IMPLEMENTATION
Implementing an IDEAS Maker Program
IDEAS Maker Programs have been implemented in various ways, based on the specific needs of students and educators and the norms of their schools. Teachers have facilitated a curriculum in its entirety, or have incorporated individual lessons or parts of lessons. Structurally, the program has been implemented in a number of ways:
- Weekly after-school program
- Lunch club
- Homeroom club
- Enrichment Day activity
- Summer program STEM/science/social studies unit
The videos below highlight several experienced IDEAS Maker Program teachers who share insights into creating, managing, and running this program and offer observations about the impact of the program on neurodiverse learners.
Curriculum, Tools, & Materials
Transcript
So last year our theme was food. This year we kind of we were flexible and we wanted them to create a world based on their own imagination. I think it's an amazing thing, right? We talked about this where it's an amazing thing to see students in general just to like use their imagination, think of their own creations, but then actually creating it and making it come to life. Like just seeing that happen. And it's just amazing.
Like, for example, on this slide where it says 2022-2023, this we gave, we gave students activities to create a 3D object for their world. So this student wanted to create some sort of world full of sea creatures. And so we gave him modeling clay and he created this beta fish, and it's super detailed and he's really proud of his work. So we're proud too.
And then on the following slide, we have this lovely student. He is an eighth grade Horizon student who imagines a world full of toys, right? He's so devastated that Toys"R"Us disappeared. So he wants to create his own Toys"R"Us. But something amazing about the student is he doesn't need to refer back to any images or anything. He just imagines it. He kind of just remembers how things look like. So, for example, in that first image, these are Angry Birds and he just created them basically based off of his memory. And on the right it is his interpretation of Mario, Super Mario.
But honestly, this is one of the students that if we give him an activity, sometimes he doesn't want to do the activity. He wants to make whatever he wants to make, and that's okay. We allow that because Makers Club is part of its it's just all about making things, right?
Sure, you don't have to follow what we're doing today, but maybe we stay flexible and we allow him to make whatever it is that he wants and then we'll somehow incorporate a motor in there. We’ll be like, okay, now let's add that motor. But he is the student that you saw that got really frustrated. But it's good because it teaches him these fine, I don't know if it's fine motor skills or something, but it teaches him that some things you just need to try again or you take a break, right? These are all life skills that they're learning in 90 minutes per once per week. So.
Accessibility Statement
All videos produced by the EDC include captions and downloadable transcripts.
To improve accessibility of our site we used a free video accessibility WordPress plug-in produced by Ford Foundation.
Flexibility is Key
Maggie Cheng and Subin Kim explain how they took a flexible approach to the curriculum, allowing students to pursue their own strengths and interests.
Transcript
The student work. As you start to do things, you you should keep a few samples just as a jumpstart for the next group of students.
Because some of them get, they're so used to us telling them what to do and giving them steps. And you do step one, step two, step three, that, when you say like, “Just make anything!”, they get really anxious and nervous.
So sometimes we'll say, “Oh, look at what some people have done.” You don't want to give them too many because then they start to mimic, because a lot of times they feel like, “Oh, this is the right way to do it? This is how we have to do it.” So, but you want to say like, “Oh, guess what? This person did a journal like this and this person did a journal like this. But you can combine them." You can use them any way that you want them to use. So, so we always keep student work and you see some of the work samples there.
If you don't have the actual student work. One other great way to do it is to show them the pictures of last year or prior years, because that way you're not. They're looking at the pictures and they're getting inspired, but they're not looking at something tangible that they can just copy. Like they actually just watching something like, “Oh, look, that's what they did in the, when they went to present or when they were working on their robots or their bots.”
And it's not like, “Oh, let me go grab!”, because that's the other thing they'll say like, “Oh, I want to go grab it!” And they want to do the same thing. Some of the kids do that. So you, pictures are better in that sense, but some of them actually need to touch it and feel that and look under it and see how the child problem-solved.
So there's pros and cons to both.
Accessibility Statement
All videos produced by the EDC include captions and downloadable transcripts.
To improve accessibility of our site we used a free video accessibility WordPress plug-in produced by Ford Foundation.
Save Student Work
Miriam Campos suggests keeping examples or taking photos of student work to share with future makers. This gives them ideas about what they might make.
Transcript
Um, one of the things I think probably a lot of teachers are wondering about is using the tools with some, of with some of our kids. A hammer and nails, for example, or a hot glue gun, which could be dangerous in the wrong hands.
But I have found in my experience with Makers Club that you you present the tools to the kids with a lot of reverence and teach them to really respect the tools and the kids are really kind of thrilled that they're being entrusted with the tools. They kind of like, "Wow, you're giving me an actual hammer and a nail!"
And we kind of teach them to be like really alert and careful, and we maybe don't give everybody in the class a hammer at the same moment, especially when we're first starting, so that we just kind of practice how to be careful, how to be respectful of yourself, be safe yourself, but also of all the people around you. And and the same with the hot glue gun. We, we teach them really well how to use it, how to take care of it. And I think the kids kind of feel really excited and they’re careful because they feel like they want to be able to use those tools and they know they need to be respectful of the tools or probably they're not going to get to use them again.
So we've always had, we've never had an incident with any of the tools. But I think if you had kids that were that had more challenges, maybe you could do one at a time with the hammer, for example, and the glue gun if you needed to.
But by the time, after we train the kids and we just put the tools out and we'll let them get, we've always let them get a glue gun if they need it…they get it themselves and after we sort of taught them how to take care of the tools they're able to do it independently.
Accessibility Statement
All videos produced by the EDC include captions and downloadable transcripts.
To improve accessibility of our site we used a free video accessibility WordPress plug-in produced by Ford Foundation.
Introducing Tools
Kerry McCarthy explains how to introduce tools like hot glue guns and hammers into the program so that students treat them with respect and use them safely.
Transcript
How can we make this sustainable? So these are some tips that have helped me, for the past seven years. And one of them is organization.
So organizing the materials based on activities. So all materials for an activity is in one spot. You will have about seven bins that you can use year after year.
So the next question that some people ask is where do you find the spot to hold these bins? Where you have your materials such as scissors, glue sticks, you know, cups, plates. Just find any spot that's going to have to be the traveling maker’s club, because one time we have a closet and then next time they use a closet. But if you ask your administration if there's one little spot where you could have your, your things, they will likely provide it for you.
So just again, we've been in, one year, we had a whole classroom and it was like “Oh, this is the makers classroom!” And then we had part of the classroom and then we had to make an exodus out of the classroom and to a closet. But it's always survive. So I say have seven bins where you're just like, “Oh, all of this is the things that I need for makers, for, to make a journal.” And you go and you get it. And that's, that's everything you need there. This is for the second activity. This is for the third activity.
We've tried different ways where, like, you organize the materials by, like, alphabetical order and the scissors and or like, everything and any cutting materials. And we found that that took up too much time because then you're like, “Oh, I need the scissors. And I need this.” Even though it was beautiful to organize it in alphabetical order, it wasn't the most practical. The most practical has been “Oh, these are all the things I need for a journal. I’m bringing it out.” There are some materials that you will always use, but it will be easy to remember. Like, “Oh, the last time that I used the scissors was when I did the journals, so let me just go to the journal bin, the the bin where we create the journals.”
And a lot of the things that you use for the first session, which is creating these journals you will use throughout the session. So you always know that's your go to bin.
Accessibility Statement
All videos produced by the EDC include captions and downloadable transcripts.
To improve accessibility of our site we used a free video accessibility WordPress plug-in produced by Ford Foundation.
Organizing Supplies
Practical tips from Miriam Campos on how to organize and store maker club materials for each of the activities.
Transcript
The other thing I would say is that it's really important to give the kids ownership of the club.
So one idea that we came up with was training the eighth graders to take care of all the supplies. So taking them out and putting them away at the beginning and the end of the club. And we had a closet with a lock so it kind of almost was like a ceremony of, I'm going to give you the combination of the lock. And now you have this responsibility. You're going to take out supplies for the club and distribute them to the other kids in the club. And then at the end of the club, you're going to put them away, you're going to lock the closet. And it really was a smashing success. The eighth graders felt like really like important that they were sort of entrusted with this, and then they took the job really seriously and we kind of pumped up the seventh graders towards the end, like next year we're going to pass the combination to you and you're going to be in charge.
Before. before we did that, it was a really huge undertaking for the teachers getting all the supplies out, putting them away. And and once we turned it over to the eighth grade, I think it really made them feel like this is our club and our materials, our supplies. And then it also for, as a teacher, it just made my job so much easier.
Somewhere along the way, somebody gave us the idea to give each kid their own bin like a small, almost like a shoebox size, bin then we put their name on and they keep their sort of weekly supplies. They keep their notebook in there, and any little projects they're working on. That is a tip that I wish I had thought of my first year before. We used to be scrambling around trying to find everybody's projects and it just saved us a lot of time and effort. I would really recommend we get a little bin for each kid, put their name on it, and then the eighth graders pass those out when we start our club.
