How Our Students Presented Library Innovation Spaces

I'm very excited to have Kaitlyn Price (@Kait_Price11), LHS Teacher Librarian, join me in this article about our recent adventures. We will share how our journey helped us learn that there are students in the library (and everywhere else in the school) that are just waiting to have to have their voices heard. These events truly changed our thinking.

Dawson Education Cooperative Visit (Stony)

We had an opportunity to host a training for teacher librarians in our area through the Dawson Education Cooperative. We were asked to show our newly renovated library facility, teach Breakout EDU, and show our innovation spaces. The schedule was as follows:

9:00           Welcome, introductions, and library tour

9:30           Breakout EDU puzzles

10:30-10:40 Break

10:45          Breakout EDU Discussion and Breakout EDU Digital

11:00          Skype, Mystery Skype, and Skype Translator

11:30          Makerspace resources

11:55          Students share Makerspace projects

12:15-12:50 Lunch in the library and debrief

12:55-1:20   Students share Minecraft EDU and Coding

1:30            Wrap up and depart

The librarians seemed to really enjoy navigating through our Breakout EDU puzzles. Most of them had no prior experience with the activity. There were approximately 40 attendees. We decided to set up 2 boxes in each of our two large library facilities, and we divided everyone into four groups. It took participants about an hour to complete the session.

Following this, we shared about how we are using Skype and Mystery Skype to connect our learners. In addition, we demonstrated Skype Translator through a video of a previous connection with my educator friend (and MIEExpert) in Spain, Angels Soriano.

A Powerful Minecraft Presentation (Stony)

After these sessions, Kaitlyn presented about our many new makerspace resources. Kaitlyn invited one of our sophomore students, Krystyna, to present about Minecraft. I was very inspired by the excitement that Krystyna projected while she was presenting. Everyone was very interested in her demonstration and description of Minecraft.

Following the presentation, the group discussed the events of the day and departed. Afterward, Kaitlyn and I decided to give our learners more of a voice in another upcoming presentation. We had already been contacted by the South Central Service Cooperative about a library visit and similar sessions.

South Central Service Cooperative Visit (Kaitlyn)

Throughout the week, I spoke with students about the possibility of presenting makerspace items to our visitors. The students were thrilled. As the day approached, there were 10 students preparing their skill (and nerves) to present to the South Central Cooperative. The students would be presenting things such as Spheros, many types of robots, Google cardboard, 3d printing, SketchUp, Minecraft, and jewelry making. There were 10 attendees total made up of library media specialists and employees of the cooperative.

Students Take the Mic (Kaitlyn)

The students took turns presenting their material. Krystyna presented first. She is a 10th grade student that loves all things robotics. She demonstrated how the Ozobots and Robotics Smart Machines work. Krystyna had spent a lot of time working with and coding these robots. These two things are part of our school Makerspace. Krystyna also brought some things of her own. She brought a Meccano Meccanoid robot, a Mip, and Google cardboards. Krystyna allowed our guests to take turns using each item after her presentation.

Next to present was a junior, Rayne. She designs, creates, and sells her own jewelry. Our guests were impressed with how intricate Rayne’s designs were. A lot of time goes into the making of these pieces. She began explaining that she was not yet allowed to have a job so she does this in order to have some spending money. Our guests were impressed with her entrepreneurship. Rayne was not aiming to make sells on this day, but before she knew it, they were making purchases and sharing on social media about her art.

After those two presentations, it was time for our lunch. We sat together and had nice conversations about the importance of student voice and empowerment. We discussed why the students presenting this material was more powerful than if I had presented it.

Then, once 8th-9th grade lunch began, our next student presenters were ready!

First, we had a group of 4 boys made up of sophomores and juniors. These 4 boys are in EAST class and are advanced when it comes to 3D printing. They presented on the possibility of scanning items using ScanIt and then printing a model of that item in 3D. Our guests were very impressed with them and asked many questions. These same boys have since presented the same information to our 8th and 9th grade students.

An 8th grade student, Ryane also presented another 3D printing program, SketchUp. With SketchUp, the operator can design and create their own image to print in 3D.

Jarod and Shawn took the mic next. They confidently showed Minecraft and discussed all of the classroom possibilities. They spoke about how Minecraft could be tied to the curriculum and gave examples for each subject area.

To finish up, another 8th grade student, Dawson demonstrated how to use a Sphero. Dawson took the initiative to form a Sphero club, and all members meet 3 days a week at lunch in the library makerspace area. Many of our guests already had Spheros but had yet to use them.

