and passionate about STEM work in school settings. I've worked for small private schools and large public districts as an instructional coordinator. My current position is as a Career Education Coordinator but that only cover a small portion of what I really do. My main goal this year will be to get our fabrication lab up and running by the summer and am looking for any and all suggestions/ideas on how to make that happen.
Thanks!

[Trevor Shaw]

I vote that Sammie hosts a get together for the group. Sometime after ski season starts sounds about right :-)

Trevor

On Oct 23, 2012 10:38 PM, "Sammie" <sun.s...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi!  I'm Sammie Smith from Jackson Hole High School in Wyoming.  We are recent recipients of a grant that will allow us to get started creating a Fabrication Lab this year.  My background is varied.  I'm a Science teacher (chemistry, IB Biology, Anatomy, Earth Science) and passionate about STEM work in school settings.  I've worked for small private schools and large public districts as an instructional coordinator.  My current position is as a Career Education Coordinator but that only cover a small portion of what I really do.  My main goal this year will be to get our fabrication lab up and running by the summer and am looking for any and all suggestions/ideas on how to make that happen.
Thanks!

--

[Sammie Smith]

Being it on!

Sammie

Sent from my iPhone

[reshanrichards]

HI Everyone,

My name is Reshan Richards. I'm currently the Director of Educational Technology at Montclair Kimberley Academy in NJ. We do not have a FabLab here, but I have been made extremely curious by things being done by Jaymes Dec (Marymount) and Jeremy Sambucca (Browning) that I know it's something I want to explore more deeply for our school. I'm definitely a FabLab n00bie.

I'm really interested in augmented learning environments where the digital meets the physical and I see 'making' as a huge components of this growing space.

[ynaka...@greenwichacademy.org]

Hello everyone,

My name is Yumi Nakanishi. I'm an Academic Technology Coordinator at Greenwich Academy, an all-girls independent preK-12 school in Greenwich, CT. We have a STEM center with STEM initiatives, including  robotics and chess in the core LS curriculum. Our FIRST Robotics teams in the MS and US compete in state-wide competitions. In the US, girls have access to GAINS (GA in STEM) network. We do not have a FabLab, but are very interested in them. 

Thanks for organizing this group!

Yumi

On Wednesday, October 17, 2012 10:24:05 PM UTC-4, Angi Chau wrote:

[Jason Mickelson]

I am the Academic Technology Coordinator and K-8 Technology Teacher at St. Matthew's Episcopal Day School in San Mateo, CA. I have four years experience teaching high school math, digital design, and design thinking. I also have a background in interaction design and design research for educational technology. I am especially interested in augmented reality and physical computing applications for K-12 STEM education.

My position is responsible for managing a small 1:1 student iPad community and integrating technology into every classroom. I also teach technology classes with K-8 students. Our school has a strong tradition with technology literacy and multimedia design. I am currently exploring ways to extend the technology curriculum and tools for grades 5-8 that will include computational thinking, conceptual engineering, game design, and making/tinkering. I am currently helping to design a new technology/design facility on campus that would be a cross between a Make Lab and a library. Ideally, I want some kind of hybrid between a computer lab and a woodshop. 

As a designer, I am interested in how students can use the tinkering and the design process as a way to plan, iterate, reflect, and, of course, make (be creative with STEM). Some models I really like: Project H, Quest2Learn, Nueva I-Lab, Sifteo. 

I'm looking forward to connecting and learning from all of you who already doing this great work. Cheers!

Jason.

On Wednesday, October 17, 2012 7:24:05 PM UTC-7, Angi Chau wrote:

[rg2177]

Prior to working in education, I held several leadership roles in NYC technology startups. Then, I became Senior Systems Coordinator at the The School at Columbia University. In 2006, I came west to work as Director of Technology at Stanford New Schools a newly-founded Stanford University sponsored charter school.  Currently, I am the technology director of the San Francisco Friends School where we are about to begin constructing a project based media center /fab lab.  Looking forward to learning from and sharing with you all! 

Ryan Gallagher

On Wednesday, October 17, 2012 7:24:05 PM UTC-7, Angi Chau wrote:

[sdc]

Hi all-

I'm the Director of Academic Technology at Riverdale Country School. We've just purchased (not yet received) a Replicator 2 for use in our Middle and Upper Schools, Laurie described our LS initiatives, and we additionally have an MS robotics club. Not a lot of making going on at present but we hope to build this out in the near future. Right now an art teacher is the main person interested (aside from Laurie and me!) but I'd like to see use develop in other areas -- I see great potential for 3D printing in the science and math curricula at all levels, and I'd love to see some tinkerers grow wings here. 

Best,

Sean Dagony-Clark

[mroy...@cgps.org]

I teach computers to 7th and 9-12th graders at a NYC private school, Columbia Prep. I am also part of a team that supports the faculty with their use and integration of technology in the classroom. 

We use SketchUp in our 3D modeling elective and I am eager to incorporate 3D printing and more "maker" design thinking into the curriculum. Prior to teaching, I worked in video post production and then at a PR firm in the creative department doing print production. I am also a visual artist. I have experience with a variety of media and techniques including metal smithing.

Unfortunately, I have a limited amount of space in my computer lab, which has no ventilation. I have some concerns that relate to lack of space, 3D printer noise, and the smell from printing that may disrupt classes in my lab, which is also shared with many other teachers. I'm still doing research about 3D printers and I'm interested in seeing the next issue of MAKE magazine. 

Has anyone used the Form1? I was so impressed with it at the Maker Faire, but want to wait until I can have a warranty and guarantee on support. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/formlabs/form-1-an-affordable-professional-3d-printer

Thank you for creating/contributing to this group, which has already offered me useful insights. I'm grateful for your posts and excited to learn more about what other educators are doing with 3D printing and software.

-Melanie Royster

[Tracy Rudzitis]

Hi, I am a middle school (Digital Media) teacher at The Computer School, a public school on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. I just received funding for some basic supplies for my MakerSpace here at school. My next step is to purchase some Arduino boards and then get some funding for a 3D Printer.
Because of time constraints I plan on having MakerSpace activities during lunch and after school for kids.
Our first project is soldering and creating "Glow Bottles" which I hope to do next week with a small group of kids. (we have out supplies for these kinds of projects). I also teach a Robotics after school class and have some students interested in creating Arduino based robots.
Looking forward to learning more about everyone's labs and spaces and activities!
Tracy Rudzitis
MS 245 / NYC

[Trevor Shaw]

I was thinking about doing a soldering workshop for my MS students, but I am new to soldering myself, and I was wondering if there are some basic safety practices to follow. I found a couple of good youtube videos. What are the best practices you guys use when you teach kids how to solder? Are there any concerns about the fumes or exposure to Lead through skin or fume exposure?

Trevor

--
 
 

[dheld]

Trevor:

I don't think you need to worry about lead anymore. I believe all the solder these days are resin-core. As for soldering instructions, you can check out:

http://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-guide-excellent-soldering

David Held

Poughkeepsie Day School

[Jennifer Howland]

Hi 

I am a fairly recent transplant from NYC to the Bay Area. I work at a K-8 school, Burke's ( all girls) and I teach k-4 Tech. I have been working with NXT robotics, Beebots, and some controllers, WeDo and Picoboards. Last year I began volunteering with the Tinkering Studio at the Exploratorium and have gotten inspired to offer more tinkering and engineering projects. We have a 3 D printer but I am looking for a kind of continuum of maker projects and maker machines so that we can begin making right away and also begin to plan creating a maker space in our school. I have volunteered at the Maker Faire since I moved here and find that a great source of inspiration. Here is a useful paper the new educational initiative of Maker published  last year. 

http://makerspacedotcom.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/hsmakerspacetoolsmaterials-201204.pdf

I look forward to hearing more about how schools are creating spac eboth physically and culturally  for tinkering and making. 