Accessibility Statement
All videos produced by the EDC include captions and downloadable transcripts.
To improve accessibility of our site we used a free video accessibility WordPress plug-in produced by Ford Foundation.
Fostering Responsibility
Kerry McCarthy describes how she gave her 8th graders responsibility for taking care of the materials, which fostered their sense of ownership.
Transcript
Subin: So these are our 3-D printing session. Left side is the before slide, the object. [unclear] Okay. I printed out the way they designed. Came out like this and I showed the kid. “This is your design. Did you design like this? This is your creation.” And she said, “No.” “Okay, let's see why it came out like this.”
So she figured out that, “Oh, I didn't design on the work plane.” It was actually in the space, in the air. So when 3D printer printed out, it's all printing melting those plastic filaments in the air came out like this. Well we kept it because that’s a great example before, the mistake. So that's a mistake part we learn from mistakes. After part is what really actually that was. So she made sure that the design is on the work plane then it nicely came out all layered correctly.
Maggie: So we do spend a lot of time like teaching, not a lot but a good 5 to 10 minutes, making sure that students understand what an overhang is and how we can create a strong base for printing 3D objects.
So keeping these mistakes is a great, is a great example to just show them what could happen. So sort of like trial and error with these students. And we don't want to tell them what to do, but we want them to also like see how they're designing and how it could come out.
Subin: So it's a great experience.
Maggie: Yeah. And so, yeah, we we continue to encourage students to always make mistakes because it teaches them to like problem-solve and just “What can you do?” “What can you problem-solve when you do make this mistake?” “Is just the end of the world or is this a level five or is this just a level one, and then you can rethink, right?”
Accessibility Statement
All videos produced by the EDC include captions and downloadable transcripts.
To improve accessibility of our site we used a free video accessibility WordPress plug-in produced by Ford Foundation.
3D Printing & Tinkercad
Maggie Cheng and Subin Kim explain why they encourage students to make mistakes with 3D printing in order to develop their problem-solving skills.
Maker Club Formats
Transcript
Arge: So we weren't able to do it as an after-school because a lot of our students, particularly our Nest students, do take the school bus. So we opened it up as a lunch club.
So we meet twice a week, Wednesdays and Fridays, and our students grab their lunch. They come on up, they spend the first 10 minutes or so socializing, eating their lunch, and then, you know, they'll Ms. Locure and I will have the materials out and then they'll get right into working on their on their projects.
One of the things that we struggled with, because it was a lunch club, is making things work in a 45 minute period. And one of the greatest difficulties was managing materials. So the first couple of years, and Ms. Martin would join us sometimes and, you know, I would be running around trying to first lay out the materials and then really running around like crazy, trying to collect and clean up because there was a class right before makers mlub and a class coming in right after maker's club. So we had to deal with making sure that desks were cleared of food, cleared of materials.
But, you know, we've we've found a way to manage the materials and organize them in bins, in ways that made sense. It still can get a little messy, right? But anything interesting is messy if you kind of look at it at our tables right now, somebody might think that they look messy. But, you know, if you want interesting results, you need to get a little dirty.
Off camera: Do you use shoeboxes?
Arge: We use bins, plastic bins. The clear bins work best because you can kind of see what materials you have.
Off camera: So every student had a clear bin?
Arge: Yeah, we, every student had a clear bin last year, but we found that it was really hard to sort of pack those up. So this year we gave them Ziploc bagges, like the large gallon baggies, and that made it a little bit easier. But for the actual materials, we have clear bins for storing the materials that we're going to use throughout the year.
Accessibility Statement
All videos produced by the EDC include captions and downloadable transcripts.
To improve accessibility of our site we used a free video accessibility WordPress plug-in produced by Ford Foundation.
Lunch Club
Arge Panas describes how she runs maker club as a lunch time club for middle schoolers.
Transcript
So just going back to maker's club at our school, it's also evolved from a club to an enrichment course because the word really got out on the makers about what we do at makers club and we can only cap it to about 15 students only because it takes, it is way too, a lot of materials and printing takes a really long time.
So you really can't have, at least we weren't able to, have a larger scale club. But the word got out and we had a lot of interest. So in our school we have once a month we do an enrichment course where students select a course that they want to take, and they're going to take that enrichment course from now to the end of the school year.
Again, it's the third Friday. It's once a month, the third Friday of every month. So we had a really big interest and we have students that have now joined. So its students that are not in makers club that are joining the makers enrichment course. So it's really changed and evolved in our school depending on the interest of the kids.
So even though you'll be given a curriculum, please don't be afraid to, you know, really make it your own because that's that's where you get the biggest benefit.
Accessibility Statement
All videos produced by the EDC include captions and downloadable transcripts.
To improve accessibility of our site we used a free video accessibility WordPress plug-in produced by Ford Foundation.
Enrichment Class
Arge Panas describes how her school implements maker club during enrichment days, which take place each month.
Transcript
Subin: And we also introduced this world building curriculum to our summer camp program. So last year we also had Horizon and Nest together. That's when we piloted the World Building program. It was really nice because it was a small group, but it was very consistent and also we had luxury of having enough time to do any activities with the kids.
So we planned out having like 90 minutes per day. But you know what? They are so interested in they don't want to stop working on their project. So we could have like, “Okay, we're going to continue working on this!” because some days we had 2 hours, some days it was all day maker club activities. So it was really intense and kids really enjoyed it because it was four days a week, Monday through Thursday, for four weeks, they was able to, like they were able to fully experience and enjoy all the making process.
Accessibility Statement
All videos produced by the EDC include captions and downloadable transcripts.
To improve accessibility of our site we used a free video accessibility WordPress plug-in produced by Ford Foundation.
Summer Program
Maggie Cheng and Subin Kim talk about running maker club as a 4-week summer program. Learn more about the mentioned Horizon and Nest NYC programs here.
Life Skills, Neurodiversity and Making
Transcript
The other thing that was amazing about the makers club to me was that some of our kids have this really deep interest or talents that we never tap into in the school day. We never know what they might be thinking about or creating in their in their head if we don't give them an opportunity. And sometimes in the regular school day, there's just not time for them. It's just not time or the curriculum doesn't lend itself to that.
So for example, a few years ago we had a kid who was not really super engaged with school. He kind of did the minimum, I would say to get by and tay off the radar. And generally didn't seem that interested in school, but he was part of the makers club and we we asked him, the theme was games that students came up with, and he just had this fully fleshed out game in his head that had to do with memes, which was a big interest of his. And it just came pouring or flooding out.
And I know for me I never would have asked him or known that about him and he was so engaged with it. Worked tirelessly on the game in a way that in the classroom I never I never saw him engage in that in the same way. And he ended up creating this really complicated game that incorporated memes, which was an interest of his.
And I think it really just helped him so much to have a, an opportunity to really tap into his interests and kind of show what he could do and what he was thinking about. Probably sometimes during classes during the day, he probably was thinking about the game. And when we finally found out that's what he was into, it was like, “Oh, thanks for asking. I have a whole game ready to go!”, which is kind of amazing.
Accessibility Statement
All videos produced by the EDC include captions and downloadable transcripts.
To improve accessibility of our site we used a free video accessibility WordPress plug-in produced by Ford Foundation.
Engagement & Personal Interests
Kerry McCarthy tells a story of how a student who was not normally engaged in school became deeply engaged in creating a project in makers club.
Transcript
One thing that we did in our makers club this year was we did a gallery walk. It's probably towards the middle of the time we were working on the final projects because all the kids had these really cool projects, but they maybe weren't aware of what the other kids were working on. They might have been aware of the other kids at the table, but maybe not other kids in other places around the room or some of the some of our students who maybe keep to themselves more.
We had one student this year who doesn't talk to a lot of kids that often and when he came to makers club he would be working on his projects by himself, working really hard on it, and he made this really cool game, also a video game and also another kind of board game. And when we did the gallery walk, the other kids in the class started to really see what he was working on. And it was they were quite impressed with it and they had a lot of questions for him. And also they all wanted to try the game.
So that was a way for him to really interact. And you could see the delight in his eyes because he was working on it, but he hadn't really shared it yet. And when other kids started to play the game for him, I think it was a really great connection and it was a way for him to connect with other people.
The other great thing about the gallery walk is that the kids, they have a lot of respect for each other's projects and a lot of questions, interesting questions and also suggestions. If I were to do it again, I might even do it earlier in the process of the final project because they asked each other a lot of questions.
For example, one girl was trying to figure out how to make her ice cream cone look like it was strawberry ice cream, and the paint that she had tried to use, she first tried to use a marker and it just didn't look the way she wanted it to. And some of the other kids had ideas about mixing glue with paint and trying all these different things, which ultimately was what she did and was successful.
