Every design unit is different because the designers are different. I never know what will ultimately happen as designers start with initial designs that are iterated multiple times. Sometimes I expect too much too quickly and realize that I need to slow down. This past week was a week of highs and lows with our 3D printing unit because one designer surprised me in designing while others struggled to mentor and produce possible prints for their 3rd grade buddies.
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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....
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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.
Student ReflectionsHere is an example of what one of our 8th grade designers created this quarter in their Design Thinking Project. The second bubble fest was just as fun as the first. It was fantastic to see so many different designs that did amazing bubbles. Thanks to Makers Empire and Morphi for designing such a fantastic app for our designers.
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. At the end of the quarter, designers chose between creating their own STEM story or a recap slideshow. I wanted to publish this slideshow because it makes my heart full. I am thankful for the opportunity to get to do what I do but also it means so much to be able to share these experiences with new designers.
Partnership 1Partnership 2Partnership 3Partnership 4Week 3 was an opportunity for designers to test their Morphi bubble wands and start to design their Makers Empire bubble wand. Designer 1Designer 2Designer 3Too many times, we only blog what is working.... but today is a blog about pivoting in the midst of collaborating. This week 7th graders were tasked with being the designer for their client, their kinder buddy. It was an activity to help focus on communication, shapes, and size. I chose to have my 7th graders use Morphi as it allows designers to physically draw their designs.
So the snafu came when I realized that instead of my designers having access to the Morphi EDU version of the app, they had access to the free app which prevents us from printing the designs.
Stay tuned to find out how we proceed as we get the designers access to the EDU version. Designers then mentored their buddy with the training lab or challenge central to prepare for next week's design in Makers Empire. |
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