Maker Fridays

littleBits Tutorial

Halloween Hack 2015

I don't try to explain makerspaces or Maker Faire.  I just get people to come visit and experience them. -Dale Dougherty 

The Maker Ambassadors did an absolutely fantastic job selecting maker projects for our Halloween Hack and sharing them with the entire school. It was a great day of learning and applying our understanding of science to new tasks. We even had a chance to virtually tour Mr. Jarrett's STEM classroom through a Google Hangout and physically hang out with the district's technology resource team.  

Thank you makers, big and small, who came to support the Halloween Hack! 

Halloween Hack 2015

I don't try to explain makerspaces or Maker Faire.  I just get people to come visit and experience them. -Dale Dougherty 

The Maker Ambassadors did an absolutely fantastic job selecting maker projects for our Halloween Hack and sharing them with the entire school. It was a great day of learning and applying our understanding of science to new tasks. We even had a chance to virtually tour Mr. Jarrett's STEM classroom through a Google Hangout and physically hang out with the district's technology resource team.  

Thank you makers, big and small, who came to support the Halloween Hack! 

Halloween Hack 2015

Balloon Jousting Fun

Designing the perfect balloon for jousting. 

Building the balloons. 

Sadly, the result of balloon jousting. 

A Little Spark In the Dark (Ha It Rhymes)

Okkeee.... So this was a while ago... but I HAVE to post it.  Anyways, Dutch Neck was very fun, because we got to share our knowledge with people younger than our age, and the pizza was good... as well as the fun we had.  However... I think The Wizard of Oz (LOLZ) had some serious probs with Tentacle Kitty... AND THAT did not go very well... So anyways... This is a real short paragraph... BUT I HAD FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! XDXDXDXDDDDDD :DD

Washington DC Reflection

The trip started with an anxious wait in school, an EXTREMELY long train ride, and the world's longest tour of practically every single monument in the entire District of Columbia. Along the way, we....er....*stole* the monuments (*cough* *cough* Phanishree *cough* *cough*). Then came the awkward dinner, where we poor kids were surrounded by a bunch of adults. The food was great (TIRAMISU), and we got to meet a bunch of people. Fast forward to the next morning. We woke up early, rushed over to the convention center, and ate a quick breakfast, while being stalked by a camera/recorder/wifi thingy. Fast forward another hour. We stood at our booth, explaining the Maker Program and what we do. Since we were the only kids there, we attracted a lot of people to our booth (we were also the only booth with gumdrops and balloons!). It was interesting teaching teachers, and having them listen to us. We also met Daisy Dyer Duerr (Ms. Southern Charm), and spoke with her, though we didn't realize it at the time. Then came the part I was dreading. The interview with Bob Wise. I made Sunny to promise to drag my body off the stage if necessary, rehearsed what I was going to say in my head, and went back stage. I actually got makeup smeared on my face (powder), and was given a microphone to use. Bad idea. I was trembling as I slowly made my up onto the extremely bright stage, and sat down next to Bob Wise. I felt like I was in a dream. I was there, speaking in front of 5000 people, yet I felt like part of me was watching elsewhere. This was probably a good thing, since it prevented me from panicking too much. Now that I think back to the event, I am surprised that I ever got the courage to get up on that excessively large stage, and speak in front of everyone.

Washington Trip Reflection

Let me starting by telling you one of the lesser known sayings of the very known abolitionist Frederick Douglass." A battle lost or won is easily described, understood, and appreciated, but the moral growth of a great nation requires reflection, as well as observation, to appreciate it." Well, I thought I was going to be all formal and quote famous people but I guess this has to come from my soul [I am still filling it back up ; )  by the way this post is going to be filled with inside jokes. So let's get to it. Overall the trip was an extremely educational experience filled with many opportunities for learning. Who am I kidding it was AWESOME. The trip started off with an awkward bus ride to the Trenton Train Station with a group of people we have not spent more than one hour a day with. But in the end we were praying to get snowed in to spend one more day with the people that we are so different from, or so we thought. Although we had totally different personalities, the fashionista, the "Prepping for PSAT" person, the raver, the conspiracy theorist. But in the end we found common ground. We all had our quirks and kinks and all wanted someone to understand that.