So I think giving them a chance to ask each other questions, give each other feedback sometimes get inspiration from other people's projects that they bring back to their own project. I think that was something that was really successful that we did this year.
Accessibility Statement
All videos produced by the EDC include captions and downloadable transcripts.
To improve accessibility of our site we used a free video accessibility WordPress plug-in produced by Ford Foundation.
Giving Feedback & Getting Inspired
Kerry McCarthy describes how she had students do a ‘gallery walk’ while they were working on final projects, which helped the students learn how to give and take constructive feedback and get inspiration from others.
Transcript
Maggie: We've seen a lot of examples this year and last year of students just learning daily life skills, right? When we talk about students with autism, we think about students we think about, well, at least in my experience, I have students that need to work on perspective taking or things such as flexible thinking, right? Or gross and fine motor skills. These are things that they're working on, whether in O.T. or in speech. These are things they're also working on in makers club. But instead of with an adult, they're doing this with kids their age, which is great.
So besides problem solving, we're also teaching them that it's okay to make mistakes. I mean, we've had many examples, right, where we had students that just struggle with making a mistake, but we teach them that it's completely okay. Just "What can you do now? Right? Can we restart? Can you, can you fix whatever it is that you're having an issue with? Where can we begin?"
And then hopefully that could transfer in the future in their daily lives.
Subin: So we always say, “Look, please make mistakes. That is where you learn and who knows that it will come out wonderfully, greatly. We, like, not like in your plan before, right?"
Accessibility Statement
All videos produced by the EDC include captions and downloadable transcripts.
To improve accessibility of our site we used a free video accessibility WordPress plug-in produced by Ford Foundation.
Making Mistakes & Solving Problems
Maggie Cheng and Subin Kim describe how makers club helps students become more comfortable making mistakes and solving problems.
Problem Solving
Transcript
Then we model. So somewhere between when we see like, okay, everyone's here. So we're like, okay, so today we’re going to model journal making. So we'll take about 5 minutes to just say this is what we're doing today. The key for us has been not solving every single problem that happens. We're going to model for you and after that you have to check in with your peers. You have to problem solve if your journal comes out sideways. That's just what it is. Make a new one if you're not satisfied. And that's okay.
Like I remember one of the students, he was like, he was, it was the first time that he was in makers and he was like, “But my journal, my journal is sideways!”. And I said, “Do you like like that or not”? And he's like, “No.” I said, “All right, make a new one”. And he was like, “Oh, like I can make a new one?” And that's okay. And some are like my journal sideways and this is perfect for me and that's okay. So again, those 5 minutes, is you're just modeling what the activity is going to be you're working out with, with them on any problem solving things that come up.
And then the other thing is that as you do the journal, you might the program, you might have returning members who remember these activities from last year, which has happened because they feel so free and so happy and they build these relationships for makers. So that's, once they go off to practice and to try out the activities, the expert makers, which we call them expert makers, they go around and they help each other out.
So this is when I started, earlier, I said that the social piece is just as important as the production. I feel that sometimes we're so focused on the production and make sure that everything's done. The social piece is just as important because if not, if you're the only one going around helping 20 students, you're going to get fatigued and you're going to feel like makers is overwhelming.
You cannot do this alone. And if you're working with someone that's perfect, you could work with the teacher. But it's great to see the students take ownership, take leadership skills and say, "Oh, I remember how to do this. You know, I can help you." Another thing is we say, “Ask three before you ask me.”, and they ask three people if they need help. And honestly, by the time they ask a third person, they figured it out because sometimes they huddle and it's like, "Oh no, you're doing like this. Oh, no, you do like that."
Accessibility Statement
All videos produced by the EDC include captions and downloadable transcripts.
To improve accessibility of our site we used a free video accessibility WordPress plug-in produced by Ford Foundation.
Building Independence
Experienced maker teacher Miriam Campos explains how important it is to have students solve problems for themselves. Students who have been in makers club before help their peers do the activities, and she tells all students to ask three peers before they ask a teacher for help.
Transcript
One of the things I loved about the makers club is sometimes when you think you have a problem, it actually becomes one of the greatest moments for learning in the clubs.
And for an example of this, is when we were doing the circuits with one of our clubs, we realized that we hadn't ordered the coin cell batteries, the small batteries that you use in the circuit to light up the light bulb. And we didn't we didn't have any. And it was a mistake. But the kids started, on their own, wondering if we could use the AA batteries to light up the LED lights.
And I really didn't know if you could. And none of the teachers knew if there was a way to do it. So the kids started kind of working together and different kids were working on their own, trying to figure out how we could get it lit up. And finally, one of the kids realized that the voltage was different on the coin cell and the AA.
So even though the AA batteries are bigger, their voltage is less. So they ended up taping together two double AA batteries and succeeded in lighting the light bulb. So it's kind of like the whole club was engaged in trying to solve the problem, which was a real problem because we definitely made a mistake by not ordering the coin cells.
And it was so satisfying, like for the whole club to just when the light bulb lit up, that kind of everybody had done a little piece to solve the problem. And we were all so excited, including the teachers. We were cheering that, “Wow, the light bulb went on!” and everybody was so happy and I think learned something about voltage, but also about like working together and about when you have a real problem, how you can try, try, try and figure it out and get success.
Accessibility Statement
All videos produced by the EDC include captions and downloadable transcripts.
To improve accessibility of our site we used a free video accessibility WordPress plug-in produced by Ford Foundation.
Students as Experts
Experienced maker teacher Kerry McCarthy shares a story about how her students figured out a solution to a problem that the facilitators did not know how to solve.
Transcript
Some of them, at the beginning of the club, may get really frustrated if something doesn't work. That's true of the circuits. When it doesn't light up, it can be really frustrating. But teaching kids that this is what scientists do, this is what engineers do. Things don't always work. You make a prototype. Sometimes it's a complete failure and then you try again.
I think that's another skill that that translates well into the classroom where some of our kids get really frustrated when things don't go their way, but it's just kind of going back and trying again, or sometimes even abandoning something and moving on to something else can be really important and really good for the kids.
Accessibility Statement
All videos produced by the EDC include captions and downloadable transcripts.
To improve accessibility of our site we used a free video accessibility WordPress plug-in produced by Ford Foundation.
Frustration & Problem Solving
Experienced maker teacher Kerry McCarthy describes how you can help students learn how to manage frustration by explaining that scientists and engineers also create many prototypes to work through problems.
All Insights
Curriculum, Tools, & Materials
Transcript
So last year our theme was food. This year we kind of we were flexible and we wanted them to create a world based on their own imagination. I think it's an amazing thing, right? We talked about this where it's an amazing thing to see students in general just to like use their imagination, think of their own creations, but then actually creating it and making it come to life. Like just seeing that happen. And it's just amazing.
Like, for example, on this slide where it says 2022-2023, this we gave, we gave students activities to create a 3D object for their world. So this student wanted to create some sort of world full of sea creatures. And so we gave him modeling clay and he created this beta fish, and it's super detailed and he's really proud of his work. So we're proud too.
And then on the following slide, we have this lovely student. He is an eighth grade Horizon student who imagines a world full of toys, right? He's so devastated that Toys"R"Us disappeared. So he wants to create his own Toys"R"Us. But something amazing about the student is he doesn't need to refer back to any images or anything. He just imagines it. He kind of just remembers how things look like. So, for example, in that first image, these are Angry Birds and he just created them basically based off of his memory. And on the right it is his interpretation of Mario, Super Mario.
But honestly, this is one of the students that if we give him an activity, sometimes he doesn't want to do the activity. He wants to make whatever he wants to make, and that's okay. We allow that because Makers Club is part of its it's just all about making things, right?
Sure, you don't have to follow what we're doing today, but maybe we stay flexible and we allow him to make whatever it is that he wants and then we'll somehow incorporate a motor in there. We’ll be like, okay, now let's add that motor. But he is the student that you saw that got really frustrated. But it's good because it teaches him these fine, I don't know if it's fine motor skills or something, but it teaches him that some things you just need to try again or you take a break, right? These are all life skills that they're learning in 90 minutes per once per week. So.
Accessibility Statement
All videos produced by the EDC include captions and downloadable transcripts.
To improve accessibility of our site we used a free video accessibility WordPress plug-in produced by Ford Foundation.
Flexibility is Key
Maggie Cheng and Subin Kim explain how they had a flexible approach to the curriculum, allowing students to pursue their strengths and interests.
Transcript
The student work. As you start to do things, you you should keep a few samples just as a jumpstart for the next group of students.
Because some of them get, they're so used to us telling them what to do and giving them steps. And you do step one, step two, step three, that, when you say like, “Just make anything!”, they get really anxious and nervous.
So sometimes we'll say, “Oh, look at what some people have done.” You don't want to give them too many because then they start to mimic, because a lot of times they feel like, “Oh, this is the right way to do it? This is how we have to do it.” So, but you want to say like, “Oh, guess what? This person did a journal like this and this person did a journal like this. But you can combine them." You can use them any way that you want them to use. So, so we always keep student work and you see some of the work samples there.
