[aisle] STEAM PD?

[Tonya Tjarks]

In my previous and current school, I was the one who set up the Makerspace
in the library, and part of the deal of me getting to go to outside PD like
the AISLE conference (and IDEAcon back in the day when there were such
things as enough subs to go around) was that I come back and present what I
learned to the rest of the staff (and totally shameless plug here--I
usually try to present at AISLE conferences something similar to what I
want to present to staff and that way they HAVE to let me go since I am
presenting and representing our district. Plus it's like a practice run for
presenting. Total win win...). I was also fortunate enough to be able to
visit a couple other schools many years ago to see what they had, and our
tech guy came with and was so impressed with what we saw that now we have
more Digital Learning Coaches in the district, and they actually help with
the PD a lot. There are a lot of books that I read to get an idea of what I
wanted in our space, and now that I am familiar with the materials that we
chose it's much easier to incorporate them into lesson planning. For
example, we've been noticing a lot that our students have a REALLY hard
time working with other students (not their fault-- just one more pandemic
issue to add to the heap), so a lot of my lessons have been structured
around team building. This week we read the Monarch nominee The Camping
Trip and then I put a different set of materials at each table (Magnatiles,
IO blocks, LEGOs, KEVA planks, and Lincoln Logs) and students have to work
with their tablemates to create a camping scene. We read Honeybee and
students had to work together to create a bee dance for an Ozobot to
follow. After reading Sumo Kitty, we used chain reaction kits to build
better mouse traps. We have lots of non-Maker lessons, too, but one thing
I've found is that if students learn how to use these materials in my
class, then teachers are more likely to incorporate them into their own
lessons since the students already have the knowledge on how to use the
materials so it's more seamless. I try to post a lot of what we do on
Twitter if you want to see more (@tonyatjarks).

If you have more questions, feel free to email me off-list.

Tonya Tjarks
Library Media Specialist
Melzer Elementary School
Morton Grove, IL
ttjarks at emsd63.org

On Thu, Mar 3, 2022 at 7:49 AM Tracy Hubbard via AISLE <
aisle at list.railslibraries.info> wrote:

> Hello,
> Our district has been talking about STEAM/Maker. I am interested in
> learning what professional development districts have done when/as they set
> up Maker spaces.
>
> Any references? Any best practices to consider?
>
> Any thoughts on how to have maker spaces and still a 'rich' literary
> experience?
>
> Thanks!
>
> --
> *Tracy Hubbard*
>
> *(She, Her, Hers)*
> Library Media Specialist
> Rhodes Library Website
> <https://sites.google.com/district65.net/rhodeslibrary/home>
> 847-859-8450 x5310
> FAX 847-674-3926
> Dr. Bessie Rhodes School of Global Studies
> 3701 W. Davis
> Skokie, IL 60076
> --
> Needs Survey for Rhodes Families/Encuesta de Necesidades Rhodes
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>
> *"Once you learn to read you will be forever free"* Frederick Douglass
>
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