Get ready for the second annual ITEM Spring Conference. The conference will take place on April 30th at Hopkins North Junior High.
With the motto “Reimagine Learning” teachers, educational leaders, technology integrationists, and media specialists come together to talk about makerspaces, learning spaces, and the future of the media center.
If your students, staff, and teachers think of your school media center as their third place, that is a very cool thing. But, what does it mean?
Quite simply, home is your first place, work or school is your second place, and your third place is where you go to “hang out” with friends, collaborate with your peers, where you meet for quiet discussion or friendly debate. The tricky bit is….can a school media center be a third place when it is also part of a second place. The answer is yes! The following article tells you how, with examples and additional readings too. Read the full article here.
Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/lfpv7xn, licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
Here is a wonderful list of one school’s most valuable tools for their makerspace. Kevin Jarrett, middle school teacher from Northfield, New Jersey explains, “A true makerspace is defined not by what’s in it but rather by what comes out of it: projects, experiences, artifacts, and learning. The tools are just a means to an end.”
Here is just a sample of some of their important tools for both large and small budgets:
1. Writeable desk surfaces
2. Hot glue guns
3. littleBits™ Modules
4. Dollar store items
5. Shop aprons and goggles
6. Quadrille-ruled pads/journals
Sometimes you just need an idea to get you started. Are you looking for Makerspace ideas? Then look no further than CMLE’s new Makerspace LibGuide! We’ve worked hard over the summer to finalize the lists and format them (not to overwhelm). Divided into 9 different categories, we’ve create lists of ideas that will hopefully get you and your library started! From Food to Programming its time to let the ideas flow!
Did we miss a great Makerspace idea? Tell us about it! On the Libguide, just click on the green plus sign next to the Submit link in the Description box. Then we’ll add it to the list!
Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/l92kuy3, licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
What’s a PirateBox/LibraryBox you ask? From Byrne: “The primary stated purpose… is to provide a way for people to access files without needing to communicate with an Internet or network server to get to those files.” So instead of swapping USB drives to move content from computer to computer, or being dependent on the internet or a network, you can use one of these Boxes!
Both of the Boxes take an inexpensive router, a USB flash drive, and a little know-how around the use of a Secure SHell (SSH) session to set up.
Byrne suggests using them to offer free or public-domain electronic books, or even “planted in your Makerspace, it could become a place where works-in-progress are stored.” Might we suggest using it to store all of your Pirates of the Caribbean fan fiction. Check out the LibraryBox video:
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Get ready for the second annual ITEM Spring Conference. The conference will take place on April 30th at Hopkins North Junior High.