Future Possibilities

After experiencing these student successes, Kaitlyn and I want to provide more opportunities in the library for our learners to share. I want to thank our friends Tonia MacMillan (Dawson Education Cooperative) and Anna Warriner (South Central Service Cooperative) for reaching out to visit. The visiting teams of educators inspired our students and changed us forever! We are already working on several new ideas that include student voice, and we will write about these soon. It's time we all find ways to help students have their voices heard.

Cool Library Connections in October 2016!

How 6 Picture Frames Made a Difference in the Library.

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May The Code Be With You In The Library

May The Code Be With You In The Library

We were so excited to try the "Hour of Code" sponsored by Code.org! I learned about this event through many conversations with educators on Twitter. We had also learned about Code.org at a local education cooperative program. We decided to host the event in the library during lunch from December 7-11. During the previous week, we had student and teacher guests from Hanamaki, Japan (Hot Springs' sister city). We decided to give a preview of our "Hour of Code" programming by inviting our friends from Japan to attend.



How We Conducted the Preview To The Hour of Code Session

The preview event worked very well! One of our students explained how to use the Code.org puzzle sessions. We decided to start with the Star Wars themed activities since Star Wars Episode VII was about to arrive in theaters. Both our students and the visitors were very interested in the coding puzzles! A few of their adult chaperones even participated with us! As an added bonus, one of our student leaders brought her MiP robot to demonstrate. We also brought out our library Spheros for students to try. The preview was a success!

Our Hour Of Code Sessions December 7-11

We invited students in grades 8-12 to come to the library during lunch for "Hour of Code" during the entire week of December 7-11. During the first sessions, we had student leaders show the basics of solving the coding puzzles. Students participated by working at their own pace on the Code.org site. It was great to see them interested in coding! We held prize drawings each day for students that participated. As an added bonus, we had Arkansas school technology infusion expert, Mr. Harry Dickens, drop in to visit one of our sessions!

We were encouraged by student engagement!

What Happened Next

Later in the week, students experimented with the Minecraft portion of the site. A few of them even moved over to MIT's Scratch site to begin the process of coding a new video game! Perhaps, they should be encouraged to start working in teams to create larger projects like this. Imagine the 21st Century skills they would be learning! We have plans of having "Genius Hour" sessions in the library during the upcoming second semester. This type of team oriented Makerspace/ Coding activity would be perfect for our learners. It is so exciting to think about the gaming and programming ideas small teams of students might develop. There are so many possibilities for this since the library is a research haven for all questions and problems our students will encounter.

Things To Consider

I don't know much about coding. The only programming experiences in my arsenal go back to the 1980s with BASIC (Remember the old Texas Instruments TI-99/4A computer?) If you are wanting to try activities like this, it isn't necessary to have a great deal of knowledge. Students will be encouraged if you make the resources and time available to them. We have found that there are always students who are willing to take the lead and show what they know. Some of our library staff participated with students in the coding sessions. Imagine the impact that it might have had if other adults had participated. Perhaps, we can explore this in future sessions. The key is having a willingness to experiment and to cultivate that desire to the learning community. We never know how many aspiring engineers and programmers are just waiting to be encouraged.

Failure Doesn't Happen

Another consideration is to push aside the fear of failure. There is really no such thing as failure in a Makerspace or coding/ programming environment since it seems best to embrace the obstacles and figure them out together. It's about experimenting, learning, and problem solving! Recently, I had a terrible time trying to replace a leaking component in the valve of our shower faucet at home. The situation became very tense when I couldn't get the pieces to come apart to repair. I had almost given up on this DIY plumbing project (I was ready to pick up the "Bat-Phone" and call a real plumber.) when I remembered to check my Internet sources. Would you believe there were numerous discussion boards and YouTube videos that showed me solutions to the problem? In my frustration, I had forgotten the most powerful tools available to me! We should encourage our students to use these same resources to research the problems that arise. The solutions are there; we just have to find them. Patience is key.

Ideas And Next Steps

Now that we have hosted this event, there are many possible ways to improve it for the future. What if we invited a professional programmer to come talk about their work in the industry next time? This could be a Skype session or face to face. We have recent alumni  that have started degree programs in this area of study. How powerful would it be to have some of them visit to discuss what they have learned since graduating from high school? We had two alumni speak to our students about college expectations last year, and it was a great success!

For our next installment my wife, Cindy Evans, will share how she introduced coding concepts in her K-6 library! Until then... The Code Will Be With You... Always. Pass it on to your learners!

Check out our top 5 blog posts of 2015!

How my wife hosted "Hour of Code" in her K-6 Library!

