Day 2: The many faces of a makerspace

Whenever someone asks me "What exactly is a makerspace?" I start thinking of the many makerspaces I have visited all around the country and how each has its own personality and culture. I have yet to find two that are exactly alike.

I actually don't like calling them makerspaces. I prefer to call them spaces for creating and making because it sheds some preconception about what the space might be.

Where do students create, make, and learn in your school?

Here are just a few makerspaces I have experienced from around Vermont!

A community makerspace like the Burlington's Generator often offers opportunities for your students to create, make, and learn.

Check out the corner of the Orchard School library that Donna MacDonald set up for her students. 

Vermont's Career and Tech Center Programs provide so many opportunities for our students to create and make.  Burlington Tech Center recently launched Studio B for its students.

If you are a student at Fairfield school you'll have opportunity to make in an outdoor space like this maple sugar house.

Mill River School provides their students a space to make off their high school library. 

It is becoming more and more common for libraries across our state to provide spaces like this makerspace off the Crossett Brook School Library.

Tech Ed and Design programs have a long history of making in our schools.  Many tech ed and design teachers, like Leah Joly from Williston School, are redesigning their space and their curriculum to include laser cutters, vinyl cutters, 3D printers, and even green screens studios.

Innovative teachers like Ms. Boucher and Ms. Ellingson from Mallets Bay Elementary are integrating making by transforming a corner of their classroom by adding space that invites students to make as a way of learning. They've also found creative ways to add space in the day and in the curriculum.

At  the award winning St. Albans City School,  you'll find that a communal space for making between the school's library and IT office became so popular that multiple spaces for creating and making have spread throughout the school. 

And when dedicated spaces are not available, you'll find creative educators creating mobile maker spaces with carts like these. 

And if any of you have been following my journey, you've probably met EMMA - my  mobile studio  for creating and making .  EMMA and I are  committed to spreading the word that (E)veryone (M)ay (M)ake (A)nywhere.  And in tomorrow's post you'll get to meet EMMA's big sister BELLA as we give you a tour of her makerspace.

But no matter what your space looks like, it's important to remember that the most important maker space of all is the SPACE between your ears!

Stay tuned to learn more about some of these spaces and more as the Create Learn Community engage in conversations about Creating, Making, and Learning as part of our March Madness Maker series.