If you don't have the actual student work. One other great way to do it is to show them the pictures of last year or prior years, because that way you're not. They're looking at the pictures and they're getting inspired, but they're not looking at something tangible that they can just copy. Like they actually just watching something like, “Oh, look, that's what they did in the, when they went to present or when they were working on their robots or their bots.”
And it's not like, “Oh, let me go grab!”, because that's the other thing they'll say like, “Oh, I want to go grab it!” And they want to do the same thing. Some of the kids do that. So you, pictures are better in that sense, but some of them actually need to touch it and feel that and look under it and see how the child problem-solved.
So there's pros and cons to both.
Accessibility Statement
All videos produced by the EDC include captions and downloadable transcripts.
To improve accessibility of our site we used a free video accessibility WordPress plug-in produced by Ford Foundation.
Save Student Work
Miriam Campos suggests keeping examples or taking photos of student work to share with future makers. This gives them ideas about what they might make.
Transcript
Um, one of the things I think probably a lot of teachers are wondering about is using the tools with some, of with some of our kids. A hammer and nails, for example, or a hot glue gun, which could be dangerous in the wrong hands.
But I have found in my experience with Makers Club that you you present the tools to the kids with a lot of reverence and teach them to really respect the tools and the kids are really kind of thrilled that they're being entrusted with the tools. They kind of like, "Wow, you're giving me an actual hammer and a nail!"
And we kind of teach them to be like really alert and careful, and we maybe don't give everybody in the class a hammer at the same moment, especially when we're first starting, so that we just kind of practice how to be careful, how to be respectful of yourself, be safe yourself, but also of all the people around you. And and the same with the hot glue gun. We, we teach them really well how to use it, how to take care of it. And I think the kids kind of feel really excited and they’re careful because they feel like they want to be able to use those tools and they know they need to be respectful of the tools or probably they're not going to get to use them again.
So we've always had, we've never had an incident with any of the tools. But I think if you had kids that were that had more challenges, maybe you could do one at a time with the hammer, for example, and the glue gun if you needed to.
But by the time, after we train the kids and we just put the tools out and we'll let them get, we've always let them get a glue gun if they need it…they get it themselves and after we sort of taught them how to take care of the tools they're able to do it independently.
Accessibility Statement
All videos produced by the EDC include captions and downloadable transcripts.
To improve accessibility of our site we used a free video accessibility WordPress plug-in produced by Ford Foundation.
Introducing Tools
Kerry McCarthy explains how to introduce tools like hot glue guns and hammers into the program so that students treat them with respect and use them safely.
Transcript
How can we make this sustainable? So these are some tips that have helped me, for the past seven years. And one of them is organization.
So organizing the materials based on activities. So all materials for an activity is in one spot. You will have about seven bins that you can use year after year.
So the next question that some people ask is where do you find the spot to hold these bins? Where you have your materials such as scissors, glue sticks, you know, cups, plates. Just find any spot that's going to have to be the traveling maker’s club, because one time we have a closet and then next time they use a closet. But if you ask your administration if there's one little spot where you could have your, your things, they will likely provide it for you.
So just again, we've been in, one year, we had a whole classroom and it was like “Oh, this is the makers classroom!” And then we had part of the classroom and then we had to make an exodus out of the classroom and to a closet. But it's always survive. So I say have seven bins where you're just like, “Oh, all of this is the things that I need for makers, for, to make a journal.” And you go and you get it. And that's, that's everything you need there. This is for the second activity. This is for the third activity.
We've tried different ways where, like, you organize the materials by, like, alphabetical order and the scissors and or like, everything and any cutting materials. And we found that that took up too much time because then you're like, “Oh, I need the scissors. And I need this.” Even though it was beautiful to organize it in alphabetical order, it wasn't the most practical. The most practical has been “Oh, these are all the things I need for a journal. I’m bringing it out.” There are some materials that you will always use, but it will be easy to remember. Like, “Oh, the last time that I used the scissors was when I did the journals, so let me just go to the journal bin, the the bin where we create the journals.”
And a lot of the things that you use for the first session, which is creating these journals you will use throughout the session. So you always know that's your go to bin.
Accessibility Statement
All videos produced by the EDC include captions and downloadable transcripts.
To improve accessibility of our site we used a free video accessibility WordPress plug-in produced by Ford Foundation.
Organizing Supplies
Practical tips from Miriam Campos on how to organize and store maker club materials for each of the activities.
Transcript
The other thing I would say is that it's really important to give the kids ownership of the club.
So one idea that we came up with was training the eighth graders to take care of all the supplies. So taking them out and putting them away at the beginning and the end of the club. And we had a closet with a lock so it kind of almost was like a ceremony of, I'm going to give you the combination of the lock. And now you have this responsibility. You're going to take out supplies for the club and distribute them to the other kids in the club. And then at the end of the club, you're going to put them away, you're going to lock the closet. And it really was a smashing success. The eighth graders felt like really like important that they were sort of entrusted with this, and then they took the job really seriously and we kind of pumped up the seventh graders towards the end, like next year we're going to pass the combination to you and you're going to be in charge.
Before. before we did that, it was a really huge undertaking for the teachers getting all the supplies out, putting them away. And and once we turned it over to the eighth grade, I think it really made them feel like this is our club and our materials, our supplies. And then it also for, as a teacher, it just made my job so much easier.
Somewhere along the way, somebody gave us the idea to give each kid their own bin like a small, almost like a shoebox size, bin then we put their name on and they keep their sort of weekly supplies. They keep their notebook in there, and any little projects they're working on. That is a tip that I wish I had thought of my first year before. We used to be scrambling around trying to find everybody's projects and it just saved us a lot of time and effort. I would really recommend we get a little bin for each kid, put their name on it, and then the eighth graders pass those out when we start our club.
Accessibility Statement
All videos produced by the EDC include captions and downloadable transcripts.
To improve accessibility of our site we used a free video accessibility WordPress plug-in produced by Ford Foundation.
Fostering Responsibility
Kerry McCarthy describes how she gave her 8th graders responsibility for taking care of the materials, which fostered their sense of ownership.
Transcript
Subin: So these are our 3-D printing session. Left side is the before slide, the object. [unclear] Okay. I printed out the way they designed. Came out like this and I showed the kid. “This is your design. Did you design like this? This is your creation.” And she said, “No.” “Okay, let's see why it came out like this.”
So she figured out that, “Oh, I didn't design on the work plane.” It was actually in the space, in the air. So when 3D printer printed out, it's all printing melting those plastic filaments in the air came out like this. Well we kept it because that’s a great example before, the mistake. So that's a mistake part we learn from mistakes. After part is what really actually that was. So she made sure that the design is on the work plane then it nicely came out all layered correctly.
Maggie: So we do spend a lot of time like teaching, not a lot but a good 5 to 10 minutes, making sure that students understand what an overhang is and how we can create a strong base for printing 3D objects.
So keeping these mistakes is a great, is a great example to just show them what could happen. So sort of like trial and error with these students. And we don't want to tell them what to do, but we want them to also like see how they're designing and how it could come out.
Subin: So it's a great experience.
Maggie: Yeah. And so, yeah, we we continue to encourage students to always make mistakes because it teaches them to like problem-solve and just “What can you do?” “What can you problem-solve when you do make this mistake?” “Is just the end of the world or is this a level five or is this just a level one, and then you can rethink, right?”
Accessibility Statement
All videos produced by the EDC include captions and downloadable transcripts.
To improve accessibility of our site we used a free video accessibility WordPress plug-in produced by Ford Foundation.
3D Printing & Tinkercad
Maggie Cheng and Subin Kim explain why they encourage students to make mistakes with 3D printing in order to develop their problem-solving skills.
Maker Club Formats
Transcript
Arge: So we weren't able to do it as an after-school because a lot of our students, particularly our Nest students, do take the school bus. So we opened it up as a lunch club.
So we meet twice a week, Wednesdays and Fridays, and our students grab their lunch. They come on up, they spend the first 10 minutes or so socializing, eating their lunch, and then, you know, they'll Ms. Locure and I will have the materials out and then they'll get right into working on their on their projects.
One of the things that we struggled with, because it was a lunch club, is making things work in a 45 minute period. And one of the greatest difficulties was managing materials. So the first couple of years, and Ms. Martin would join us sometimes and, you know, I would be running around trying to first lay out the materials and then really running around like crazy, trying to collect and clean up because there was a class right before makers mlub and a class coming in right after maker's club. So we had to deal with making sure that desks were cleared of food, cleared of materials.
But, you know, we've we've found a way to manage the materials and organize them in bins, in ways that made sense. It still can get a little messy, right? But anything interesting is messy if you kind of look at it at our tables right now, somebody might think that they look messy. But, you know, if you want interesting results, you need to get a little dirty.
