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If you made it to VermontFest 2026 at the Killington Grand on Friday, November 6 - you got to experience the Interactive Learning Lounge that I curated showcasing so many fun STEAM opportunities happening in our Vermont schools. But just in case you missed it (or if you want to relive the excitement) here's a fun recap video.
I loved learning how Ozobots can be used to support students' understanding of literature from Carrie Ishaq and Caty Wolfe of Essex-Westford SU. What a fun way to introduce students to coding and robotics through stories.
It was so fun to play catch with the robot designed by Mike Norkum's Vermont Academy students. Wishing them best of luck during this year's FTC competition.
Did you know there were so many different ways to engage even our youngest learners with robotics, code, and engineering. Christina Smith's many years of experience with younger learners gave us a wealth of ideas.
The intersection of art and engineering were on full display by what Marcia Gauvin and her 7th and 8th grade students were able to create with wooden. STIXnBITZ.
If you ever wondered how to integrate STEAM into a library program, then you absolutely need to visit with Teresa Bolton to learn about her library makerspace at the Charleston Elementary School library.
Kimberly Smith use of Makers Empire and 3D printing helped us understand so many new ways to integrate STEAM across the curriculum.
You can always count on Shannon Walthers to advocate for the library as a space for creativity to shine. The sublimation printer in her Burlington High School library is one of many ways students can be creative in her library makerspace.
Colorful moving cutlery characters from library books created with Hummingbird Kits by Eileen Vaught and her Mountain View SU students animated with code had us all in awe.
Sean Theoret, of Franklin West SU dymystified the training of AI using a microbits and Create AI.
Meanwhile, Eli Rosenberg's students at Main Street Middle School are using their microbits to learn about cybersecurity by creating and hacking into Lego Smart Houses.
The micro:bit proved to be central to so many opportunities for students as you can see from the Cyber:Bot that Kristen Wilson's CTE students at the River Valley Technical Center use to explore physical computing.
As teachers, we all know that the key to student learning starts with motivation. Burlington High School, CS Nora LaCosse has discovered that when students create original Pixel Art their motivation to learn computer science skyrockets.
As much fun as it was to STEAM connect educators to share their ideas, I did not want to miss the fun it was to share some of my own projects. It enjoyed how fairy lights, sound recorders, and circuit boards could be used to create many versions of a THIS or THAT game in a library to engage students with book selections.
THANK YOU SO MUCH to all who shared their experiences and to all who stopped by experience and learn in the Interactive Learning Lounge at VermontFest 2026.
Enjoy the slide show below to learn more about each of these amazing educator.
I'm super excited for VermontFest 2026 where I'll get a chance to share my learning from my most recent inquiry:
How might we use circuits and code to add audio and sound to our STEAM Projects?
Stop by the Interactive Learning Lounge on Friday, November 6 or my 2:45 workshop in NorthStar I "Supercharge Your STEAM projects with Audio and Sound" to interact with 6+ prototypes that can be constructed by students at different grade levels.
Gr 2+ Early Learners - Design an Experience with no Code
Gr 4+ Hack it & Create an Original Switch
Gr 5+ Code Scratch Triggered by Circuit Board (Makey Makey/Funkey)
Gr 5+ Make Code & Microbit
Gr 6+ Remote Control
Microbit
Makey Makey
Sound Pad (Vibe Coding) (Age 13+)
All prototypes were created using design thinking to offer possible solutions to the following HOW MIGHT WE question:
How might we engage readers to explore the Red Clover Books and collect data about student interest in these books?
Links to Resources will be posted here during the conference and in future blog post. So why not subscribe to the blog or the Create Make Learn mailing list.
The students and teachers I work with love using circuit boards like Makey Makey and Funkey to create projects in their makerspaces and STEAM classrooms, and even in other classes like social studies, humanities, ELA, science, art, and more. Here are a few projects featuring audio controlled with computer science using a Makey Makey or Fun Key circuit board.