[chris.yonge]

I'm Chris Yonge, cofounder of MakersFactory in Santa Cruz. I trained and worked as an architect, a furniture designer/maker, a product designer, and finally as a technical animator before starting MakersFactory about a year ago. We have a hybrid business structure based on professional services and teaching. On the services side we make 3D color powder prints for architects and innovators, extrusion 3D prints for engineers, animations, visualizations, and design work. On the teaching side we hold classes for grades 3-6 and for adults in 3D animation (Blender), laser cutting, robotics, engineering, and electronics. Very concentrated upon open source software and hardware; I talked about this at TEDx Santa Cruz earlier this year. I also teach 3D modeling and animation at UC Santa Cruz in the Engineering Department, though the course attracts all majors.

/Chris

[Tatian Greenleaf]

I am the Associate Director of Technology at Saint Mark's School in San Rafael, CA.  We're an independent K-8 school starting to look at ways to introduce FabLearn concepts and skills into the curriculum.  For me, this means learning to become a tinkerer myself.  I just ordered a Hummingbird kit and am excited to try it out and plan projects for students in an upcoming after school class.  We currently teach computer classes in a traditional lab setting but also supplement the curriculum with Lego robotics and Game Design (Scratch, GameSalad) electives.

Tatian


Tatian Greenleaf
Associate Director of Technology

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Saint Mark's School
(415) 472-8000 x1014

[Steve Farnsworth]

Hi Trevor,

Lead solder is much easier to solder with and it is still widely available. You can also use lead-free solder, but it needs higher soldering iron temperatures to work well. Also, a rosin-core solder does not mean it is necessarily lead-free.

Whichever solder you use, students should wash their hands after touching it and not touch their mouth or eyes while working with solder. Also, you should ventilate the room in some way so that the students are not breathing the fumes from the soldering process. While the health impact may be minimal, the more soldering that occurs, I think the more aware of ventilation you need to be.

I simply open a window or two, as well as a door and I put a fan on to disperse the fumes.

I also recommend Lady Ada's soldering guide:
http://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-guide-excellent-soldering

Hope that helps,
Steve

--
 
 

--
Steve Farnsworth
MS Technology Integrator
United Nations International School

24-50 FDR Drive

New York, NY 10010

(212) 684-7400

[IT-Alex]

Hello everyone,

My name is Alex Jones and I received my Bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where I studied Information Technology, Graphic Design, and Health Education. I worked for the University of Michigan Hospital in the Program for Injury, Research, and Education (UMPIRE) as Lead Biomechanical 3-Dimensional Designer, where I completed one of the first known anatomically accurate 3-D models of a complete male human body. Furthermore, I worked with a team to streamline the process for ribcage characterization for finite elements, using automatic Computed Tomography (CT) processing. I received my Masters of Arts (M.A.) degree in Instructional Technology and Media from Columbia University, Teachers College, with a focus on promoting health and fitness in K-12 schools using technology. At the present time I am pursuing my Doctor of Education (E.d.D) degree in the Department of Health and Behavior. I remain busy as I work full time as an Educational Technologist for a private K-12 school located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, New York City. We will be incorporating a 3D printer into our curriculum and I am eager to learn from everyone and urge that you contact me for anything, as I am an easy going, laid back person with dreams about effective technology integration and health promotion for our younger generations.  

[ben.chant]

Hi All,

I'm late to this, but enthused by Jaymes' demonstration of his 3D printer at NAIS. I'm going to lurk and search for a while, then pop up with questions about how best to put together a makerspace. I run the JK-4th Grade Elementary school at Mandell in Manhattan on the Upper West Side.
Ben

[Carey Inouye]

Aloha!  I am Carey Inouye, a teacher at 'Iolani School, a K-12 independent school in Honolulu, HI.  I met Jaymes Dec for the first time at NAIS last week but have been lurking at the Marymount School website for quite a while, impressed by what he has been doing there.  I would like to create that same Maker culture at 'Iolani with courses and resources to support it.  Looking forward to learning about curriculum from this group.

I think I am a Maker-at-heart, from taking apart tv's and radios (and not being able to put them back together again) when I was a kid, to soldering my first 8080 microcomputer in the 70's, to bringing Arduino projects to all physics classes several years ago.  Very excited to meet like minds!

carey

[Andrew]

Hi everyone!

It's great to see so many familiar names and schools floating through this group.

I'm Andrew Carle, resident nerd and now Director of MakerEducation at Flint Hill School in northern Virginia. I've been running a low-budget Makers elective class for our middle school kids, and am looking forward to expanding that out to a broader cultural force within the school, rather than just a sequence of elective courses.

I'm on twitter as @tieandjeans and blog (about all manner of school topics in addition to Maker/Fablab topics) at tieandjeans.com

I'm thrilled to join this community and have a place that's balanced between the pedagogic, cultural and technical issues generated by fablab-esque spaces.

--Andrew

[andrew carle]

Chris-

Is MakersFactory based in the industrial park off River St? I'm thrilled that these services are available in SC, giving slugNerds fewer reasons to flee over the hill.

--andrew

[Chris Yonge]

Hi Andrew

MakersFactory is on Cedar Street, in the old Cruzio building, though we plan to move to larger premises soon. To add to the laser cutter discussion, we've had an Epilog Helix 12x24 50w machine for over a year and it has performed better and more reliably that we could have reasonably expected. Despite the fact I'm a 3D designer and animator by background it's my favorite machine for teaching and working, simply because it's fast, accurate, and (in a teaching session) dramatic. The downside as others have mentioned is the need for powerful extraction from the working space; a filter cuts down on the airflow too much and leaves deposits in the cutting chamber and air passages, particularly if you're using MDF (medium density fiberboard) for low cost structures. You can see a few of the laser cut pieces our students have made in the slideshow on our home page at www.makersfactory.com. 

/Chris

Chris Yonge
MakersFactory

877 Cedar Street
Santa Cruz, CA 95060

www.makersfactory.com
831 212 3458

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[cknott]

Hi! My name is Christy Knott from the San Francisco Bay Area. Some colleagues and I are working on creating a new high school (hopefully a public magnet school within our district) that will focus on design-thinking as our key learning method. We will hopefully have a fab lab on our campus. It has been really exciting learning more about both of these methods/tools during the past six months that I've been on the project. I look forward to continuing to learn more, getting even more excited about the possibilities, and meeting more people who are already doing this work. Thanks for sharing what's happening in education - it's really exciting.

Thanks!

Christy

[Christa Flores]

Yay, you made it!  Welcome.  

Christa 

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Christa Flores

Science Education/iLab Director 

Hillbrook School 

300 Marchmont Drive   Los Gatos, CA 95032 hillbrookilab.com @sciteach212

[Mark Barnett]

Hello Makers:

I am starting a Makerspace in San Antonio, TX this summer, thanks to funding from Cognizant, Maker Education Initiative and Maker Corps.

