For this post, I am going to go from the end to the beginning of how this happened. I wanted to start out with the interviews that the mentors recorded of the young designers with their completed bubble wands. Please click below to be able to hear different young designers sharing what they learned. Today was the culmination of several weeks of collaborative learning where both 7th and 8th grade designers helped their kinder partners create both their first 3D printed bubble wand as well as an Infusible Ink Bag for each young designer. It was an adventure of learning together.
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These last few weeks have been a serious struggle for me. At times I feel like what I could do and what I am doing are so far misaligned that I become frustrated and question what I do. I am not always able to see what is working when it feels like everything is not working.
In 2021, I started reaching out to my colleagues from my former elementary school because I wanted to continue to build on the technology experiences that I had been doing in my previous role as an Educational Technology Coach at K-5. I wanted to continue to collaborate and learn with educators who had trusted me to work with their students when sometimes I didn't know what I was doing. Our first mentoring with 7th or 8th grade and kindergartners started in the spring of 2021 when we still needed to sit 6 feet apart. Using yoga rugs and meeting outside, the kindergarten team was willing to work with me and provide my 7th and 8th graders the opportunity to mentor. This was the start of the mentoring program that our 7th and 8th grade technology students do for our K-5 school. In the past year, the Infysys Maker grant helped immensely to provide more technology like the Glowforge. While our local Verona Area Educational Foundation provided two different grants to help cover the cost of 3D printing, Infusible Ink, and more. This year we have been continuing to work through both the highs and the lows because when older learners and younger learners connect magic can happen. Sometimes I've had to slow down and just watch what is happening instead of what I think should be happening. Today was one of those days.... a 7th grade group that has been struggling transformed into the most amazing group of thoughtful and caring mentors. To be able to see the connections and the impact that both the older and younger learner are having on each other's life is truly the "why" of mentoring. Thank you to Jessica Reed for capturing these moments today and always being willing to navigate this crazy path of collaboration!
Next Week's Plan
This past fall while visiting Lee Briggs classroom at Toki Middle School in Madison, Wisconsin, I was inspired by how he had created different learning certifications for the tools he has in his classroom. It took me several months and some great shared resources to create my own version for our 3D printers.
I also focused on four design programs that we use - Tinkercad, Cookiecad, Morphi, and Makers Empire so that designers would learn how to create and not just find and print other designer files. The certification consists of ten 5 minute or less videos. Upon completion of the certification, designers earn $10 towards their design budget for our classroom.
3D Printing Certification (example video)
On Monday, I had to postpone our mentor printing after realizing that many of my designers didn't have all of the prints needed for our 3rd graders to be able to see and experience their 3D printing with us. On the same day, I removed one of the coolest designed prints to date. David had been quietly working on creating his cereal dispenser on Tinkercad and it blew me away with the moving doors and thought involved in the design. Listen to him explain his design in his own words....
Mentoring ... Day 2
This Friday was the first time that our 8th grade designers started to mentor Ms. Moll's third grade students in 3D Design and Printing. They learned about each other, shared a 3D video, and helped their partner log in to Makers Empire.
3D Design and Printing Unit
For the last few weeks, designers in our 3D Design and Build class have been learning about the world of 3D design and printing. Using Wakelet, my students accessed videos about 3D Printing in Our World, 3D Communities, and 3D Printing for a Purpose. In the first printing rotation, they found a print in 3D Communities that they wanted to print where they learned how to slice and use the printer.
In the second printing rotation, they learned how to use Makers Empire, Morphi EDU, and Tinkercad to create a print that serves a purpose in our school, home, or community. Currently they are in the process of iterating their designs using the Design Thinking Process. As I read the mentor reflections from our bubble wand project of mentoring in 3D Design and Printing, it reminds me of the value of mentoring for our middle school designers. Next year I hope to find even more powerful ways to have my designers collaborate with our younger learners.
Recap of Reed MentorshipRecap of Roetker MentorshipRecap of Klingbeil MentorshipRecap of Moll Mentorship
Designers also explained how the 3D printer worked as it printed a bubble wand in each of the classes while we worked together on Makers Empire.
Today was the day that 7A shared their bubble wands that they printed with their buddies from Ms. Reed's class. What a fantastic day and way to end this year! Our 7th graders were amazing leaders and mentors. Week 3 was an opportunity for designers to test their Morphi bubble wands and start to design their Makers Empire bubble wand. Designer 1Designer 2Designer 3 |
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