A Halloween display with talking pumpkins & mums, laughing skeleton, and witches brew with bubbling sound
A Gratitude board that includes staff & student responses to the question “I can’t imagine a world without …..”
"If Your Art Could Talk" display of art (paintings and songs and speeches) from the Women’s March of 2017
These are great projects, but they only work when there is a computer attached to the circuit board. I'm often asked how to complete similar projects with a micro:bit.
It doesn't take long for students to discover that version 2 of the micro:bit has a speaker that can play simple music tones. Once a student discovers this, I know that I need to step back from the day's learning goals and let them experiment with music.
micro:bit music code and tutorials
The next thing they want to do is record their own voices, use clips from songs, or add sound effects. So began my inquiry into using the micro:bit to add sound to student projects. Using some ideas I'd been pondering, along with suggestions from my colleagues in the K–12 Fab Lab network, I began experimenting.
Over the next few blog posts, I'll share more details from my inquiry, along with some maker projects that use what I learned. But for now, here's a quick, broad-strokes summary of the different ways I've tried to add audio to a maker project.
Use Makey Makey or Fun Key along with sounds recorded in Scratch.I would suggest this as an entry-level approach. It does require a computer to be attached to the project. See the projects linked above for more information on how to approach this.
Use the micro:bit extension in Scratch. Although this method can work, there are some challenges in a classroom setting. Scratch programs using the micro:bit extension can access only a limited set of commands that access micro:bit features. The computer running Scratch needs to have the Scratch Link app installed, and on school-managed devices, IT would need to approve it, install it, and perhaps adjust proxy settings. My previous experience with a classroom full of computers is that the pairing is finicky. Old pairings can prevent the micro:bit from showing up, and it's easy to grab the wrong one.
Use a Digital Sound Recording Component (like the ones in greeting cards) as stand alone components. You can have students record directly on these or upload audio files. This requires NO coding. You will need one per sound, but they're relatively inexpensive (about $7.50), and you could easily put together a reusable audio project kit with a half dozen of these. Thanks to John Baglio for his recommendations
Sound units from Amazon I have used:
One with external microphone and replaceable batteries: very easy to use but kids have to either speak into it or hold it up to a speaker playing the song they way. Audio quality for recorded music, therefore, is not great.
I preferred the USB-C style. It had better sound quality; the battery was rechargeable But I did have to find a USB C cable that carried Data (my first one didn't work) and remove the "test" audio file that came by default. But the first recorder was easy for younger students to use since their was an external button for both PLAY and RECORD. Check out
Trigger a Digital Sound Recorder attached to a Microbit with MakeCode.
Attach the Makey Makey CodeAKey backpack with microbit to a Version 1.5 or higher Makey Makey.
The Code-a-Key Backpack holds a micro:bit, attaches to the Makey Makey, and has an extension that sends a "key being pressed" to the Makey Makey. The Makey Makey continues to act like it usually does. A second micro:bit in your project can then use its radio to communicate with the micro:bit attached to the computer through the Code-a-Key. Only six letter keys (W, A, S, D, F, G) can be sent, along with some mouse commands. This did let me activate six sounds in a Scratch program using a remote micro:bit, but the hardware and software combination felt like it added a lot of abstraction for students, which detracted from my goal of making computer science accessible to middle school students. This would be a good solution for some projects if a school has Makey Makey circuit boards.
Use the Bluetooth extension for the micro:bit.
I also explored the Bluetooth extension, which has a keyboard service that lets the micro:bit send keyboard commands to your computer. I was able to get it to work "SOMETIMES." Combined with Scratch programs that use keyboard keys to activate sounds, this had the potential to meet my goal. However, it was not reliable and had some quirks that made it less than ideal. It also turned off the micro:bit's radio feature. You can read more about it here, but it left me looking for another solution.