Currently I am a STEM Education consultant working for the State of Texas and previous science teacher.

Glad that I found this group, lots of neat people working for the same cause.

Next month I am starting a Google+ Hangout show called "Making in Education" maybe some of you would like to be guests on the show. I will have more details as I move along.

Looking forward to collaborating here.

-Mark Barnett

[Vinnie Vrotny]

I am Vinnie Vrotny. I wear multiple hats at Quest Academy, the prek 3 year old through 8th grade school in Palatine IL that I work at. Quest's distinction is that we are a school for students who are identified as gifted whose needs are not being met by their public schools. I started at Quest last July.

My primary role is the Director of Academic Technology. In this role, I am working with the teachers, students, and administrators to rethink learning and curriculum through the lens of technology.

A new role moving forward is leading out STEAM initiatives. This leadership will take two forms. The first is that I am responsible for a) creating and coordinating a new middle school curriculum for all of our 6th - 8th graders. They will have a trimester each of Digital Citizenship, Computer Science (programming, not applications) and Engineering. We are starting to build this with the idea that it will be problem and project based, not one where everyone is moving lockstep through a curriculum and b) revamping our pre K 3 through 5th grade curriculum to add computational thinking into the current application/task based skills building (word processing, digital story-telling, etc.)

The second aspect of my STEAM leadership is to transform the physical space we currently have, a computer lab, into a maker space to support the curricular changes. I am in the midst of planning for the upgrades, construction, etc. for this space so that we can open on the first day of school on August 26th.

I look forward to participating in this group.

[Tami Brass]

I'm Tami Brass, Director of Instructional Technology at St. Paul Academy and Summit School in St. Paul, Minnesota.  We're a K-12 independent school with a technology-rich environment (1:1 laptops beginning in 5th grade; sets of iPads and laptops in K-4). Pieces of interest to me today - how concepts of making and design thinking fit in a college prep program, how to justify and integrate a maker space in our environment and where the concepts of making and design fit in elementary, middle, and high school levels.  I look forward to collaborating with the group!

[Carol Hartmann]

Greetings,

I am thinking about creating a Google Maker Boot Camp For Teachers to share what I learn as a Team Leader working under IMLS Training Grant: ILEAD USA Innovative Librarians Explore, Apply, and Discover: Beyond the Reference Desk aka O.A.S.I.S. Outreach Activities Supporting Innovative Services. 

http://webjunctionworks.org/il/blog/index.php/category/ilead-usa/

My community representatives are Distance Learning Students.  My pedagogy is student-centered project-based learning activities to explore participatory technology.  My OASIS Mobile App Development Team  is working on DIY/OER mobile app templates for 

1. streaming live events from teacher-librarian-student-mentor learning communities as well as 

2. Google+ hangout/on air DIY instruction shared via YouTube Channels/Playlists. 

3.  Face 2 Face connected learning will feature just in time embedded librarianship and explore Digital Citizenship through engagement with community outreach participants: D-Access; D-Commerce; D-Communication; D-Literacy; D-Etiquette; D-Law; D-Rights and Responsibilities; D-Health & Wellness; D-Security (self-protection) 

4: This is a Pilot Train the Trainer Project runs this summer only to rapidly prototype a possible Udacity Course, no CEUs / no Cost at this time.

This is not for profit and the ILEAD USA 2013 Grant I am working for is sponsored by the State Library of Illinois running March 2013-October 2013.  My team members represent public, school, academic, and special libraries across the state of Illinois.  A major goal for this ILEAD project is to create templates for train the trainer activities as library outreach to underserved who are not able to physically visit the library (maker)space for a wide variety of reasons including Digital Divide.  Another goal is to create service-oriented teen leadership clubs as edtech training buddies aka mentormobs  http://www.mentormob.com/  to leverage social, ubiquitous, blended, and personalized learning about digital communication and fabrication in Makerspaces, FabLabs, Hackerspaces and Media Labs.

Carol Hartmann

char...@waubonsee.edu (work) chartm...@gmail.com

@ltaparaprof (my views only, not WCC).  www.linkedin.com/pub/carol-hartmann/32/b55/a9/

[Clarence Fisher]

Hi all. I am a grade 7 and 8 teacher in the small Northern Canadian town of Snow Lake, Manitoba. We are a K - 12 school of approximately 150 students. For the past decade or so, I've been involved with edtech initiatives that mostly have worked with 2.0 technologies. Over this time, my classroom has been involved with all of the "basics:" blogs, podcasts, wikis, skype, etc. As time has past, I have found that these things have really only been one part of what edtech can be. This has moved me in other directions such as photography, animation, video editing, coding, scratch, robotics, etc. I have little electrical or electronics experience overall, but I am interested in heading in these directions. This year I bought 2 Raspberry Pi computers for my classroom. I am currently on the hunt for grant money to buy a 3D printer and build a makerspace for my classrooom and for our small school. I am working to bring together in my classroom the possibilities of communication (blogs, message boards, etc) with the possibilities of a maker community.

[Andrew]

Great to have you here, Clarence!

While much of our discussion here hinges around the big-ticket FabLab tools, I think every teacher posting started out with (and still dedicates lots of time to) design and construction with much simpler materials.  

I approach #makered with two goals. The first is to cultivate a Maker mindset in young people, which means honoring their natural curiosity and creativity, while incorporating enough analysis, reflection and design so that they can find success exploring and working through their ideas.  The second is to reveal their world as a designed/created thing, and therefore open for hacks and re-design.  

The FabLab tools support both goals. For the first, they allow students to create work that's more "professional" and "real looking" than what they create by hand, as well as allowing for multiple, rapid iterations and adjustments to an idea.  In addition, it's incorporation of laser cut or printed materials, along with programable electronics, that allows their ideas to reach a level of complexity that can demystify cheap dollar store electronics, and by extension much of their manufactured ecosystem.   There's a great Steve Jobs video where he discusses this optimistic, adolescent logical fallacy - http://youtu.be/UvEiSa6_EPA

But while those tools are helpful accelerants for that process, they aren't mandatory.  Tim Owens work at University of Mary Washington's ThinkLab (blog down at the moment: http://umwdomains.com/portfolio/umw-thinklab/ ) is a great example. His university first-year seminar starts with cardboard and artbots and other cheap material projects to build the design and reflection habits that students will need to be successful with the 3D printers and Arduinos.  

I know that's probably a basic reality for everyone on the list, but it's a conversation I've had repeatedly with admin and board members in recent weeks. Just because we work with cardboard and tape doesn't mean that a laser cutter is unnecessary.  Just because we have a 3D printer doesn't mean that our rooms will always be pristine and free of debris.  :)

Again, welcome to the messy frontier!

--andrew

@tieandjeans

On Wed, May 22, 2013 at 9:15 AM, Clarence Fisher <glas...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi all. I am a grade 7 and 8 teacher in the small Northern Canadian town of Snow Lake, Manitoba. We are a K - 12 school of approximately 150 students. For the past decade or so, I've been involved with edtech initiatives that mostly have worked with 2.0 technologies. Over this time, my classroom has been involved with all of the "basics:" blogs, podcasts, wikis, skype, etc. As time has past, I have found that these things have really only been one part of what edtech can be. This has moved me in other directions such as photography, animation, video editing, coding, scratch, robotics, etc. I have little electrical or electronics experience overall, but I am interested in heading in these directions. This year I bought 2 Raspberry Pi computers for my classroom. I am currently on the hunt for grant money to buy a 3D printer and build a makerspace for my classrooom and for our small school. I am working to bring together in my classroom the possibilities of communication (blogs, message boards, etc) with the possibilities of a maker community.

