This week 7th graders learned about creating mazes with Tinkercad and 3D printing. Designers also created a Tic Tac Toe game with HTV vinyl and the Cricut as well as pieces designed and cut on the Glowforge. |
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Next my designers shared the games that they have been developing to get feedback about how to improve their game. As always the first meeting was more subdued but the take aways were super powerful for both groups.
I introduced the Criteria and Constraints for the project the next day. Designers started with the template with cover and I reminded them to go back to the Maze Video Tutorial or directions if they had questions as they were designing that the person next to them couldn't answer. Over the course of the next few days, designers watched an Edpuzzle 3D Certification video playlist that I developed so that each designer would have time to learn how to print their maze and teach another designer.
Bubble Wand Question Flip MixtapeFor 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. Bubble FestToday 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. 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! Using Cricut Design Space to create an infusible ink bag designed for their kinder buddy to hold their 3D printed bubble wands, designers shared the first Morphi designed bubble wands that have been printed. They also created together using the Micro:Bit. Fridays rock with mentoring!
Next Week's Plan
Flip MixtapeComing Next Week
In this mentoring, mentors were paired together and then worked as a team with 2-3 kindergartners. This has helped with the anxiety that many of my mentors experience at first when starting to work with a younger buddy. Coming next week.....
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)
Ms. Moll captured beautifully the work that our first semester group of 8th grade designers made happen for our 3rd grade buddies. I love seeing the joy that my designers created by mentoring in 3D printing, Glowforge laser designs, and Makers Empire.
Thank you to the InfyMakers grant and VAEF grant for supporting this project! As part of our Youth Empowerment Justice and Joy course for Grade 6, I used the Challenge Central Making a Difference Module from Makers Empire as a guide for our learning and creating. Day 1Day 2 and 3The integration of using Makers Empire and the videos in Challenge Central along with the paper activities that supported the process made this a very powerful resource for me as a teacher. Day 4, 5, and 6This was where the magic really happened as teams worked together to create prototypes and get feedback about their design choices. Day 7 - Preparing for our Fundraiser
Designing with a Budget
Glowforge Design Challenges
Visual Snapshot into Our Collaboration Using Flip MixtapesPumpkin Tea Lights Project
When I first taught Makers Empire and had no clue about how to create, I relied heavily on the tutorials that Makers Empire had already created. I took the videos and created a QR code link that allows my designers to easily find the video tutorial. |
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