VibeCode an HTM page that uses WEB Serial. Web Serial is a feature hat allows the microbit plugged into a USB port to communicate with the web page. Here's how Clause explained it
"The micro:bit can’t play MP3s on its own, but it’s great at sensing things, like a button press, a shake, or a change in light. So we let it do the sensing and let a computer do the talking. When something happens, the micro:bit sends a short word, like “cheer,” through its USB cable. The Soundboard is a web page open in Chrome or Edge that listens for those words. It uses a browser feature called Web Serial, which lets a web page talk to a device plugged into a USB port. When the word arrives, the page plays the sound clip matched to it. That clip can be a student’s recorded voice, a piece of music, or a sound effect. A second micro:bit can also send the word by radio, so the trigger can be across the room."
I tried this and it worked with a few bugs (which Claude and I are working on) If you want to explore with me, feel free to reach out and I'll share it with you. I still need to explore this further with students before I recommend it.
I hope this gave you a broad stroke summary of some solutions that my work for your projects. During the next few weeks, I will be working on exploring each of these further. I have a fun project in mind to demo at our Vermont edtech conference (VermontFest). The next few blog posts will document the successes and challenges of using the above solutions in this project. Stay tuned.
Note: I did not explore SNAP's + miccrobit, but suspect there might be some possibilities there.
In my last post, I described the framework I use in my integrated STEAM-inspired residencies to design a one-week STEAM camp in rural Vermont. The INSPIRE phase creates excitement about what's to come and motivates students to learn about circuits, engineering, game design, and computer science. The CREATE CONFIDENCE phase uses skill-building sprints to provide them just enough command of real tools and processes available to them to get started designing their own games.
The MEANINGFUL MAKING Phase
The MEANINGFUL MAKING phase is where the students design and create their own games in an open studio format. Here we see creative and practical problem-solving play out as campers created a game prototype that was ready to test, revise, and pitch. Our culminating event included a game arcade with peers and a pitch to guests who role-played "potential investors".
By midweek, the campers were ready for the Meanintful Making phase. "When can we start creating our own games?" they asked. They were inspired and they had gained enough confidence from the skill-building sprints to dive into creating games using their own ideas.
Scroll through the slides to see the fun games created this week
To my surprise, most of them started designing board games. In some residencies I've seen a strong preference to create physical games; at other times I've seen more students gravitate towards creating video games. I think the choice of medium came down to what they created in the skill-builders. During the laser cutter sprint, the campers ended up with a laser-cut game piece. Holding their beautifully crafted game pieces that they had designed themselves, students had an immediate desire to build a game around it. This led them to imagine board games above video games.
It also really drove home the role of aesthetics in the MDA (Mechanics, Dynamics, Aesthetics) of game design—a testament to what Ron Berger describes as the power of giving students the opportunity to create "beautiful works." Using Cuttle.xyz and The Noun Project to produce a game piece with the laser cutter gave the students something beautiful that they could touch and feel. Something they had designed. Some students were really motivated to create a game around that piece. Others used the skills they had learned to design different game assets that could be used with the theme their game was based on.
Just in Time Learning during Studio Time
Although we had not covered boolean modifiers like "union" and "subtract" in the laser cutter skill-builder, many students needed this skill to weld parts of their designs together while creating game assets. When one student needed to attach a dog's leg to its body, I showed her how. She immediately turned teacher—showing others how to use "union" to keep their own designs intact. This just-in-time peer teaching spread quickly, and it became one of the most powerful features of open studio time.
Another common element in many of the games our students made was the use of LED lights triggered by copper tape "switches" as part of the game mechanics. Students' use of LED switches in their games echoed what they'd learned in the Simple Circuits and Switches skill-builder—a clear sign that those hands-on sprints built genuine confidence with the tools. In this case, our skill-builder helped students understand at least one way circuits could add to the MDA of game design.
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Next time, I'd include an explicit brainstorming session on different ways circuits could enhance game design. It might spark more varied student solutions and help students see possibilities beyond what they experienced in the 45-minute skill-builder.
