Over the last month at Grass Valley Elementary in Oakland, CA, Maker VISTA members Ignacia and Dylan have started facilitating students’ individual project work, and have started to implement a system so that all of the participating students can schedule specific time to work in the school’s makerspace, the Wonder Workshop. Some of the projects begun so far have included a castle, a train, and a rug. Students have also submitted their plans to create a robot and projects that incorporate movement, having piqued their curiosity with more simple “gateway” maker activities. Dylan and Ignacia look forward this new and increasing opportunity to teach students about circuits, motors, and generators.

In order to better document making in the Wonder Workshop, Ignacia and Dylan have been taking more photos of student work while it’s in progress, and asking students not only to submit a plan of what they want to make, but also to explain why they want to make it. Pictures and quotes are being collected to later celebrate great projects that have been completed and demonstrate ongoing moments of learning.

This month, Maker VISTA members Ignacia and Dylan are engaging with questions educators have around:

• How do we scale projects according to grade level?
• How can we incorporate making into classroom curriculum so we can meet core standards?
• How can we use limited resources to create quality projects?