--

[Colin Angevine]

Hi all,

I teach Computer Science, Latin, and STEAM at Friends' Central School in Wynnewood, PA. Our 6-12th grade STEAM program is still very young (and we don't yet have a dedicated space on campus), but we're gaining momentum with each passing week. I'm looking forward to connecting with and learning from all of you here. 

I blog at theycallmebc.com and on I'm Twitter @colinangevine in case you'd like to connect elsewhere too.

Looking forward to the conversations to come--

Colin

[Andrew]

Great to see you here Colin! 

--andrew

--

[Laura Blankenship]

Hello Everyone,

I'm Laura Blankenship.  I teach Computer Science at The Baldwin School, an all-girls' preK-12 school in Bryn Mawr, PA.  We're starting a DREAM Lab in Lower School to be run by a colleague of mine.  I will get her into to the list eventually. :)  I'm teaching a physical computing class in the fall, and I am hoping to incorporate more physical/maker activities into my MS classes as well.  I'm always looking for ideas, I'm open to collaboration, and a generally curious soul.

Thanks,

Laura

[Sean Justice]

Hi Everyone

I teach in the program for Art and Art Education at Teachers College (Columbia). My primary work for about the last two years is based on persuading my students (who will be art teachers in schools and museums) to view computers and digital networks as art materials. I coordinate/direct the media art studio at TC (http://mmas.pressible.org/) where I teach creative coding and digital fabrication in an open studio format. My (doctoral) research is looking at how teachers learn fluency with digital technologies (computers, networks, fabrication), and how or if that fluency changes their teaching. I would love to hear from anyone on the list about your experiences in schools where you've taught your teacher-colleagues (who might or might not have been already fluent with digital technologies) how to start teaching from a learning through making perspective (i.e., STEM, STEAM, FabLab, other machining, coding, robots, etc.). Your anecdotes and tales about working with teachers in schools would be very helpful to my work teaching future teachers who will be going into schools. 

Thanks all.

Sean

[Contact at TC: sbj...@tc.columbia.edu]

[Torben Steeg]

Hi, I'm an interloper from England.
I used to be a teacher of Science (Physics mostly), Design & Technology, Computing, Electronics and related stuff.
Since leaving teaching I have worked in various curriculum development projects, and teacher CPD. I have run an initial teacher education course (PGCE) at the University of Manchester and also, in Bolton, a Science and Technology centre for schools packed with all kinds of digital designing and making kit where we ran classes for children and teachers.
I currently work independently and amongst other things I run the Greater Manchester Digital Design & Technology Support Centre which encourages the use of digital technologies in school, I am one of the organisers of the Manchester Maker Faire and am also working with RSA (The Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce) to organise an event called 'FutureMaker' which will be a cross between an (unofficial) Mini Maker Faire and a conference to discuss and celebrate maker culture and its implications.
You can find more about what I do at dandtfordandt.wordpress.com.

[harla...@kinkaid.org]

Hello, my name is Harlan Howe. I am a Computer Science teacher and the Upper School Technology Coordinator at the Kinkaid School, a private PK-12 school in Houston, TX. I am hoping to create a full Fabrication Lab at our school, but I have started with a Makerbot Cupcake 3-d printer about three years ago. We just got funding for a new Replicator 2 (on order), and I am considering ordering a laser cutter, if I can work out ventilation in our space!

I look forward to learning more from y'all!

<*> Harlan

[bob.r...@parkdayschool.org]

I've began teaching in 1991 in public schools. I moved to Park Day School in Oakland, CA where I've been teaching since 1996. I have always been interested in educational technology. At Park I've served many roles including chair of the technology committee, webmaster, tech coordinator, strategic planner, and guy who fixes it when someone can't print or get online.

Last year I coordinated Mac laptop, Chromebook, and iPad pilot projects as we work to determine the right mix of platforms and prepare to go 1:1 in the upper grades (Park Day is K-8).  I collaborate with my colleague Ilya Pratt who is spearheading our maker initiative and our new partnership with Harvard's Graduate School of Education, "DesignME" (for Design, Make, Engage), which is affiliated with Harvard's Project Zero.

I have been collaborating with Kimiko Ryokai, an associate professor at Cal's iSchool whose fields are human computer interfaces and tangible user interfaces. We've got two research projects underway looking at how two new devices developed at Cal's iLab can help elementary school students learn math and science concepts.

As we know, more and more schools are "going 1:1" (meaning that there's one computer (or iPad) for each student). I am fascinated by this and the range of issues, possibilities, problems, etc. that are being raised and am working to learn as much as I can about it.

[Brian C. Smith]

Hello!  

I thought I had posted an introduction, but apparently in the upheaval I went through this year moving overseas I did not.  Anyways, name is Brian C. Smith and I teach at Hong Kong International School in the Upper Primary (3-5) division.  I'm currently working as the ICT Facilitator where I oversee the division's 1:1 laptop (Mac) program for Grade 5 and work with students and teachers to use computers and technologies for learning.  Our school has just provided enough laptops to go 1:1 down to grade 3.  

Over the past year I have been building awareness and capacity for starting a Maker:Studio for students to experience many of the things being discussed in this forum. To date, we (my wife is the science specialist, a big bonus!) have held a parent night (Imagine HKIS) to provide students and parents the opportunity to learn in creative and intellectual ways.  We currently have funding available to outfit the Maker:Studio with 3D printers, various tools, materials and supplies. 

I'm interested in learning what programs, clubs,  you are running in similar situations (grades 3-5).  Given our students tight schedules during and afterschool, I'm looking for a good bridge between home and school.  

[Chris Kuszmaul]

Hi

   I am Chris Kuszmaul. I teach computer science and engineering at Palo Alto High School. From about 1986 through 2000 I worked in high performance computing, either designing, programming, managing, or buying supercomputers for either vendors or customers.  Since 2000 I continued to consult in that field, but increasingly found myself in classrooms either as a parent, or volunteer, and then one day I was a student teacher, the world went blank, and I woke up with a teaching credential in early 2010.

  Now, I just want to order an arduino line follower kit, and cannot find the button to click on the internet that will send me what I want. Really, I used to be a very capable engineer. 

[C Mytko]

I'm new to Google Groups, so I am not sure where this reply will post.  However, I will continue on with an introduction.  I am a middle school science / tech teacher at a small, independent school in Berkeley, CA.  I was captivated by my first glimpse of a Rep Rap in 2007 - it had me at "self-replicating machine"!  Since then, I have acquired two 3D printers (Printrbot and Makerbot Rep I) and a variety of other maker stuffs in an effort to be make more space for engineering and design in my classroom.  So far, all this material has been paid for out-pf-pocket, but I am confident that will not always be the case.  In the meantime, the kids and I are having a lot of fun and learning a lot!  ( You can check out our blog: http://talesofa3dprinter.blogspot.com/ )  I look forward to learning more from all of you! - Christine

[James Tiffin Jr.]