Balancing Student Vision with Growth
As instructors, our role was to expand student thinking about what's possible beyond the quick skill-builder they experienced. We were constantly looking for opportunities to build on the basic skills when a student's idea provided the perfect opportunity to learn the next level.
This happened when two students imagined a game called Poison Lights. With the students' foundational understanding of simple circuits, their game would require 6 batteries to control six different switch-light combinations. At first, we tried to convince the students to reduce the number of lights necessary for their game mechanics. After those efforts failed, I leaned into the students' vision and determination and used Using Cuttle.xyz to teach them how to use a negative and positive bus to achieve the results they were seeking.
Using Cuttle.xyz to document a multi-light circuit design with a negative and positive bus
I was reminded that respecting student vision—and not limiting what's possible to the skills they already possess—is a crucial part of the Meaningful Making stage. This scenario also reminded me that teachers need a chance to play and develop their own advanced skills, so that they can be ready to take students to new levels of learning just in time. This is much more effective than having students sit through many "just-in-case" skill-building sessions before the meaningful making phase begins.
The balance matters. Spending too much time on just-in-case skill-builders reduces open studio time for meaningful making. It's better to save advanced skill-building (like parallel circuits) for when a student's vision makes that lesson the perfect solution to the problem they're trying to solve.
Yet spend too little time on skill-building that has game-changing potential, and you can also limit students' understanding of a tool or process. We saw this play out with the micro:bits.
The micro:bit lesson: Expanding possibilities with just-in-time coaching
Each camper was told they could take home their micro:bit at the end of the week—following the UK's pedagogical decision to give each student their own. The campers were excited, but they needed one-on-one encouragement to think about ways to integrate the micro:bit in their games. The potential of the micro:bit needed further exploration than the time we gave it. Had we had longer than a week, we could have built more confidence with the computer science concepts that make the micro:bit such a powerful tool.
Instead, I used my computer science background to coach individual students with different ideas for how the micro:bit ould naturally fit into their designs. The students hadn't built enough confidence to see these possibilities on their own. When a student liked one of my suggestions, I matched them with one of the STEAM fellowship educators to work through the code needed to integrate the micro:bit in their game.
Here's an important lesson for facilitators: A good coach doesn't limit their input to only answering student requests for help. A good coach looks for ways to help students grow in ways they might not have imagined yet. There is a delicate balance between allowing student voice and offering ideas that help a student accomplish what they hadn't yet imagined was possible.
When one student explained that he wanted the micro:bit to display the name of each player's turn, I suggested a simpler, more flexible solution that was actually codable using the computer concepts the students had learned. "What if every time your turn is done, you press a button, and the micro:bit rotates through an LED graphical display that points to whose turn it is (Player 1, Player 2, Player 3, Player 4)?" Then I paired him up with one of the math teachers in the room and got them started coding this solution. They both came away with pride and additional confidence with computer science.
Fairy lights controlled by microbit blink when you win.
Another student had designed 4 corner posts for lights he wanted to use in the aesthetics of his game. Although he'd learned that external lights could be controlled with the micro:bit, there wasn't enough time in the week for him to learn all the skills needed to implement his vision. But I quickly thought of a way for him to use the "code a light to blink" skill they'd already practiced, and apply it to a set of fairy lights to add a unique feature to his game. There was just enough time in the week for me to show him how to modify the switch of the fairy light so that the lights could instead be controlled by the programmable pin of the micro:bit.
With just the right amount of coaching, another camper who created a beautifully designed game called A Dog's Life needed some guidance to think of a way that a micro:bit could add random play to her game without sacrificing the stacks of A/B game cards she'd created. "Remember the dice you coded during the skill-builder?" I asked. "It randomly selected a number between 1 and 6 and displayed dots on the screen. Could you change that code so it tells the player which Card Deck they can pick from (A or B)?"