Off camera: Do you use shoeboxes?
Arge: We use bins, plastic bins. The clear bins work best because you can kind of see what materials you have.
Off camera: So every student had a clear bin?
Arge: Yeah, we, every student had a clear bin last year, but we found that it was really hard to sort of pack those up. So this year we gave them Ziploc bagges, like the large gallon baggies, and that made it a little bit easier. But for the actual materials, we have clear bins for storing the materials that we're going to use throughout the year.
Accessibility Statement
All videos produced by the EDC include captions and downloadable transcripts.
To improve accessibility of our site we used a free video accessibility WordPress plug-in produced by Ford Foundation.
Lunch Club
Arge Panas describes how she runs maker club as a lunch time club for middle schoolers.
Transcript
So just going back to maker's club at our school, it's also evolved from a club to an enrichment course because the word really got out on the makers about what we do at makers club and we can only cap it to about 15 students only because it takes, it is way too, a lot of materials and printing takes a really long time.
So you really can't have, at least we weren't able to, have a larger scale club. But the word got out and we had a lot of interest. So in our school we have once a month we do an enrichment course where students select a course that they want to take, and they're going to take that enrichment course from now to the end of the school year.
Again, it's the third Friday. It's once a month, the third Friday of every month. So we had a really big interest and we have students that have now joined. So its students that are not in makers club that are joining the makers enrichment course. So it's really changed and evolved in our school depending on the interest of the kids.
So even though you'll be given a curriculum, please don't be afraid to, you know, really make it your own because that's that's where you get the biggest benefit.
Accessibility Statement
All videos produced by the EDC include captions and downloadable transcripts.
To improve accessibility of our site we used a free video accessibility WordPress plug-in produced by Ford Foundation.
Enrichment Class
Arge Panas describes how her school implements maker club during enrichment days, which take place each month.
Transcript
Subin: And we also introduced this world building curriculum to our summer camp program. So last year we also had Horizon and Nest together. That's when we piloted the World Building program. It was really nice because it was a small group, but it was very consistent and also we had luxury of having enough time to do any activities with the kids.
So we planned out having like 90 minutes per day. But you know what? They are so interested in they don't want to stop working on their project. So we could have like, “Okay, we're going to continue working on this!” because some days we had 2 hours, some days it was all day maker club activities. So it was really intense and kids really enjoyed it because it was four days a week, Monday through Thursday, for four weeks, they was able to, like they were able to fully experience and enjoy all the making process.
Accessibility Statement
All videos produced by the EDC include captions and downloadable transcripts.
To improve accessibility of our site we used a free video accessibility WordPress plug-in produced by Ford Foundation.
Summer Program
Maggie Cheng and Subin Kim talk about running maker club as a 4-week summer program. Learn more about the mentioned Horizon and Nest NYC programs here.
Life Skills, Neurodiversity and Making
Transcript
The other thing that was amazing about the makers club to me was that some of our kids have this really deep interest or talents that we never tap into in the school day. We never know what they might be thinking about or creating in their in their head if we don't give them an opportunity. And sometimes in the regular school day, there's just not time for them. It's just not time or the curriculum doesn't lend itself to that.
So for example, a few years ago we had a kid who was not really super engaged with school. He kind of did the minimum, I would say to get by and tay off the radar. And generally didn't seem that interested in school, but he was part of the makers club and we we asked him, the theme was games that students came up with, and he just had this fully fleshed out game in his head that had to do with memes, which was a big interest of his. And it just came pouring or flooding out.
And I know for me I never would have asked him or known that about him and he was so engaged with it. Worked tirelessly on the game in a way that in the classroom I never I never saw him engage in that in the same way. And he ended up creating this really complicated game that incorporated memes, which was an interest of his.
And I think it really just helped him so much to have a, an opportunity to really tap into his interests and kind of show what he could do and what he was thinking about. Probably sometimes during classes during the day, he probably was thinking about the game. And when we finally found out that's what he was into, it was like, “Oh, thanks for asking. I have a whole game ready to go!”, which is kind of amazing.
Accessibility Statement
All videos produced by the EDC include captions and downloadable transcripts.
To improve accessibility of our site we used a free video accessibility WordPress plug-in produced by Ford Foundation.
Engagement & Personal Interests
Kerry McCarthy tells a story of how a student who was not normally engaged in school became deeply engaged in creating a project in makers club.
Transcript
One thing that we did in our makers club this year was we did a gallery walk. It's probably towards the middle of the time we were working on the final projects because all the kids had these really cool projects, but they maybe weren't aware of what the other kids were working on. They might have been aware of the other kids at the table, but maybe not other kids in other places around the room or some of the some of our students who maybe keep to themselves more.
We had one student this year who doesn't talk to a lot of kids that often and when he came to makers club he would be working on his projects by himself, working really hard on it, and he made this really cool game, also a video game and also another kind of board game. And when we did the gallery walk, the other kids in the class started to really see what he was working on. And it was they were quite impressed with it and they had a lot of questions for him. And also they all wanted to try the game.
So that was a way for him to really interact. And you could see the delight in his eyes because he was working on it, but he hadn't really shared it yet. And when other kids started to play the game for him, I think it was a really great connection and it was a way for him to connect with other people.
The other great thing about the gallery walk is that the kids, they have a lot of respect for each other's projects and a lot of questions, interesting questions and also suggestions. If I were to do it again, I might even do it earlier in the process of the final project because they asked each other a lot of questions.
For example, one girl was trying to figure out how to make her ice cream cone look like it was strawberry ice cream, and the paint that she had tried to use, she first tried to use a marker and it just didn't look the way she wanted it to. And some of the other kids had ideas about mixing glue with paint and trying all these different things, which ultimately was what she did and was successful.
So I think giving them a chance to ask each other questions, give each other feedback sometimes get inspiration from other people's projects that they bring back to their own project. I think that was something that was really successful that we did this year.
Accessibility Statement
All videos produced by the EDC include captions and downloadable transcripts.
To improve accessibility of our site we used a free video accessibility WordPress plug-in produced by Ford Foundation.
Giving Feedback & Getting Inspired
Kerry McCarthy describes how she had students do a ‘gallery walk’ while they were working on final projects, which helped the students learn how to give and take constructive feedback and get inspiration from others.
Transcript
Maggie: We've seen a lot of examples this year and last year of students just learning daily life skills, right? When we talk about students with autism, we think about students we think about, well, at least in my experience, I have students that need to work on perspective taking or things such as flexible thinking, right? Or gross and fine motor skills. These are things that they're working on, whether in O.T. or in speech. These are things they're also working on in makers club. But instead of with an adult, they're doing this with kids their age, which is great.
So besides problem solving, we're also teaching them that it's okay to make mistakes. I mean, we've had many examples, right, where we had students that just struggle with making a mistake, but we teach them that it's completely okay. Just "What can you do now? Right? Can we restart? Can you, can you fix whatever it is that you're having an issue with? Where can we begin?"
And then hopefully that could transfer in the future in their daily lives.
Subin: So we always say, “Look, please make mistakes. That is where you learn and who knows that it will come out wonderfully, greatly. We, like, not like in your plan before, right?"
Accessibility Statement
All videos produced by the EDC include captions and downloadable transcripts.
To improve accessibility of our site we used a free video accessibility WordPress plug-in produced by Ford Foundation.
Making Mistakes & Solving Problems
Maggie Cheng and Subin Kim describe how makers club helps students become more comfortable making mistakes and solving problems.
Problem Solving
Transcript
Then we model. So somewhere between when we see like, okay, everyone's here. So we're like, okay, so today we’re going to model journal making. So we'll take about 5 minutes to just say this is what we're doing today. The key for us has been not solving every single problem that happens. We're going to model for you and after that you have to check in with your peers. You have to problem solve if your journal comes out sideways. That's just what it is. Make a new one if you're not satisfied. And that's okay.
Like I remember one of the students, he was like, he was, it was the first time that he was in makers and he was like, “But my journal, my journal is sideways!”. And I said, “Do you like like that or not”? And he's like, “No.” I said, “All right, make a new one”. And he was like, “Oh, like I can make a new one?” And that's okay. And some are like my journal sideways and this is perfect for me and that's okay. So again, those 5 minutes, is you're just modeling what the activity is going to be you're working out with, with them on any problem solving things that come up.
And then the other thing is that as you do the journal, you might the program, you might have returning members who remember these activities from last year, which has happened because they feel so free and so happy and they build these relationships for makers. So that's, once they go off to practice and to try out the activities, the expert makers, which we call them expert makers, they go around and they help each other out.
So this is when I started, earlier, I said that the social piece is just as important as the production. I feel that sometimes we're so focused on the production and make sure that everything's done. The social piece is just as important because if not, if you're the only one going around helping 20 students, you're going to get fatigued and you're going to feel like makers is overwhelming.