WASHINGTON~ A TIME TO REMEMBER

       From the bus ride full of singing and joy, to the trains with our loud voices heard from all the cars, to spending our late night in our beautiful hotel watching Big Bang Theory (yes, we all watched it).This was the life of a five of the most hard working Makers on March 12th and 13th. Learning different skills to present to our fellow teachers. and also knowing how it feels when your students don't listen to you aka teachers for us. Russian Spy, Albert, Sun-Darth, Phuh-something something. DR.MC-c, and DR.Aderhold (sorry no nickname) and I had all experienced this memorable trip together from me, being bias and wrong about everyyy comment that someone said, to Oliver talking on stage in front of thousand of people. to not letting go of each other on our last bus ride back to Community Middle School. Honestly, I would never cherish this moment as much with another group. 

         To be honest one of the best parts of this trip was our hotels. Poor KGB had missed this since she was with her grandparents, but as you all know Oliver was going up on stage and presenting to all the teachers that were packed closely together in the room. and trust me...That was a big room. The night before we had planned to you know prep up Oliver as usual but this was Oliver's reaction "OH MY GODD!!! OH MY GOD!! WHAT IF I SCREW UP..." As you can see from this little sentence..He was a hot mess. After we prepped him, we got a call to our hotel room, right when Kunal Nayar made one of the most funniest jokes in Big Bang Theory. "AHHHHH THERE'S A GHOST IN OUR ROOM!! HELPPPP!!!". Sundhar was screaming on the phone like a little girl.( no offense sundhar) Any way, let's walk away from the story and focus on something else shall we...

       
        When we walked into the Convention Center, we walked in with pride since we were the only kids there to make a nerve-wrecking presentation in front of teachers, principles, advisers, and other staff members of schools. When I look back at our Washington Trip. All I remember is how much fun we had, how we bonded with each other, and trusted each other. No matter how much we prepared, it still felt like we were winging our presentation.

       I was so honored to meet Governor Wise, the president of the Alliance for Excellent Education and to also talk to him and tell him our Maker program here, at CMS. I am so proud that the our first year CMS PRISM teacher has not only made her mark with so many awards, she has made our first one, right there.. In Washington D.C.

       I honestly love you guyz, and cannot have better friends. I hope we can do this again with our Atlantic City Trip, except with one new member added to our team. Well, that's it for this post guys. I'm off now, but don't worry I'll post more about Atlantic city and keep you up to date on what we do. 

                                                                  ~Sharanya Vutla                                                                 

   

Washington

Washington,hmm.... if that is what you're asking there is a lot to say. Since there is only so much time, I will give you guys the gist of what happened. One thing that the Maker Ambassadors learned from this experience is that you can never be too prepared for anything. This trip may have been for educational purposes, but we leaned many life skills as well, it's funny how 48 hours out of your regular life can teach you so much.
I am probably not supposed to be saying this because it ruins a teacher's image, but the Superintendent was hilarious. We saw the side of teachers we never usually get to see. They were so relaxed, yet annoyed that they had to deal with us crazy kids. My side of the story is that, I was pretty  nervous. Being home away for two days, with four other kids I didn't even know very well.
Anyway, the most memorable part of this experience was at the hotel. Oliver was going to be interviewed the next day, and we were all nervous that he was going to screw things up.  At least, I was. When it comes to Oliver, you can never be to sure. So, back to the point. We all decided that it would be a good idea to quiz him, and prep him.
All of a sudden, a blood curling scream, okay, well maybe not blood curling, but still a screech none the less.
"Ahhhhh! Ahhhhhhh! There is something in the bathroom. There is a shadow in the bathroom." That voice was from a fellow classmate, Sundhar. Again the same dialogue was repeated.
It was hilarious.
Ask any one of us Makers, and that will probably be the most memorable moment. Not only was it entertaining, but also something that we all will remember forever.

