"What's this Maker Movement everyone is talking about?"

In 2015 I attended the National Association of Gifted Children Convention in Phoenix, AZ. I filled my time attending sessions that addressed what I believed my primary needs as a high school gifted resource teacher to be: college counseling and social-emotional wellness. I ignored the slate of opportunities to learn about something called "The Maker Movement." To be honest, I didn't know what it was, and I wasn't really interested.

But then, I attended a General Session featuring Maker Extraordinaire, Joe Hudy. I was intrigued, but Making certainly didn't seem like anything I could tackle in my classroom. I lacked the space, materials, time, and skills to make it work.

A seed had been planted, though, and was encouraged to grow by the work two of my colleagues were doing in creating a Project-Based Learning English 3 class. When I really started paying attention, I saw that many of my students were hungry for an opportunity to literally be more active in school.

I dipped my toe in the water, and asked my gifted director and parent group for some Keva blocks and kits. Soon, my occasionally apathetic students in Gifted Learning Lab were scrambling to finish their homework to have time to build structures that brushed the ceiling and shooting things at each other with little trebuchets and catapults. 

Students "learning" with Keva Blocks

Not only were the kids having fun (and mystifying neighboring classrooms as structures collapsed and rained down blocks), I began to see how Making could address some of the social-emotional needs of my students, both as a means of stress relief and as a way for sometimes isolated students to engage with their peers.

I still didn't know how to make Making happen in an official and productive way, though. I still didn't really understand what it was. When the 2016-2017 school year began, I was ready to wade in a little further.