You cannot do this alone. And if you're working with someone that's perfect, you could work with the teacher. But it's great to see the students take ownership, take leadership skills and say, "Oh, I remember how to do this. You know, I can help you." Another thing is we say, “Ask three before you ask me.”, and they ask three people if they need help. And honestly, by the time they ask a third person, they figured it out because sometimes they huddle and it's like, "Oh no, you're doing like this. Oh, no, you do like that."
Accessibility Statement
All videos produced by the EDC include captions and downloadable transcripts.
To improve accessibility of our site we used a free video accessibility WordPress plug-in produced by Ford Foundation.
Building Independence
Experienced maker teacher Miriam Campos explains how important it is to have students solve problems for themselves. Students who have been in makers club before help their peers do the activities, and she tells all students to ask three peers before they ask a teacher for help.
Transcript
One of the things I loved about the makers club is sometimes when you think you have a problem, it actually becomes one of the greatest moments for learning in the clubs.
And for an example of this, is when we were doing the circuits with one of our clubs, we realized that we hadn't ordered the coin cell batteries, the small batteries that you use in the circuit to light up the light bulb. And we didn't we didn't have any. And it was a mistake. But the kids started, on their own, wondering if we could use the AA batteries to light up the LED lights.
And I really didn't know if you could. And none of the teachers knew if there was a way to do it. So the kids started kind of working together and different kids were working on their own, trying to figure out how we could get it lit up. And finally, one of the kids realized that the voltage was different on the coin cell and the AA.
So even though the AA batteries are bigger, their voltage is less. So they ended up taping together two double AA batteries and succeeded in lighting the light bulb. So it's kind of like the whole club was engaged in trying to solve the problem, which was a real problem because we definitely made a mistake by not ordering the coin cells.
And it was so satisfying, like for the whole club to just when the light bulb lit up, that kind of everybody had done a little piece to solve the problem. And we were all so excited, including the teachers. We were cheering that, “Wow, the light bulb went on!” and everybody was so happy and I think learned something about voltage, but also about like working together and about when you have a real problem, how you can try, try, try and figure it out and get success.
Accessibility Statement
All videos produced by the EDC include captions and downloadable transcripts.
To improve accessibility of our site we used a free video accessibility WordPress plug-in produced by Ford Foundation.
Students as Experts
Experienced maker teacher Kerry McCarthy shares a story about how her students figured out a solution to a problem that the facilitators did not know how to solve.
Transcript
Some of them, at the beginning of the club, may get really frustrated if something doesn't work. That's true of the circuits. When it doesn't light up, it can be really frustrating. But teaching kids that this is what scientists do, this is what engineers do. Things don't always work. You make a prototype. Sometimes it's a complete failure and then you try again.
I think that's another skill that that translates well into the classroom where some of our kids get really frustrated when things don't go their way, but it's just kind of going back and trying again, or sometimes even abandoning something and moving on to something else can be really important and really good for the kids.
Accessibility Statement
All videos produced by the EDC include captions and downloadable transcripts.
To improve accessibility of our site we used a free video accessibility WordPress plug-in produced by Ford Foundation.
Frustration & Problem Solving
Experienced maker teacher Kerry McCarthy describes how you can help students learn how to manage frustration by explaining that scientists and engineers also create many prototypes to work through problems.
All Insights
Curriculum, Tools, & Materials
Transcript
So last year our theme was food. This year we kind of we were flexible and we wanted them to create a world based on their own imagination. I think it's an amazing thing, right? We talked about this where it's an amazing thing to see students in general just to like use their imagination, think of their own creations, but then actually creating it and making it come to life. Like just seeing that happen. And it's just amazing.
Like, for example, on this slide where it says 2022-2023, this we gave, we gave students activities to create a 3D object for their world. So this student wanted to create some sort of world full of sea creatures. And so we gave him modeling clay and he created this beta fish, and it's super detailed and he's really proud of his work. So we're proud too.
And then on the following slide, we have this lovely student. He is an eighth grade Horizon student who imagines a world full of toys, right? He's so devastated that Toys"R"Us disappeared. So he wants to create his own Toys"R"Us. But something amazing about the student is he doesn't need to refer back to any images or anything. He just imagines it. He kind of just remembers how things look like. So, for example, in that first image, these are Angry Birds and he just created them basically based off of his memory. And on the right it is his interpretation of Mario, Super Mario.
But honestly, this is one of the students that if we give him an activity, sometimes he doesn't want to do the activity. He wants to make whatever he wants to make, and that's okay. We allow that because Makers Club is part of its it's just all about making things, right?
Sure, you don't have to follow what we're doing today, but maybe we stay flexible and we allow him to make whatever it is that he wants and then we'll somehow incorporate a motor in there. We’ll be like, okay, now let's add that motor. But he is the student that you saw that got really frustrated. But it's good because it teaches him these fine, I don't know if it's fine motor skills or something, but it teaches him that some things you just need to try again or you take a break, right? These are all life skills that they're learning in 90 minutes per once per week. So.
Accessibility Statement
All videos produced by the EDC include captions and downloadable transcripts.
To improve accessibility of our site we used a free video accessibility WordPress plug-in produced by Ford Foundation.
Flexibility is Key
Maggie Cheng and Subin Kim explain how they had a flexible approach to the curriculum, allowing students to pursue their strengths and interests.
Transcript
The student work. As you start to do things, you you should keep a few samples just as a jumpstart for the next group of students.
Because some of them get, they're so used to us telling them what to do and giving them steps. And you do step one, step two, step three, that, when you say like, “Just make anything!”, they get really anxious and nervous.
So sometimes we'll say, “Oh, look at what some people have done.” You don't want to give them too many because then they start to mimic, because a lot of times they feel like, “Oh, this is the right way to do it? This is how we have to do it.” So, but you want to say like, “Oh, guess what? This person did a journal like this and this person did a journal like this. But you can combine them." You can use them any way that you want them to use. So, so we always keep student work and you see some of the work samples there.
If you don't have the actual student work. One other great way to do it is to show them the pictures of last year or prior years, because that way you're not. They're looking at the pictures and they're getting inspired, but they're not looking at something tangible that they can just copy. Like they actually just watching something like, “Oh, look, that's what they did in the, when they went to present or when they were working on their robots or their bots.”
And it's not like, “Oh, let me go grab!”, because that's the other thing they'll say like, “Oh, I want to go grab it!” And they want to do the same thing. Some of the kids do that. So you, pictures are better in that sense, but some of them actually need to touch it and feel that and look under it and see how the child problem-solved.
So there's pros and cons to both.
Accessibility Statement
All videos produced by the EDC include captions and downloadable transcripts.
To improve accessibility of our site we used a free video accessibility WordPress plug-in produced by Ford Foundation.
Save Student Work
Miriam Campos suggests keeping examples or taking photos of student work to share with future makers. This gives them ideas about what they might make.
Transcript
Um, one of the things I think probably a lot of teachers are wondering about is using the tools with some, of with some of our kids. A hammer and nails, for example, or a hot glue gun, which could be dangerous in the wrong hands.
But I have found in my experience with Makers Club that you you present the tools to the kids with a lot of reverence and teach them to really respect the tools and the kids are really kind of thrilled that they're being entrusted with the tools. They kind of like, "Wow, you're giving me an actual hammer and a nail!"
And we kind of teach them to be like really alert and careful, and we maybe don't give everybody in the class a hammer at the same moment, especially when we're first starting, so that we just kind of practice how to be careful, how to be respectful of yourself, be safe yourself, but also of all the people around you. And and the same with the hot glue gun. We, we teach them really well how to use it, how to take care of it. And I think the kids kind of feel really excited and they’re careful because they feel like they want to be able to use those tools and they know they need to be respectful of the tools or probably they're not going to get to use them again.
So we've always had, we've never had an incident with any of the tools. But I think if you had kids that were that had more challenges, maybe you could do one at a time with the hammer, for example, and the glue gun if you needed to.
But by the time, after we train the kids and we just put the tools out and we'll let them get, we've always let them get a glue gun if they need it…they get it themselves and after we sort of taught them how to take care of the tools they're able to do it independently.
Accessibility Statement
All videos produced by the EDC include captions and downloadable transcripts.
To improve accessibility of our site we used a free video accessibility WordPress plug-in produced by Ford Foundation.
Introducing Tools
Kerry McCarthy explains how to introduce tools like hot glue guns and hammers into the program so that students treat them with respect and use them safely.
Transcript
How can we make this sustainable? So these are some tips that have helped me, for the past seven years. And one of them is organization.
So organizing the materials based on activities. So all materials for an activity is in one spot. You will have about seven bins that you can use year after year.
So the next question that some people ask is where do you find the spot to hold these bins? Where you have your materials such as scissors, glue sticks, you know, cups, plates. Just find any spot that's going to have to be the traveling maker’s club, because one time we have a closet and then next time they use a closet. But if you ask your administration if there's one little spot where you could have your, your things, they will likely provide it for you.
