Technology/Innovation

I am the Lower School Makery teacher.  I had an amazing time at the Dawson School Innovation Lab in Boulder, Colorado, and I loved the authentic nature of the projects we tackled that week. This was an intermediate/advanced maker workshop, and the hosts partnered with the WOW Children's Museum in Lafayette, Colorado. We upgraded and even built new exhibits for the museum based on the specifications and wishlist communicated by the museum staff. It was so meaningful that our clients are young children, and we will eventually see how they play and interact with the exhibits. What was challenging was all the constraints, the durability requirements, consideration for what materials would be safe for kids, and the time limitation of a week to complete our creations. Our team upgraded a pinewood derby race track, so that it would record the times of each racecar. I was so impressed with my team members for their advice, practical support and negotiation through all the decisions we had to make in such a short amount of time. We trusted each other to work on different aspects of the race car station, including the mechanics, electronics, and design. We just met and we leaned on each others’ expertise and built each other up with encouragement. A highlight was using a variety of woodworking tools and getting familiar with characteristics of different wood, which is something I haven’t done in forever, mostly because of the age group. I felt some pressure but also empowered that I could get it done correctly. I can’t wait to receive pictures and video of kids at the WoW museum playing with the installed exhibits, because everything we made was next-level and infused with love. 

Something I am bringing back to my school are ideas for woodworking that I can do with elementary-age students, ways to organize my makerspace, and just the desire to seek out more community connections for some authentic problem-solving that our students can take on.  I really loved meeting the teachers from all over, and it was particularly great to plan opportunities to meet up with the other Bay Area teachers.  We are planning to have a regular meetup hosted at each of our schools. We have so many similarities and complementary ideas and experiences, and I am so grateful that MakerJam created this opportunity for us to meet.