Hello everyone.  My name is Jim Tiffin and I am the Director of Academic Technologies at The Harley School, a small N-12 independent school in western New York.  In addition to being an administrator there, I have the privilege of working directly with students (K-6) as part of the school's technology program.  I have a background in STEM education, but I believe in the importance of having creativity in that mix: STEAM

My school's technology program is in the midst of a complete overhaul.  There is a facilities change which is transforming a stereo-typical computer lab setting, into a dual makerspace/lab room dubbed the "Innovation Station".  We are designing an even larger project space that will also have makerspace capabilites.  Accompanying the physical changes are curricular changes to accomplish the ideas that Jaymes Dec and Andrew Carle have already stated so clearly: "integrating a maker culture into school" and "cultivating a Maker mindset in young people."  My goal is to learn as much about this culture, excite others about it, and experience it as often as I can. 

I've already met some great friends and colleagues at events like CMK, and I look forward to making even more connections in this space.  Thank you for sharing your ideas and resources.

[edvin lee]

HI James. I just started at Amplify education and been reading a lot about the maker movement and your work with Marymount and Themakery. really awesome work. i'm really interested in knowing more about maker movement in education and how its changing the landscape of learning. 

On Friday, October 19, 2012 12:44:57 PM UTC-4, jaymesdec wrote:

Hello. I am the FabLab Administrator at The Marymount School of New York. I've been working in FabLabs with kids for the last four years. I'm passionate about integrating maker culture into schools. I believe that making things, and especially digital design and fabrication, has the ability to inspire kids and increase interest in STEAM subjects. I'm really excited about creating a network of maker spaces (not just FabLabs) for kids all over the world. I'm looking forward to collaborating on a list of content rich activities for young makers. Also looking forward to learning from this amazing network of educators! 

[jumekubo]

Hi everyone, my name is John Umekubo, and I am the Director of Technology at St. Matthew's Parish School, a small Episcopal PS-8 school in Pacific Palisades, CA. Like many of you, we are a school in somewhat of a transition. We began a 1:1 program two years ago, and now have computer labs that aren't being used in the same way as before. One of them will be transitioning to a new learning space we are calling PIRL, the Project & Idea Realization Lab. In seeking inspiration, we visited Angi at Castilleja just as summer was about to begin, along with the Nueva School and Hillbrook (I see Christa here as well!). And what an inspiration indeed. My team learned so much from our visits and we are off and running in prep for the new space. We are actually looking at two spaces, one indoor and one outdoor. The outdoor space has already begun, the indoor to launch in the fall of 2014.

In the meantime, in order to prototype some of the tools and strategies we hope to deploy full steam (no pun intended) in 2014, I am fortunate to be teaching an elective course this fall for 7th and 8th graders that I am calling Creator's Studio. http://www.creatorsstudio.org/.

I have much to learn, and have appreciated the dialogue already taking place in this group. I have been actively listening for the past couple of months, and apologize for the delay in formal introduction.

- john

[Jaymes Dec]

John,

This is really great. I especially like how you broke the projects up into the three different levels. The whole format for the class is really nice. I may want to borrow a lot of this structure for my own class. 

What software did you use for the site? The responsive mobile site is especially slick. 

I'm really looking forward to following the class blog! Let us know how things go and if we can be any help!

Jaymes

On Sun, Aug 18, 2013 at 8:34 AM, jumekubo <jume...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi everyone, my name is John Umekubo, and I am the Director of Technology at St. Matthew's Parish School, a small Episcopal PS-8 school in Pacific Palisades, CA. Like many of you, we are a school in somewhat of a transition. We began a 1:1 program two years ago, and now have computer labs that aren't being used in the same way as before. One of them will be transitioning to a new learning space we are calling PIRL, the Project & Idea Realization Lab. In seeking inspiration, we visited Angi at Castilleja just as summer was about to begin, along with the Nueva School and Hillbrook (I see Crista here as well!). And what an inspiration indeed. My team learned so much from our visits and we are off and running in prep for the new space. We are actually looking at two spaces, one indoor and one outdoor. The outdoor space has already begun, the indoor to launch in the fall of 2014.

In the meantime, in order to prototype some of the tools and strategies we hope to deploy full steam (no pun intended) in 2014, I am fortunate to be teaching an elective course this fall for 7th and 8th graders that I am calling Creator's Studio. http://www.creatorsstudio.org/.

I have much to learn, and have appreciated the dialogue already taking place in this group. I have been actively listening for the past couple of months, and apologize for the delay in formal introduction.

- john

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[John Umekubo]

Thanks so much Jaymes. I used Weebly.com. Yes, responsive pages for mobile are just part of the package. Have occasionally needed to dig into HTML but not much. Mostly drag and drop.

You are welcome to adapt, use, borrow anything you like. Would love to see how you structure your class as well. 

- john

Sent from my iPad

[Christopher Murphy]

Hello! I teach woodshop at a Far Brook School in Northern New Jersey. I am working on integrating more digital fabrication to supplement the physical building that occurs in the woodshop, as well as open the materials up to far more options than simply using wood. I have only been teaching for 3 years and I am looking forward to learning as much as I can from this group! 

[pmast...@berkeleycarroll.org]

Hello Francesca,
Our lower school has just dipped its toe into the idea of building a maker space. I am the art teacher for grades 1 - 4 and am riding high on the things I learned in NYSAIS STEAM Camp last week. I would be thrilled to hear about your lessons/projects.

Thanks,
Phaedra

On Tuesday, October 23, 2012 10:26:57 AM UTC-4, fzammarano wrote:

Hi, 

I am Francesca Zammarano, Junior School Technology Integrator at UNIS. I have been at UNIS for 1 year and prior to that I was at Marymount for 7 years. Here at UNIS (United Nations International School, NYC) we opened up our Colaboratory this September. This is a makerspace geared to K-4th grade students. All projects are made using the Design Process. We have 2 MakerBots and are building a materials list for all kinds of projects. I am happy to share the interdisciplinary projects we have done to date. Thanks for setting this up Jaymes!

[pmast...@berkeleycarroll.org]

Hi all,
I'm the art teacher for grades 1 - 4 at Berkeley Carroll School in Brooklyn, NY. I've had the wonderful opportunity to work with Jaymes and other STEAM leaders a number of times now, most recently at the NYSAIS STEAM Camp last week. Our school is taking its first steps in the direction of creating a maker space and I'm interested in learning from all of you, especially on how to get things going for our Lower School.

Thanks,
Phaedra

[ckil...@penncharter.com]

Hi Everyone!

I'm a teacher in the Philadelphia area.  I've had experience in academic research in chemistry and have worked in edtech.  Last year, I started using a parents Makerbot Replicator and his expertise to start an Innovation/Inventors Club in my high school.  This year I have a Cube in hand, a Makerbot Rep X2 on the way and hoping to buy a Full Spectrum laser cutter this year.  I hope to get a full makerspace together at my school in the next two years.  

I am using the tools we have in three ways:

Bringing History Home

In a partnership with the Smithsonian Digital Process Office, we are developing curriculum around the 3D scans of their aritifacts.  I've also being using 123D catch and Autodesk 360 to scan antiquities in Smithsonian Museums and the Natural History Museum in New York.  With this I hope to develop the curriculum for students to make the most of field trips and be able to recreate the best parts of architecture, nature and history. Here is a scan of a great sculpture by the American artist, Edmonia Lewis: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:132439. 

