Outdoor Maker Activities: Embracing the Changing Seasons

As summer winds down and we approach the early days of fall, there’s still plenty of time to enjoy outdoor maker activities. While July’s Parks and Recreation Month may have passed, the pleasant weather of late summer and early autumn provides perfect opportunities to get creative outside. Let’s explore some engaging maker activities you can … read more »

Bring Excitement into your Classroom with Low-Cost Makerspace Activities!

Makerspace activities excite and engage students and offer them a multitude of academic and mental health benefits! Cost should never be a barrier to implementation of makerspace activities in your classroom. Low-cost/no-cost makerspace activities are as engaging and exciting for students as higher priced activities. You can easily obtain low-cost or no-cost makerspace materials! You … read more »

Introducing Women as Changemakers Using Multimedia Text Sets

On December 23, 1867, in Delta, Louisiana, Sara Breedlove was born, and she became a remarkable changemaker better known as Madam C.J. Walker. Her transformative contributions revolutionized African-American women’s hair care and cosmetic industries while establishing her as the first American woman to amass a million dollars. Modern-day changemakers such as Ketanji Brown Jackson and … read more »

Tech Tool of the Month: Adobe Express Free Comic Strip Maker – Part 2

In Part 1 of this blog, we introduced you to Adobe Express Free Comic Strip Maker. We discussed applying the SAMR Model and the Triple E Framework using Adobe Express Free Comic Strip Maker in your instruction. Today’s post offers detailed instructions for using this tool and shares classroom ideas.  Adobe Express Free Comic Strip … read more »

Tech Tool of the Month: Adobe Express Free Comic Strip Maker – Part 1

Adobe Express Free Comic Strip Maker offers many templates to design, share, and download high-quality comic strips. Quickly search to find the template you wish to use and change color design options, add your text, add images, and then click to download or publish on the web. You can also create several pages of the … read more »

Women Changemakers as Role Models for Students

“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” Mother Teresa History books are lined with pages about changemakers who dared to challenge norms and expectations and rewrite rules. Unfortunately, most changemakers we read about in history books are men, so it is important to … read more »

Maker Education Nurtures Ideas

March is International Ideas Month! Idea generation is an important skill for students. Maker education and design thinking (both aspects of making) nurture ideas in students! Students of any age can participate in making through short challenges, projects, or built-in maker opportunities—all of which allow students to generate ideas.  If you would like to introduce … read more »

Maker Education in Your Classroom

What is maker education? In maker education, “students imagine, design, and create projects that align the content of learning with hands-on application” (Makered.org). Maker education was born from the maker movement, which believes that we are all “makers” and can be creators—not just consumers—of things. Makerspaces are specific spaces in schools, libraries, and community organizations … read more »

Tech Tool of the Month: Case Maker – Part 2

In Part 1 of this blog, we introduced you to Case Maker and discussed the application of both the SAMR Model and the Triple E Framework using Case Maker in your instruction. Today’s post offers detailed instructions for using this tool and shares classroom use ideas. Case Maker:  Case Maker does not require any registration … read more »

Tech Tool of the Month: Case Maker – Part 1

Case Maker offers a collection of 20 civic challenges designed for middle school students. Each challenge includes primary resources. Challenge topics include Brown vs. Board of Education, Principles of Major Political Parties, Propaganda and “Fake News,” School Desegregation and the Little Rock Nine, and several other historical and civic topics. Students are not required to … read more »