Tag: makerspace

Making a Makerspace, This Week In the Classroom, This Week In the Shop2 Comments

Making a Makerspace: Top Five Materials in an Educational Makerspace

woodshopcowboy

This is part four in my “Making a Makerspace” series.  You can catch the other articles here.

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Makers use stuff.  Lots and lots of stuff.  Sylvia Libow Martinez & Gary Stager dedicated an entire chapter to the various materials necessary for a makerspace to function in their book, Invent to Learn.  I’m just going to go for five: the top five materials in an educational makerspace!

Continue reading “Making a Makerspace: Top Five Materials in an Educational Makerspace”

CAD Lab, Classroom Project, Education, Furniture, Technology, This Week In the Classroom2 Comments

Making a Makerspace: Building Out the Steamworks

woodshopcowboy

This is the second in my “Making a Makerspace” series.  Catch part 1, Planning the STEAMworks, here.

With my planning done, I turned my attention to “building out” the makerspace.  My original plan called for a long woodworking bench against a pair of bay windows with two tool cabinets and four mobile workstations with integrated tool storage.  I thought the makerspace would look something like this:

STEAMWORKS Plan Final As the new school came closer and closer to completion, I realized my room would begin to more like this:

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Keep with me after the jump, as I show of my workspace and even provide plans on how to build a Long Bench and Mobile Workstation for your own makerspace.

Continue reading “Making a Makerspace: Building Out the Steamworks”

CAD Lab, Classroom Project, Education, Technology, This Week In the Classroom, Why I Do This4 Comments

Making a Makerspace: Planning the Steamworks

woodshopcowboy

This fall, I move into a brand-spanking new classroom.  As part of this move, I’ve been heavily involved in the planning, organizing and logistics of moving my school’s Math & Science program into our new digs.  In the words of a close colleague of mine, what a great problem to have!  Long term readers of this blog have probably noticed a distinct drop off in posts over the past year – well, this massive move has been the main focus of my long-term planning and energy, leaving little left over for blogging or new projects.IMG_6409

That’s about to change.  This is the first of a series of posts on how I’m transforming an empty 20′ x 20′ room into a Makerspace.  I will be posting progress reports throughout the Fall 2013 semester, so keep checking back.  This post will focus on planning out the Makerspace, which I’ve named the STEAMworks. Continue reading “Making a Makerspace: Planning the Steamworks”