Making Micro Macro

It is often tough for students to connect with the concepts of super small molecules.  Using data from the pubmed and pubchem, I can print macroscopic models of chemicals, proteins and other macromolecules.  With such models as this actin filament construction set (http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:45393), students can grasp really abstract concepts. 

From Idea to Reality

Like many fab labs, we will also be helping students to innovate.  Our after school club is based on the design thinking approach.  Last year 12 students produced 5 functional prototypes for their ideas using iterative designs from the 3D printer.  This year, we are hoping to expand the number of students and will be including Arduino's for each group.

I'm really excited to be participating with such a great group of educators and look forward to learning from all of you!

Corey

[Deb Ashman]

Hello all,

 

This year I am beginning my first year of official teaching after volunteering for two years at a small independent school in Brooklyn.  I have been teaching creative computing to the elementary school (logo robots, scratch....) and next year we start our middle school and bringing it all into the physical world. 

 

Prior to this adventure I worked in Network security for 15 years. I am looking forward to reading and hopefully contributing to this community.   Big thanks to Jaymes for helping me convince the school this was important and for letting us visit your school last year.

 

Thanks

Deb ( technologypainting.com)

[Sean Justice]

Hi John

I agree with Jaymes -- this is good stuff. I really like the site you've set up and especially the way you're opening up your learning process for all of us (and your students!) to see. Can I ask you some questions.....(hopefully that's a yes!)

I work with pre-service teachers at Teachers College, teaching art and technology courses...e.g., how to think of and use computers and other digital technologies as art materials. Questions from my students and how they might use blogs in their future teaching come up all the time. I'm curious about how you'd respond to some of these, if you would --

Have you used student blogging in the past? Or will this be an initial jump into this area for you? In other words, did the notion of process blogging become relevant to you only with the move into this arena of the creator space, or has it been part of your teaching before now?

Do you or your admin/parents have any concerns about the public visibility of your students' work?

Your site seems fantastic -- nicely designed, well thought out, full featured, useful and fun -- but how much time and energy did you have to bring to it? Perhaps another way to ask that question is, how much expertise do you already have in this area of web design and web coding?

And finally, I'm curious about your choice of Weebly -- what went into that decision?

Anyway, thanks for your thoughts to whatever extent you can share them on this. I really appreciate it!

Sean

[John Umekubo]

Hi Sean, please see responses below:

Have you used student blogging in the past? Or will this be an initial jump into this area for you? In other words, did the notion of process blogging become relevant to you only with the move into this arena of the creator space, or has it been part of your teaching before now?

As Director of Technology at my school, I have worked with assisting teachers in the middle school with blogging. However, this is my first jump into it with my own class, and yes I would say that Creator's Studio lends itself well to blogging. I needed a way for students to demonstrate their learning, not only from a metacognitive sense, but as a way to share out their projects to peers and parents. Blogging seemed like the best solution. My hope is that the student writing will get better over time, so the first few blogs may be simple summaries, and as they get more deeply into project work, they will follow the guidelines more closely. Just part of the iterative process!  ;-)

Do you or your admin/parents have any concerns about the public visibility of your students' work?

I don't think there's much concern about student work, but we do care about personal information. So, we avoid the use of full names, and we make sure to have parent permission for posting of any photos or video that our students might be in. Those whose parents don't give consent in this area can still post photos of the product they create.

Your site seems fantastic -- nicely designed, well thought out, full featured, useful and fun -- but how much time and energy did you have to bring to it? Perhaps another way to ask that question is, how much expertise do you already have in this area of web design and web coding?

And finally, I'm curious about your choice of Weebly -- what went into that decision?

Thank you! While I do have considerable experience with html and php, I  don't use much of it with Weebly. One of the main reasons for choosing this platform was the drag and drop nature of the design interface. In addition to being an online web design tool, Weebly is also the host, so there's no hardware to worry about. There are also built in visitor statistics and the ability to pull in google analytics if desired. With the pro version, Weebly allows you to invite contributors, and to create multiple sites. I currently have nine sites on my Weebly account. There is also an iOS app that allows you to see statistics, write blog entries, view comments and more. As you can tell, I'm a fan.

All that being said, I still spent considerable time planning and building the site out, and continue to add my own course blog entries regularly. I also update the resources quite frequently as new technologies, tools and projects are discovered. Thing is, I love doing this stuff, so the time commitment isn't a burden. And I am challenging myself to learn new things every day.

I hope this helps Sean.

Best regards,

- john

[Sean Justice]

Thanks John -- very intriguing and helpful.

I can't wait to see how this work evolves for you and your students. Thanks so much for sharing it.

And, to the rest of the group -- I'm interested in who else might be setting up process blogs for your students, particularly in relation to these questions I've asked John about his work. The topic of student blogging comes up all the time in our work here at TC and I'd be very curious to hear about the solutions and procedures people are using in actual classrooms, especially around making and iterating what students are making. I'll post this question as a new thread...

Thanks!

Sean

[David Malpica]

Hi everyone,

I am David Malpica and I am Bullis Charter School's FabLab Director. BCS is a top tier K-8 in Los Altos, CA with a history of adopting innovative methods and concepts including collaborative project based learning, design thinking and a holistic view of the child. Before Bullis I spent two years as a student and lab assistant at Stanford's Transformative Learning Technologies Lab where I used my background in 3D graphics to develop the labs 3D printing capabilities. I am excited to hear peoples' stories and resources. :)

-David

[edvin lee]

HI, I was wondering if any teachers here has incorporated legos in their maker /fab lab spaces? if so was wondering if i can speak with you about ideas etc. Or if you guys know of anyone that has be successful in using lego to teach STEM in K-12. Would be very helpful. thanks in advance. I'm excited to hear more about any experiences using Lego in education.

thanks in advance

Edvin

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[Christina Jenkins]

Hi everyone,

I teach design, cartography, feminism and now, maker things (!) at the NYC iSchool, a small public high school in SoHo. In addition to the things I teach, I'm also interested in #makered, outdoor education, illustrated fiction and learning spaces. I'm starting off this fall by teaching a class that will involve soft circuits, the MaKey MaKey and our Printrbot (see this for a tentative description). I'm so thrilled to have found this group and look forward to learning + sharing stuff here. I love meeting educators who are doing similar work in New York City, and welcome visitors to my classroom all the time. (I like to visit, too!)

christina

[jack....@morristownhighschool.org]

Hello

My Name is Jack Rizzo I am Tech Ed Teacher at Morristown High School. I use the AutoDesk Design Academy, a Rolans MDX-40 milling machine and have been using a RapMan but am upgrading to a uPrint SE Plus next month.

[Sharon Thompson]

Thank you James Dec for organizing this group.

I love makerfaire. It reminds me how much I still love to make and that I am still a kid at heart. I'm a NYC based, Bank Street trained Education Entrepreneur and former middle school robotics teacher with more than 10 years of  teaching experience and the founder of Dream Workshop, an organization that educates kids to realize big dreams.  I am passionate about teaching kids to become makers who design, build and code their inventions. I was a game designer on the KickArt Games team that won the Audience Award at StartUp Weekend NYCEdu in March 2013.