How we made a collaborative YouTube library commercial.

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Presenting and Learning About Makerspaces at ArASL 2015

My librarian co-worker (Mrs. Misti Bell) and I had the privilege of attending the Arkansas Association of School Librarians (ArASL) conference in Little Rock, Arkansas on July 27th. This was a special occasion for a few reasons. The first being that the ArASL Chair-Elect, Mrs. Sloan Powell, extended an invitation for us to present at the conference back in May when she read the blog post on our "Makerspace Day" in the library. (The link to this page is at the bottom of this article.) The second reason is that the keynote presenter was Mrs. Leslie Preddy, the current President of the American Association of School Librarians. Leslie did a wonderful job sharing about the many resources that AASL offers!

It was also great to hear her talk about the Makerspaces she has established in her own middle school library. I came away with five important points that Leslie shared about starting a Makerspace:

1. Begin with what you know

2. Start small

3. Think hands on creativity

4. Let failure be an option

5. Make something old new again

Another important point she made was that "failure is an option". Students will learn from failures and so will we! All of us should "think, create, share, and grow" in the library makerspace. After Leslie presented, it was our turn to share our makerspace experiences. 

Manga art during "Show Your Talent" Day

Misti and I discussed how we accidentally started our library makerspace back in 2013-2014 with "Share Your Talent" day. We invited students to share skills we had observed them using in the library during lunch. These talents included Magic Cards, Rubik's Cube, Manga Art, and Jewelry Making. We had these students at different tables so library lunch visitors could come learn and/ or watch during the entire period. It was a great success! Everyone at our conference session seemed interested in these ideas.

Misti presents the Sphero to attendees

The Rubik's Cube table was a hit

We also shared that in 2014 we were provided a Makerbot Replicator 3D Printer and two Spheros. Students enjoyed learning on these gadgets all year during lunch and after school.  After our students successfully presented 3D Printing to the library patrons during multiple lunch sessions, we finally decided to bring in additional makerspace lunchtime activities (which we called "makerspace day"). We set up tables for 3D Printing, Spheros, Jenga, Legos, and a "Deconstruction Station"  We reflected on the successes of this event to our approximately 50 ArASL conference session attendees. After this, we talked about potential future goals for the makerspace program (mainly items we hope to add like Makey Makey and Duct Tape projects).

I demonstrate the 3D Printer

We then invited everyone to try the same makerspace stations! We had brought each of the items for librarians to try out. The most popular two gadgets were the 3D Printer and the Sphero. It was inspiring to see everyone's interest in Makerspaces! We are grateful for the opportunity to share and learn at this state conference. It was so good to meet librarians from distant parts of the state and network face to face. It was also great to meet and learn from Leslie Preddy. Misti and I returned to Lakeside High School inspired and motivated to make the coming year better than ever for our learning community!

Check out our Makerspace Day here!

Two of our students helped present 3D Printing at a state technology conference. Go here to view!

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Our First Makerspace Day In The Library

I was greatly inspired by a TL Virtual Cafe session I attended online a few weeks ago (thanks to the Twitter PD community at #tlchat). After hearing so many great ideas from library media specialists/ teacher librarians from all over the country, I decided to give it a try in our own school library. We have been slowly assembling all the needed pieces to start a Makerspace this year! We had planned to have this program during our two lunch sessions (1st lunch- grades 10-12 and 2nd lunch grades 8 and 9). A last minute schedule change kept us from having the program for grades 10-12 this time.

We decided to have 5 Makerspace stations in the library. They were all very successful, and the students that participated were very engaged.

We had a 3D printer station led by two of our students from EAST. They had designed a replica of the Willis Tower (formally the Sears Tower) using Google Sketch Up Make and Netfabb. We decided to print several of these, and we gave them away at the end of the session in a drawing. The student leaders explained how the printer worked to those that visited them.

Willis Tower Replica

We had a student that brought his Lego collection to share. Several students visited the Lego station and had fun building quick projects.

We set up a table with Jenga for another fun Makerspace station. Several students enjoyed playing this building game.

We also have a Sphero in the library. We had that available for students experimentation. It was a very popular station.

The most popular station was the "deconstruction" station. Our technology department donated some non-functional computer and networking components for our students to take apart. The kids loved taking the computer apart most of all.

It was a great first Makerspace program for our students! We cannot wait to try this during our grade 10-12 lunch period! I encourage you to try a Makerspace in your school library. It's a great place for students to connect, hack, and create in the library!

Before you go, check out our student led 3D printing lunch library program here.

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Email: stony_evans@lakesidesd.org

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