At Maker Ed, we believe that in order to have an impact across the country it is important to also partner with educators locally. One of our local connections is with Achieve Academy, a TK-6 public charter school in Oakland, CA. At our second workshop, we engaged in a Tinkering to Discover lesson focused on imagining change we would like to see in the community in which the school is located, Oakland. This lesson integrated zine-making, social justice themes, and English Language Arts content based on expressed educator need and interest from feedback at our first workshop. Read more…
Making to Learn About the Civil Rights Movement through Sewing and Textiles
Our approach to professional development is intentionally designed to be experiential, where educators actively participate from the perspectives of their learners as a way to reflect on their own practice, facilitation, and design of maker centered learning experiences. To support educators from a variety of environments, we also integrate making experiences that represent a diversity of subject areas and media of making—making sure to develop authentic tasks in meaningful contexts. During a recent Approaches to Maker Education workshop, we combined a history lesson plan with sewing and textiles. Read more…