[Andrew O'Grady]

Hi Everyone,

I studied mechanical engineering at Columbia University, and now teach Math and Engineering at the Bronx Early College Academy, located near Yankee Stadium. My school recently received our IB (International Baccalaureate) authorization, and I will start teaching the IB Design Technology Course starting in the Fall of 2014. 

So far we have a Makerbot Replicator 2, license for SketchUp Pro, and 10-15 sets of LEGO Mindstorms. It is my goal to acquire other equipment such as a laser cutter, a mini-CNC, additional 3D printers, and many other things. In the long-term I want our students (and myself) to learn about Arduino and Raspberry Pi.

I went to Maker Faire NYC last week and was seriously impressed by many of the creations that I saw.

Looking forward to bouncing ideas off of people

Thanks,

Andrew O'Grady

[Amanda Johnson]

Hi!

I have a Middle School Science Education Degree. I joined the TIES Team (Teaching Institute for Excellence in STEM), in June, for a temporary position. It turns out that I loved it so much, I am now part of the TIES and Fab Foundation network called FabEd. The mission of FabEd is actually to form a bridge between classrooms and fab labs.

TIES and the Fab Foundation are designing new curricula and teacher training programs to incorporate fab lab work into schools in Egypt and throughout the US. We're working with the Egyptian Ministry of Education to do this in Cairo, although I don't think any of our lessons are ready to be shared-- also, our fab lab lessons are closely integrated into the standard curriculum rather than being standalone modules.

I am very new to fab labs, which is why I am so happy when I come across great communications tools, such as this. Looking forward to learning from you all! :)

Please feel free to join our FabEd Facebook page at  https://www.facebook.com/groups/FabEducation/ 

AMANDA JOHNSON

Fab Team Project Support | TIES Teaching Institute for Excellence in STEM

e: amanda...@tiesteach.org | m: 440.796.3087| www.tiesteach.org

[Joshua Merrow]

Hi Everyone

I'm setting up a Makerspace at the Riverdale Country School in Bronx, NY and will be working with teachers there to help incorporate hands-on projects into existing curriculum. I got started along these lines while working at El Puente, a high school in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, in the late 90s. Riverdale is working on building out the space, so for the meantime I'm teaching design classes and workshops (bicycle design, arduino art projects, etc.). I'm looking to meet folks like you all and find out what people are up to. Thanks Jaymes for inviting me to join.

best

Josh Merrow

[Joshua Merrow]

Oops, left out contact info

Josh Merrow

jme...@riverdale.edu\

718 902 4284

[pwh...@gmail.com]

I am the librarian/instructional media specialist at Plymouth Whitemarsh High School (public school, grades 9-12) in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania. I am installing a makerspace in our library this month, beginning with stations for a MakerBot Replicator 2, MakeyMakeys, and e-Textiles. I'm very fortunate to have a supportive/encouraging administration, but we're all new to the Maker scene. 

Mrs. Sara Frey

Plymouth Whitemarsh High School

pwh...@gmail.com

sf...@colonialsd.org

610.825.1500 x1940

[pwh...@gmail.com]

Corey,

I would love to talk to you about your experience with your Makerbot, and other projects you've thought up. I live in the greater Philadelphia area (NE of center city) and my school is in Plymouth Meeting. 

Sara Frey, Plymouth Whitemarsh High School

sf...@colonialsd.org

[Corinne Takara]

Hi All,

My name is Corinne Takara and I am an artist and arts educator who works with various school districts and museums education departments in the San Francisco Bay Area.  I have been an instructor and guest lecturer at various colleges in the Bay Area.  For the past 7 year or so I have been bringing technology integrated art projects into classrooms via grants I write. I piloted an art and design thinking camp last summer in East San Jose that I will be expanding this summer. As the daughter of a toy designer, I believe in the value of play and tinkering in the design exploration process.  I am very excited to have been introduced to this forum by Christine Mytko. 

I believe youth can generate creative design concepts which should be a part of our urban planning and public transit discussions. I am very interested in design thinking, urban prototyping and integrating youth perspectives into public space design.

My goal is to engage youth (mostly in East San Jose) in art/design/technology projects that connect them to their broader communities.

my website is: http://www.okadadesign.com/

a google doc with links to past youth design exploration projects: http://bit.ly/GDXFoH
 
Nice to meet you all!! Thank you, Angi, for starting this group. I am excited to learn from all of you!

[Phaedra Mastrocola]

Hi Sara,

I am so intrigued to learn about what you are doing with e-textiles! I am just reading about what they are now. It just so happens, the 2nd - 4th graders at my school just did a collaborative Mexican folk art-inspired textile project. I would love to integrate e-technologies into a future project! Please share tips for elementary age if you have any.

Best,
Phaedra

...
phaedraMASTROCOLA
berkeley carroll lower school | visual art 1-4
701 carroll street | brooklyn, ny 11215

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[Corinne Takara]

Phaedra, your collaborative pattern is lovely! Sara, your library makerspace sounds amazing. When you all say e-textiles I am assuming you are talking about textiles with electronic components? I saw an interesting e-textile book in Christine Mytko's class. She is in this group, too, and is doing amazing things with her students.

If you are also interested in digital textile design, that is, sending jpg images of pattern designs out for digital printing on fabric, then I recommend Spoonflower for output. It also has a vibrant community and contests to follow. http://www.spoonflower.com/welcome

Phaedra, if you are interested in digital textile printing and seamless repeat pattern design for textiles, let me know. I can share lesson plans for that. Here are a few links

http://youareherefabrics.weebly.com/index.html
Repper (seamless repeat pattern design) http://repperpatterns.com/
Repper step by step video is on this page: http://www.slotshelters.com/explore/digital-radial-patterns

This Japanese Ministry of Environment has posted this page on furoshiki as eco-friendly alternative to plastic shopping bags. This is useful if you plan on having the students explore uses of their textiles: http://www.env.go.jp/en/focus/attach/060403-5.html

Best,

Corinne

[Sara Frey]

Phaedra,

I will keep you informed as the process plays out. Right now, I am putting together my orders, and I can say that I'll be using Lilypad materials from SparkFun. 

[Andrew]

I enjoy the LilyPad & Lilypad simple, but they're not the only option.  The newer Flora board from Adafruit (http://www.adafruit.com/category/92 for the whole category) is a updated, USB friendly wearable board with a great line of support products. 

 But for my middle school students, I don't want anything more than the GEMMA ( http://www.adafruit.com/products/1222).  It's an $8 board, basically equivalent to the the pre-flashed Lilypad Twinkle ( https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11364 ) but with a microUSB port for programming instead of the way-more-challenging 6-pin FTDI header.  TRANSLATION - it's a board that my MS students can use and reprogram, rather than one I have to pre-prep for them (although I can do so, easily). The Gemma also has a on-board power plug, rather than relying on stitched power like the small Lilypads.

Again, I'm not trying to run down the Lilypad design or the boards that Sparkfun produces! But the new boards from Adafruit directly address many of the problems I've seen students get stuck on when using the current Lilypads, and it's great to have more options at (essentially) the same price.

If you're willing to be a bit hardcore, you can look into Liza Stark's great project design that uses bare ATTiny85's to build connectable, programable paper boxes.  :) 

http://lizastark.com/thesis/

--andrew

@tieandjeans

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[Jaymes Dec]

+1 for Flora and Gemma. 

