A School Makerspace Inventory- Post 4
Hello again,
I have been contemplating how I would create a makerspace in the school environment. I know that I would love to work in an elementary school setting or a middle school setting. The age level I would be working with would be K-8th grade. In knowing this, I want to make sure to be able to create a makerspace that can be accessible for all students at different age levels. For the purposes of this inventory, I am focusing on K-5th grade.
For the makerspace, I want to start with the basics. I want to have crayons, markers, and colored pencils with paper. It would allow students to create their own artwork or color pages that promote literacy, from book titles, characters and create their own art. I would also like to include craft tools such as yarn, origami paper, beads, thread, construction paper, scissors, and glue. Students will be able to create art that enhances 3D elements and can help students to demonstrate with one another what they have created.
Lastly, I also want to provide tools for students who enjoy games such as puzzles, Legos, crossword searches, Sudoku, and Choose Your Own Adventure books. It allows students to use the library space beyond just books or creation, but to interact with what they enjoy doing. I would also like to implement technology with tablets, or E-Readers, and audiobooks. However, the budget of $3000 dollars that is not guaranteed for the following school year. Since it is not guaranteed, I would like to save that money for future use and see how students interact with it.
The total of the makerspace to set it up would be roughly $225 dollars. I know that it does not sound like much for now, but I think that if I budget, then the rest of the money can be used for supply and demand and in replacing certain items, such as markers, glue, crayons, paper, and colored pencils. Items that are always needed to be replenished.
Overall, I think that a makerspace is very important in a school library environment because it invites students to interact with not just books but with one another and can help promote a community within the library space. I hope to be able to build such a makerspace in my future career as a school librarian, where I am currently employed.
Hi Anabel,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your post. I am also creating a Makerspace focused on creativity and interactive material, but for adults, so I found it funny how similar our inventories are! I like your idea to include puzzles in the space-- my college library always had a few jigsaw puzzles sitting out that anyone could come work on, and I loved being able to step away from my coursework to take a productive break at the puzzle table! That is definitely something I would consider adding to my space. Great work!
Hi Anabel! FYI, I was unable to view your Google Sheets document-- I don't think it's publicly shared. I wanted to let you know, just in case you were not aware.
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of including origami paper. I remember that was my favorite thing to get my hands on in art class. I went to a boys and girls club after school because I was in the school play, and I had to wait for my dad to get me after rehearsing. I was always excited about making 3D shapes out of paper with origami. I think it would be interesting to organize a small collection in the makerspace that included some relevant titles. With origami in particular, I didn't know how to make anything from memory as a kid; having an instructional guide on hand was always useful. For students who are interested, it might be cool for them to make the connection that they can use books, websites, and videos to learn how to make different shapes and make those resources easily accessible.