5 Astonishing Reasons Every Classroom Needs a MakerSpace in School
Makerspace and the maker movement is a rapidly growing trend in schools across the country, and it is taking education by storm with new things and new skills.
Most Makerspaces can exist in the school library or in spaces designed for school makerspaces. However, I don’t feel it should be limited to these areas in a school. Although I think maker space is awesome in the Media Center, but why not have one in every classroom?
Having just come out of the primary classroom after 17 years, I decided to give being a Media Specialist a try. The first thing I did was research the best way to make a Media Center come alive with creative thinking and different ways to think and learn. Needless to say, my new Media Center was anything but NEW! It was a disaster, and it needed a 911 makeover that included project-based learning, a maker mindset, young people doing hands-on learning, and a growth mindset.
After cleaning up A LOT, I began to find information on how to implement things that brought my kids in and kept them there. The first thing I tried was a chalk table focusing on the design process. So much fun! Next came the crafting of a Makerspace. I found incorporating a Makerspace to be an astonishing addition in a new way!
What is a Makerspace?
So this is when you might be thinking, What is a Makerspace?
A Makerspace is a place where students can gather to create, invent, tinker, explore, and discover using a variety of tools and materials. In a nutshell, it is an astonishing place to think and learn. Makerspace is ideal for problem solving and creating projects.
The thing I love most about a Makerspace is it can be anything. There are no limits, only possibilities. It is an environment that is only restricted by one’s imagination. It is a wonder of discovery. In my Media Center, it brought kids in. That was my initial good idea- to get them there and want to be there! I wanted them to see that this place in their school was built for them- to read, to learn, to think, to be protected, nourished, and loved. A place to celebrate all types of learners.
That is the beauty of a Makerspace. It takes every subject and brings it to life. It brings each grade level to life and offers opportunities to practice problem-solving skills and produce creative projects.
One of my favorite quotes from research on Makerspace-
Makerspaces come in all shapes and sizes, but they all serve as a gathering point for tools, projects, mentors, and expertise. A collection of tools does not define a Makerspace. Rather, we define it by what it enables: Making.
The Makerspace Playbook
So really, anything goes.
Having seen the power of a Makerspace in a Media Center, I think it can easily be converted into the classroom and should be. With all the educational mandates and expectations, kids still need time to create, wonder, discover, focus on their own interests, explore new ideas, and take ownership of their own learning.
5 Astonishing Reasons Every Classroom Needs a Classroom MakerSpace
1. Makerspace Inspires Creativity
The most important quality of a makerspace is that it encourages creativity. This can be done with a space full of hand tools, materials, and finished projects. The culture in a space should support the idea that anything is possible.
Anything goes in a Makerspace. Kids can create with just about any type of material in their free time or structured makerspace activities. Being creative allows kids to think of new ideas and different possibilities for the first time.
2. Makerspace Encourages Problem-Solving and Critical Thinking
I feel like soft skills, and student learning is being practiced by accident. I love moments when kids are learning, and they don’t even realize it! Yes, metacognitive thinking is vital, but sometimes you must hook them. Makerspaces do that. They draw kids in. Kids want to think critically and problem-solve, whether that is with pipe cleaners, 3-D printers, or design projects. They love being challenged when it feels like play.
3. Makerspace Provides Hands-On Learning
A Makerspace is a metaphor for a unique learning environment that encourages tinkering, play, and open-ended exploration for all.
~Laura Fleming, author of Worlds of Making
Makerspace mixes all aspects of STEM- Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math and sprinkles it with hands-on experiences, imagination, and discovery with a wide range of activities. It truly can be engaging to the senses for all students including students with special needs and our english language learners.
The beauty of encouraging hands-on learning is how this style of learning is so impactful for children who think outside of the box. When bringing literature into the mix, you can also capture all learning styles and topics in even just one school day.
Makerspaces provide hands-on, creative ways to encourage students to design, experiment, build, and invent as they deeply engage in science, engineering, and tinkering.
Jennifer Cooper, Designing a School Makerspace (Edutopia)
4. Makerspace Motivates Reluctant Learners in K-12 Schools, Classrooms, and School Libraries
Motivating children who don't love to learn is one of my favorite benefits of a makerspace.
Children have become reluctant learners. Their natural curiosity makes them a lover of learning. Yet, sometimes this love is stifled in the way in which learning is presented and assessed. We are finding more and more that kids are avoiding school. If you want to read more about my thoughts about education, be sure to read A Letter To My Daughter: How An Education System and I Let Her Down.
What do you do in a Makerspace? The simple answer is you make things. Things in which you are curious. Things that spring from your imagination that inspire you. The informal, playful atmosphere allows learning to unfold, rather than conform to a rigid agenda. Making, rather than consuming is the focus. It is the craft, engineering, technology, and wonder-driven.
5. Makerspace Fosters Collaboration With a Focus on Students' Interests
Makerspaces are collaborative learning environments where people come together to share materials and learn new skills… [they] are not necessarily born out of a specific set of materials or spaces, but rather a mindset of community partnership, collaboration, and creation.
Library as Incubator Project
The beauty of a Makerspace is we move away from competition and move more to collaboration, an important skill that will benefit students for life. Societies thrive on collaboration. We are constantly putting kids in situations where they are competing.
Want to start a Makerspace in your learning environment? Click here for a free Makerspace Start-Up Kit.
Why not look closely at how kids think, learn, and live?
Makerspace is a powerful catalyst for synergy- a better way of learning and co-existing.
Learning by doing, creating, collaborating, and hands-on discovery, such as in a Makerspace, is just one step closer to making education personal for the people in it. It captures all types of learners, even our most reluctant.
Makerspace is a way to customize education to the needs of our students.