So just again, we've been in, one year, we had a whole classroom and it was like “Oh, this is the makers classroom!” And then we had part of the classroom and then we had to make an exodus out of the classroom and to a closet. But it's always survive. So I say have seven bins where you're just like, “Oh, all of this is the things that I need for makers, for, to make a journal.” And you go and you get it. And that's, that's everything you need there. This is for the second activity. This is for the third activity.
We've tried different ways where, like, you organize the materials by, like, alphabetical order and the scissors and or like, everything and any cutting materials. And we found that that took up too much time because then you're like, “Oh, I need the scissors. And I need this.” Even though it was beautiful to organize it in alphabetical order, it wasn't the most practical. The most practical has been “Oh, these are all the things I need for a journal. I’m bringing it out.” There are some materials that you will always use, but it will be easy to remember. Like, “Oh, the last time that I used the scissors was when I did the journals, so let me just go to the journal bin, the the bin where we create the journals.”
And a lot of the things that you use for the first session, which is creating these journals you will use throughout the session. So you always know that's your go to bin.
Accessibility Statement
All videos produced by the EDC include captions and downloadable transcripts.
To improve accessibility of our site we used a free video accessibility WordPress plug-in produced by Ford Foundation.
Organizing Supplies
Practical tips from Miriam Campos on how to organize and store maker club materials for each of the activities.
Transcript
The other thing I would say is that it's really important to give the kids ownership of the club.
So one idea that we came up with was training the eighth graders to take care of all the supplies. So taking them out and putting them away at the beginning and the end of the club. And we had a closet with a lock so it kind of almost was like a ceremony of, I'm going to give you the combination of the lock. And now you have this responsibility. You're going to take out supplies for the club and distribute them to the other kids in the club. And then at the end of the club, you're going to put them away, you're going to lock the closet. And it really was a smashing success. The eighth graders felt like really like important that they were sort of entrusted with this, and then they took the job really seriously and we kind of pumped up the seventh graders towards the end, like next year we're going to pass the combination to you and you're going to be in charge.
Before. before we did that, it was a really huge undertaking for the teachers getting all the supplies out, putting them away. And and once we turned it over to the eighth grade, I think it really made them feel like this is our club and our materials, our supplies. And then it also for, as a teacher, it just made my job so much easier.
Somewhere along the way, somebody gave us the idea to give each kid their own bin like a small, almost like a shoebox size, bin then we put their name on and they keep their sort of weekly supplies. They keep their notebook in there, and any little projects they're working on. That is a tip that I wish I had thought of my first year before. We used to be scrambling around trying to find everybody's projects and it just saved us a lot of time and effort. I would really recommend we get a little bin for each kid, put their name on it, and then the eighth graders pass those out when we start our club.
Accessibility Statement
All videos produced by the EDC include captions and downloadable transcripts.
To improve accessibility of our site we used a free video accessibility WordPress plug-in produced by Ford Foundation.
Fostering Responsibility
Kerry McCarthy describes how she gave her 8th graders responsibility for taking care of the materials, which fostered their sense of ownership.
Transcript
Subin: So these are our 3-D printing session. Left side is the before slide, the object. [unclear] Okay. I printed out the way they designed. Came out like this and I showed the kid. “This is your design. Did you design like this? This is your creation.” And she said, “No.” “Okay, let's see why it came out like this.”
So she figured out that, “Oh, I didn't design on the work plane.” It was actually in the space, in the air. So when 3D printer printed out, it's all printing melting those plastic filaments in the air came out like this. Well we kept it because that’s a great example before, the mistake. So that's a mistake part we learn from mistakes. After part is what really actually that was. So she made sure that the design is on the work plane then it nicely came out all layered correctly.
Maggie: So we do spend a lot of time like teaching, not a lot but a good 5 to 10 minutes, making sure that students understand what an overhang is and how we can create a strong base for printing 3D objects.
So keeping these mistakes is a great, is a great example to just show them what could happen. So sort of like trial and error with these students. And we don't want to tell them what to do, but we want them to also like see how they're designing and how it could come out.
Subin: So it's a great experience.
Maggie: Yeah. And so, yeah, we we continue to encourage students to always make mistakes because it teaches them to like problem-solve and just “What can you do?” “What can you problem-solve when you do make this mistake?” “Is just the end of the world or is this a level five or is this just a level one, and then you can rethink, right?”
Accessibility Statement
All videos produced by the EDC include captions and downloadable transcripts.
To improve accessibility of our site we used a free video accessibility WordPress plug-in produced by Ford Foundation.
3D Printing & Tinkercad
Maggie Cheng and Subin Kim explain why they encourage students to make mistakes with 3D printing in order to develop their problem-solving skills.
Maker Club Formats
Transcript
Arge: So we weren't able to do it as an after-school because a lot of our students, particularly our Nest students, do take the school bus. So we opened it up as a lunch club.
So we meet twice a week, Wednesdays and Fridays, and our students grab their lunch. They come on up, they spend the first 10 minutes or so socializing, eating their lunch, and then, you know, they'll Ms. Locure and I will have the materials out and then they'll get right into working on their on their projects.
One of the things that we struggled with, because it was a lunch club, is making things work in a 45 minute period. And one of the greatest difficulties was managing materials. So the first couple of years, and Ms. Martin would join us sometimes and, you know, I would be running around trying to first lay out the materials and then really running around like crazy, trying to collect and clean up because there was a class right before makers mlub and a class coming in right after maker's club. So we had to deal with making sure that desks were cleared of food, cleared of materials.
But, you know, we've we've found a way to manage the materials and organize them in bins, in ways that made sense. It still can get a little messy, right? But anything interesting is messy if you kind of look at it at our tables right now, somebody might think that they look messy. But, you know, if you want interesting results, you need to get a little dirty.
Off camera: Do you use shoeboxes?
Arge: We use bins, plastic bins. The clear bins work best because you can kind of see what materials you have.
Off camera: So every student had a clear bin?
Arge: Yeah, we, every student had a clear bin last year, but we found that it was really hard to sort of pack those up. So this year we gave them Ziploc bagges, like the large gallon baggies, and that made it a little bit easier. But for the actual materials, we have clear bins for storing the materials that we're going to use throughout the year.
Accessibility Statement
All videos produced by the EDC include captions and downloadable transcripts.
To improve accessibility of our site we used a free video accessibility WordPress plug-in produced by Ford Foundation.
Lunch Club
Arge Panas describes how she runs maker club as a lunch time club for middle schoolers.
Transcript
So just going back to maker's club at our school, it's also evolved from a club to an enrichment course because the word really got out on the makers about what we do at makers club and we can only cap it to about 15 students only because it takes, it is way too, a lot of materials and printing takes a really long time.
So you really can't have, at least we weren't able to, have a larger scale club. But the word got out and we had a lot of interest. So in our school we have once a month we do an enrichment course where students select a course that they want to take, and they're going to take that enrichment course from now to the end of the school year.
Again, it's the third Friday. It's once a month, the third Friday of every month. So we had a really big interest and we have students that have now joined. So its students that are not in makers club that are joining the makers enrichment course. So it's really changed and evolved in our school depending on the interest of the kids.
So even though you'll be given a curriculum, please don't be afraid to, you know, really make it your own because that's that's where you get the biggest benefit.
Accessibility Statement
All videos produced by the EDC include captions and downloadable transcripts.
To improve accessibility of our site we used a free video accessibility WordPress plug-in produced by Ford Foundation.
Enrichment Class
Arge Panas describes how her school implements maker club during enrichment days, which take place each month.
Transcript
Subin: And we also introduced this world building curriculum to our summer camp program. So last year we also had Horizon and Nest together. That's when we piloted the World Building program. It was really nice because it was a small group, but it was very consistent and also we had luxury of having enough time to do any activities with the kids.
So we planned out having like 90 minutes per day. But you know what? They are so interested in they don't want to stop working on their project. So we could have like, “Okay, we're going to continue working on this!” because some days we had 2 hours, some days it was all day maker club activities. So it was really intense and kids really enjoyed it because it was four days a week, Monday through Thursday, for four weeks, they was able to, like they were able to fully experience and enjoy all the making process.
Accessibility Statement
All videos produced by the EDC include captions and downloadable transcripts.
To improve accessibility of our site we used a free video accessibility WordPress plug-in produced by Ford Foundation.
Summer Program
Maggie Cheng and Subin Kim talk about running maker club as a 4-week summer program. Learn more about the mentioned Horizon and Nest NYC programs here.
Life Skills, Neurodiversity and Making
Transcript
The other thing that was amazing about the makers club to me was that some of our kids have this really deep interest or talents that we never tap into in the school day. We never know what they might be thinking about or creating in their in their head if we don't give them an opportunity. And sometimes in the regular school day, there's just not time for them. It's just not time or the curriculum doesn't lend itself to that.