This was just the right amount of challenge for Lizzie to build on what she'd learned earlier, but apply it to her game aesthetics. But she didn't stop there. She created a fun holder for the micro:bit that matched her game's visual design. This is another example of giving students the opportunity to create beautiful works.
Game aesthetics doesn't always come in visual form. One student was determined to use the micro:bit's ability to play music and composed two different musical loops to fit the theme of his game mechanics.
Resilience and Joy in the Creative Process
Another big win for us happened when a student who had missed most of the camp days came back on the last day. We thought about having him become a co-designer to another student's game in progress, but then we remembered that he'd created a pirate-themed game piece earlier as part of the laser cutter skill-builder. With a little one-on-one coaching from one of the STEAM fellowship educators, he quickly came up with a "doable" but fun, colorful game board that brought lots of joy to his peers.
Problem-solving, testing, revising, perseverance, creative solutions—these became integral parts of open studio time. Watching Amelia and Piper troubleshoot the circuit design on the back of their Farm Animal Game board, and seeing the pride in their eyes when the light finally lit up after they figured out where the short circuit was and how to fix it—that was priceless.
Sure, there were stressful times where students experienced different phases of the creative process.
But the STEAM fellowship educators were fantastic facilitators who successfully moved each student through each emotion with everyone feeling awesome by the end of camp. This was evident in the joy we watched as campers laughed while playtesting each other's games, and the pride we heard as they pitched their games to our guests role-playing potential investors during our culminating event.
Facilitation and Coaching
The coaching skills that the STEAM Fellowship educators brought to the Meaningful Making time were instrumental to the camp's success. Rather than stepping in to fix a stuck prototype or handing over an answer, they moved table to table asking powerful questions:
What's this mechanic actually doing for the player? Does the theme match the way the game feels to play?
Their questioning pushed students past a working prototype into amazing finished games—"beautiful works" that the students were proud to share.
The STEAM fellowship educators brought more than strategically timed questions to the mix. They understood that physical movement, social time, community circles, and brain breaks were essential ingredients to sustaining creative efforts. Their strong pedagogical skills were evident in painting game boards outside, inventing silly games with hula hoops during brain breaks, or grounding student energy during a community circle. By the end of the week, I was reminded that integrated STEAM-based projects create Maker Empowerment in both students and teachers.
By Friday the campers were ready to playtest their games and get feedback from their peers during our Game Arcade Gallery. Finally, each camper pitched their game to special guests who role played game investors. During the pitch, the campers shared how their game best met the MDA of Game Design (Mechanics, Dynamics, and Aesthetics).
Here's What This Means for Your Classroom
You don't need a week-long camp or a room full of maker tools to bring this framework to life. Whether you're integrating game design into a literature unit, using simple circuits in a science project, or building confidence with basic maker tools, the three-phase INSPIRE-CREATE CONFIDENCE-MEANINGFUL MAKING sequence works.
Start small: Pick one skill-builder that gets students' hands on something beautiful—whether that's a paper circuit, a coded micro:bit, or a beautifully designed game tile. Let them hold it. Feel the weight of their own creation. Then step back and watch what they imagine building around it.
And remember: Your role as facilitator is not to have all the answers. It's to ask the questions that push students past "it works" into "it's beautiful and purposeful." The coaching questions that emerged in our camp—What's this mechanic actually doing for the player? Does the theme match the way the game feels to play?—are portable. Use them. Ask them while you're sitting alongside a student, not standing at the front.
The joy and maker empowerment we witnessed this summer wasn't magic. It used a simple framework, some thoughtful facilitation, and the decision to respect student vision while believing in their capacity to grow beyond what they thought was possible.
Many thanks to VREC (Vermont Rural Education Collaborative) and North Country Schools Encore program for growing the capacity to create, inclination to make, and sensitivity to the design of STEAM integrated learning in our schools by embedding professional development (STEAM fellowship) into a STEAM-based summer camp. I look forward to seeing how our STEAM educators bring the joy of learning through creating and making back to their classrooms during the 2026-2027 school year.
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