Throughout the summer making program, we used several techniques to help students develop their ideas at different stages of making. The processes of drawing, prototyping, and documentation are just as important as the actual ‘making’ of a project. 1. Journals: Initial ideas, sketches of designs, lists, a working book that keeps everything organized. Every student…
What is the problem? 3D printing looks and sounds really cool. It instantly gets people’s attention no matter what age group. It also takes a long time, is prone to error, is not an intuitive process, and the learning curve for 3-d modeling is very steep. What one can actually make on a 3D printer…
Summer making in the Creativity Lab was wildly successful. It lasted 5 weeks and taught more lessons than can be contained in one digestible blog post so here are a few bites-sized morsels: The impact of concentrated making over time on students is visible. The results include increased confidence, creativity, and resourcefulness. Talking about what…
Over the last three weeks I have watched one of our regular drop-in makers, Yarely (a 4th going on 5th grader), go from making very simple, crafty, step-by-step projects for kids to making projects that blow away her 7th and 8th grade summer making peers. I bring this up for two reasons. First, when a…
Projects to make and share, worksheets to use, and probably spelling still to be fixed. None the less, many of our tried and true K-12 making project guides are up for you to use. Keep an eye out for new project additions on the Lighthouse Creativity Lab projects page. Project guide PDF Files can be…
Mr. V was interviewed on Tuesday, June 24th by EDUCATION TALK RADIO about Making and Designing in a Creative Classroom and School. Listen to the interview here: SMARTBLOG AWARD WINNING BLOGGER ON SCHOOL CREATIVITY, AARON VANDERWERFF 06/25 by EduTalk | Education Podcasts.
We were one school among 1,000 Makers and 100,000 people who came out for Maker Faire. This is what it looked like.
The Creativity Lab’s very own Aaron Vanderwerff gave an East Bay Nerd Nite talk last night at the New Parkway Theater, entitled, From Kindergarten Danger Day to LED Tutus: Making in Schools. The talk focused on the importance of learning through the head, hands, and heart, sharing the mission that Maker Ed and the Lighthouse…
The 2nd graders at Lighthouse are spending the next few weeks learning about habitats of the Bay area and how animals adapt to live in them. Since we have a weekly making time, we decided to do an integrated curriculum making project. The kids (in groups of two) will build one of the four habitats…
Tour + Program Planning + Making By 9 a.m. a mix of art, science, elementary, high, middle school teachers, educational planners- from schools, both public and charter, had gathered in The Creativity Lab for our first ever Tour + professional development session. It was the ultimate melting pot. A place where new methods of teaching,…