So for example, a few years ago we had a kid who was not really super engaged with school. He kind of did the minimum, I would say to get by and tay off the radar. And generally didn't seem that interested in school, but he was part of the makers club and we we asked him, the theme was games that students came up with, and he just had this fully fleshed out game in his head that had to do with memes, which was a big interest of his. And it just came pouring or flooding out.
And I know for me I never would have asked him or known that about him and he was so engaged with it. Worked tirelessly on the game in a way that in the classroom I never I never saw him engage in that in the same way. And he ended up creating this really complicated game that incorporated memes, which was an interest of his.
And I think it really just helped him so much to have a, an opportunity to really tap into his interests and kind of show what he could do and what he was thinking about. Probably sometimes during classes during the day, he probably was thinking about the game. And when we finally found out that's what he was into, it was like, “Oh, thanks for asking. I have a whole game ready to go!”, which is kind of amazing.
Accessibility Statement
All videos produced by the EDC include captions and downloadable transcripts.
To improve accessibility of our site we used a free video accessibility WordPress plug-in produced by Ford Foundation.
Engagement & Personal Interests
Kerry McCarthy tells a story of how a student who was not normally engaged in school became deeply engaged in creating a project in makers club.
Transcript
One thing that we did in our makers club this year was we did a gallery walk. It's probably towards the middle of the time we were working on the final projects because all the kids had these really cool projects, but they maybe weren't aware of what the other kids were working on. They might have been aware of the other kids at the table, but maybe not other kids in other places around the room or some of the some of our students who maybe keep to themselves more.
We had one student this year who doesn't talk to a lot of kids that often and when he came to makers club he would be working on his projects by himself, working really hard on it, and he made this really cool game, also a video game and also another kind of board game. And when we did the gallery walk, the other kids in the class started to really see what he was working on. And it was they were quite impressed with it and they had a lot of questions for him. And also they all wanted to try the game.
So that was a way for him to really interact. And you could see the delight in his eyes because he was working on it, but he hadn't really shared it yet. And when other kids started to play the game for him, I think it was a really great connection and it was a way for him to connect with other people.
The other great thing about the gallery walk is that the kids, they have a lot of respect for each other's projects and a lot of questions, interesting questions and also suggestions. If I were to do it again, I might even do it earlier in the process of the final project because they asked each other a lot of questions.
For example, one girl was trying to figure out how to make her ice cream cone look like it was strawberry ice cream, and the paint that she had tried to use, she first tried to use a marker and it just didn't look the way she wanted it to. And some of the other kids had ideas about mixing glue with paint and trying all these different things, which ultimately was what she did and was successful.
So I think giving them a chance to ask each other questions, give each other feedback sometimes get inspiration from other people's projects that they bring back to their own project. I think that was something that was really successful that we did this year.
Accessibility Statement
All videos produced by the EDC include captions and downloadable transcripts.
To improve accessibility of our site we used a free video accessibility WordPress plug-in produced by Ford Foundation.
Giving Feedback & Getting Inspired
Kerry McCarthy describes how she had students do a ‘gallery walk’ while they were working on final projects, which helped the students learn how to give and take constructive feedback and get inspiration from others.
Transcript
Maggie: We've seen a lot of examples this year and last year of students just learning daily life skills, right? When we talk about students with autism, we think about students we think about, well, at least in my experience, I have students that need to work on perspective taking or things such as flexible thinking, right? Or gross and fine motor skills. These are things that they're working on, whether in O.T. or in speech. These are things they're also working on in makers club. But instead of with an adult, they're doing this with kids their age, which is great.
So besides problem solving, we're also teaching them that it's okay to make mistakes. I mean, we've had many examples, right, where we had students that just struggle with making a mistake, but we teach them that it's completely okay. Just "What can you do now? Right? Can we restart? Can you, can you fix whatever it is that you're having an issue with? Where can we begin?"
And then hopefully that could transfer in the future in their daily lives.
Subin: So we always say, “Look, please make mistakes. That is where you learn and who knows that it will come out wonderfully, greatly. We, like, not like in your plan before, right?"
Accessibility Statement
All videos produced by the EDC include captions and downloadable transcripts.
To improve accessibility of our site we used a free video accessibility WordPress plug-in produced by Ford Foundation.
Making Mistakes & Solving Problems
Maggie Cheng and Subin Kim describe how makers club helps students become more comfortable making mistakes and solving problems.
Problem Solving
Transcript
Then we model. So somewhere between when we see like, okay, everyone's here. So we're like, okay, so today we’re going to model journal making. So we'll take about 5 minutes to just say this is what we're doing today. The key for us has been not solving every single problem that happens. We're going to model for you and after that you have to check in with your peers. You have to problem solve if your journal comes out sideways. That's just what it is. Make a new one if you're not satisfied. And that's okay.
Like I remember one of the students, he was like, he was, it was the first time that he was in makers and he was like, “But my journal, my journal is sideways!”. And I said, “Do you like like that or not”? And he's like, “No.” I said, “All right, make a new one”. And he was like, “Oh, like I can make a new one?” And that's okay. And some are like my journal sideways and this is perfect for me and that's okay. So again, those 5 minutes, is you're just modeling what the activity is going to be you're working out with, with them on any problem solving things that come up.
And then the other thing is that as you do the journal, you might the program, you might have returning members who remember these activities from last year, which has happened because they feel so free and so happy and they build these relationships for makers. So that's, once they go off to practice and to try out the activities, the expert makers, which we call them expert makers, they go around and they help each other out.
So this is when I started, earlier, I said that the social piece is just as important as the production. I feel that sometimes we're so focused on the production and make sure that everything's done. The social piece is just as important because if not, if you're the only one going around helping 20 students, you're going to get fatigued and you're going to feel like makers is overwhelming.
You cannot do this alone. And if you're working with someone that's perfect, you could work with the teacher. But it's great to see the students take ownership, take leadership skills and say, "Oh, I remember how to do this. You know, I can help you." Another thing is we say, “Ask three before you ask me.”, and they ask three people if they need help. And honestly, by the time they ask a third person, they figured it out because sometimes they huddle and it's like, "Oh no, you're doing like this. Oh, no, you do like that."
Accessibility Statement
All videos produced by the EDC include captions and downloadable transcripts.
To improve accessibility of our site we used a free video accessibility WordPress plug-in produced by Ford Foundation.
Building Independence
Experienced maker teacher Miriam Campos explains how important it is to have students solve problems for themselves. Students who have been in makers club before help their peers do the activities, and she tells all students to ask three peers before they ask a teacher for help.
Transcript
One of the things I loved about the makers club is sometimes when you think you have a problem, it actually becomes one of the greatest moments for learning in the clubs.
And for an example of this, is when we were doing the circuits with one of our clubs, we realized that we hadn't ordered the coin cell batteries, the small batteries that you use in the circuit to light up the light bulb. And we didn't we didn't have any. And it was a mistake. But the kids started, on their own, wondering if we could use the AA batteries to light up the LED lights.
And I really didn't know if you could. And none of the teachers knew if there was a way to do it. So the kids started kind of working together and different kids were working on their own, trying to figure out how we could get it lit up. And finally, one of the kids realized that the voltage was different on the coin cell and the AA.
So even though the AA batteries are bigger, their voltage is less. So they ended up taping together two double AA batteries and succeeded in lighting the light bulb. So it's kind of like the whole club was engaged in trying to solve the problem, which was a real problem because we definitely made a mistake by not ordering the coin cells.
And it was so satisfying, like for the whole club to just when the light bulb lit up, that kind of everybody had done a little piece to solve the problem. And we were all so excited, including the teachers. We were cheering that, “Wow, the light bulb went on!” and everybody was so happy and I think learned something about voltage, but also about like working together and about when you have a real problem, how you can try, try, try and figure it out and get success.
Accessibility Statement
All videos produced by the EDC include captions and downloadable transcripts.
To improve accessibility of our site we used a free video accessibility WordPress plug-in produced by Ford Foundation.
Students as Experts
Experienced maker teacher Kerry McCarthy shares a story about how her students figured out a solution to a problem that the facilitators did not know how to solve.
Transcript
Some of them, at the beginning of the club, may get really frustrated if something doesn't work. That's true of the circuits. When it doesn't light up, it can be really frustrating. But teaching kids that this is what scientists do, this is what engineers do. Things don't always work. You make a prototype. Sometimes it's a complete failure and then you try again.
I think that's another skill that that translates well into the classroom where some of our kids get really frustrated when things don't go their way, but it's just kind of going back and trying again, or sometimes even abandoning something and moving on to something else can be really important and really good for the kids.
Accessibility Statement
All videos produced by the EDC include captions and downloadable transcripts.
To improve accessibility of our site we used a free video accessibility WordPress plug-in produced by Ford Foundation.
Frustration & Problem Solving
Experienced maker teacher Kerry McCarthy describes how you can help students learn how to manage frustration by explaining that scientists and engineers also create many prototypes to work through problems.