You might want to setup the Arduino IDE for them because you have to change the hardware libraries and the avrdude.conf file, but Adafruit has clear instructions on how to do it. 

The one downside of Gemma is that it can't talk Serial, so debugging sensor readings can be tricky. 

But still: $8!!!!!

[Andrew]

I know! I feel fine about the tradeoffs when I look at GEMMA as a more accessible Twinkle, rather than a "Lil' Brudder" version of LilyPad or Flora. (old nerd reference: http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail109.html )

--andrew

[arguello.matt]

Hi Everybody. I'm thrilled to be part of this community. Thanks to John Umekubo for turning me onto it.

I'm the technology coordinator at The Center for Early Education in Los Angeles. We just opened our Innovation Center after a speedy renovation over the summer. We now have a really tremendous space for students to make, tinker, build and explore. It also doubles as a video studio with a green screen, LED studio lights, etc. It was a great experience to lend my input in the design of the space and see those suggestions come to be. You can view the space at http://instagram.com/p/d5aV4XGuPf/ 

We're currently exploring how to develop and foster maker culture with elementary aged students. Right now we're using the usual mix of tons of cardboard, LEGO robotics, Squishy Circuits, LEDs, and 3D printing. Right now my focus is on supporting teachers who want to start projects with their classes.

Nice to be here. Thanks!

-Matt Arguello

[Corinne Takara]

Wow, beautiful space, Matt! Looking forward to following your journey and adventures. Following you on Instagram, too.

--

[Matt Arguello]

Thanks Corinne! I'm excited to be part of such a knowledgeable community. I connected with you on Instagram too. Your photos have me thinking.

Matt

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[Jonathan Schmid]

I'm excited to be joining this group.

I'm the Director of Innovation & Technology at The Meadowbrook School of Weston, a K-8 school outside of Boston. We currently have a temporary fablab/makerspace, and are building a permanent home for making at the school. Meadowbrook has a history of strong technology, robotics, film and LEGO programs, so making is a perfect fit.

I'm lucky to have met some of you last spring as we visited various schools like Castilleja, Nueva and Marymount as we planned our space. I recently discovered this group and felt like I had unearthed a treasure trove of information. I'm looking forward to scouring both the posts of the last year and those to come for tips, tricks and resources. And I'll be sure to share what we learn as well!

Thanks,

Jonathan

[Aaron Vanderwerff]

Hello all -
I am at Lighthouse Community Charter School (Public) in Oakland California.  Students have been making independent projects for the past three years in our high school program and exhibiting their work at the Bay Area Maker Faire.  We serve about 720 students from low-income families K-12.  We make because we want to open doors for our students, to give them life opportunities that students in other communities have, and to give them the opportunity to dream.

This year we received a grant to expand our program and so students have started making in their core classes K-12.  We started with kindergarteners studying sand and water, sewing, woodworking, and paper in quarter long units, third graders integrating circuits into projects as part of their unit on electricity, and topographical tapigami in 4th grade.  In addition, we have started an after school program for students to have more access to making.

Finally, we are working to bring making to other schools.  We have partnered with MakerEd to host two Americorps VISTAs in order to be able to reach out to schools in the area and help them to envision a program that fits their site, and learn the skills they need to start making!

Check out our work at www.lighthousecreativitylab.wordpress.com

[Katy Garnier]

Hello all:

I am the Director of the iLab at the Avenues School in New York, NY. We are a new (last year was our first!) independent school that currently has students from Nursery (3yo) to 10th grade, adding new grades each year. I am still building out the lab, currently teaching several electives for our upper school, and working with middle and upper school faculty on collaborative projects and integrating making into the curriculum.

Nice to virtually meet you all!

- Katy Garnier 

[ali...@jayvee.com]

Hello!

I am the computer teacher for grades k-5 at a small public school in New York state.  I am looking for ways to incorporate more physical computing, inventing and tinkering into my students' experience.  Looking forward to this group!

Alison Vaccarino

[Robert Pronovost]

Hi all! I'm excited to be a part of this group and it was great to meet some of you at the FabLearn conference!

I'm Robert Pronovost, STEM Coordinator for the Ravenswood City School District in East Palo Alto, California, and on my way to open up 5+ makerspaces in our district. The first one will open in January and just received the first donation today! I'm very excited to learn from everyone in this group.

If you'd like to see my plans so far, please visit here: http://elementaryedtech.com/2013/10/29/making-a-makerspace-peek-inside-my-plans/

-Robert

[Sharon Thompson]

Dear Fablab group,

Donorschoose and Makerbot announce new program to give every school in Brooklyn a 3-D printer.

http://www.donorschoose.org/blog/2013/11/12/makerbot-announces-a-mission/

I hope some of the teachers in this group can take advantage of this gift program.

Sharon

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[Katherine Becvar]

Hello folks,

I'm very pleased to be joining you all!  I help run a makerspace in the library at the College of San Mateo, a community college in San Mateo, CA.  Angi Chau connected me to the group after she spoke  a recent event about makerspaces in libraries that I hosted (thanks Angi!). 

While CSM isn't a K-12 institution, I'm still quite excited to be able to connect with this group's expertise on running a makerspace in an educational setting.  So far, we've mostly focused on hosting events and workshops for students, faculty, and staff, but I look forward to the day when making and hands-on learning is more integrated into campus life and curriculum.

If you're interested in seeing what we've been able to do so far, here is a link to the makerspace page on our library's website:
http://collegeofsanmateo.edu/library/makerspace.php
And our Flickr page:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/collegeofsanmateolibrary/with/10678598105/

Pleased to meet you all!

Katherine

Katherine Becvar
Adjunct Reference Librarian
College of San Mateo

"To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance." -- Oscar Wilde

[Christina Devitt]

Hi all,

Greetings from SE Asia.  I'm Head of Technology at Jakarta International School where we have a strong Design Tech Program in place (on our website we just featured work our HS students are doing to build furniture for local Indonesian orphanage) as well as programming and robotics electives, but we are expanding to do more digital tinkering/design thinking and want to build a real fab lab type culture.  In fact, if any of you want to join our, imnsho, dynamic school, please take a look at this new MS position and browse the site to learn more about JIS.  

I really enjoy reading about the great work all of you are doing and thanks for sharing.

Regards,

Christina 

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[Ryan Barnes]

Hey everyone,

I'm an engineering undergraduate student at Drexel University in Philadelphia, who has decided to pursue working in the education field. After helping with local maker/hackspaces, working in Fablabs and assisting with workshops and education outreach, I realized I loved to teach and loved education. Where I'll end up in the education field, I don't know but I'm extremely excited to have made this move.

I love 3D printers, and am the proud owner of a home built Reprap Prusa. I'm also an electronics nerd, I love circuit design, PCB design and assembly, etc. 

Currently I am working on my Senior Thesis, which will be an extremely inexpensive robotics curriculum based on the work of the AFRON Ultra-affordable Educational Robotics design challenge. My objective for this project is to produce a sort of 'open-source' curriculum that will be curated by the readers, to develop a more full featured, free to use robotics education platform. I'll be sharing plenty more details shortly as I approach testing the curriculum! 

I look forward to learning more from the group, and sharing my own input where I can!

-Ryan Barnes