Dutch Neck Science Day - April 17

We are off to showcase and inspire once more! Please make sure you return your permission slip no later than Tuesday, April 14. 

You will have 30 minute sessions with students in grades 1-3 about the Maker Ambassador program. Decide within the group who will lead the Makey Makey and littleBit sessions. Go to our Google Doc and add your thoughts for challenges, equipment needs, and lessons. 

Don't forget that you need to be at Dutch Neck by 8am and that you need to be picked up by 2:45pm. We do not have a Maker Ambassador bus! 

Washington- A Reflection

Wow.

What a trip.

What a crazy, awesome, amazing trip.

As most of you blog fans (rock on) know, on March 12-13 a very special group of makers went to Washington DC.  To prepare for the trip, we were all assigned embarrassing and occasionally star wars-related nicknames.

Me (Katherine): KGB, Russian Spy (because of my initials)
Oliver: OZ, Olly, Olive, Olivia, Ollypop, Beyonce (don't ask me where that came from), and Albert (long story)
Sharanya: Shoe, Sharan-yoda
Phanisree: Phuhsomething-something
Sundhar: Shun-dhar, Sun-Darth

But enough about the weird nicknames.
Anyway, looking back from my trip to Washington, I learned a lot of things.  I learned that while forcing us to collaborate, which is the PRISM term for "don't bite anyone's head off because they accidentally poked your rover", might have been annoying in the short term, being able to present how we worked together to do things was really rewarding in the end.

I must admit, it was really nerve-wracking to have to speak in front of tons of principals and politicians.  We actually got to facilitate the whole thing, while Dr. MC stood in the back, adding some little stuff and running the presentation.  Speaking of Dr.  MC, she really taught us that we have a voice and it matters, and there's no way we could have done it without her, but still, WOW was it tough speaking to all those people.  As Oliver put it, "Sundhar, I need to ask you a favor.  If I faint on stage, which I inevitably will, will you please run over and drag my dead body out of the spotlight?"

It was a real honor to meet all the people there, such as Governor Wise, who is the president of the Alliance for Excellent Education, and the former governor of West Virginia.  He was an awesome guy, funny, nice, et cetera.  In fact, when I made someone else's day by accidentally leaving my entire $100 in a taxicab, Digital Learning Day desperately tried to track it down, and when they couldn't, Governor Wise personally presented me a replacement for the money, single-handedly restoring my faith (mostly) in politicians. 

Maker Fridays Are Back!

What do we need?

It’s not easy being G+T.  We ask a lot from our teachers.  However, this post is basically what we want and need in the classroom.

We need challenge and choice.  We should be able to do projects as we choose, and different learning styles in the classroom is vital to having kids’ needs.  We need to be given engaging and interesting projects.  We need to be able to develop 21st century competencies and persistence.  You can’t do that with a worksheet!

Beyond that, teachers should try to counteract the belief that “failure is bad” that seems to be so pervasive in our culture.  In the PRISM room, we all know that failure is a learning opportunity and can lead to success.  However, in some other classes, people are so concerned with not making a mistake that they never test the boundaries of their knowledge.  Teachers need to give us support and teach us that failure is expected and encouraged.  If necessity is the mother of invention, the father is failure and prototyping.

What we DON’T need in our classrooms are endless worksheets and rote memorization.  Teachers should foster curiosity and a love of learning, and these don’t develop when kids don’t care about the work and feel like they have to do it or they’ll get in trouble.

The two best way to build a classroom where every student feels eager to learn is by giving them a voice. We need to know that our voice matters and we should share our views to help improve our learning.  Students can be surprisingly insightful, especially when it comes to their own learning.

The other way is to teach not just reading, riting, and ‘rithmetic, but also the “soft skills”- perseverance, creativity, communication, problem solving and more.  School teaches two things- the “what”- photosynthesis, ancient rome, algebra, and the “how”- life skills like resilience and responsibility- that will stay with us forever.

What do we, the students, need from our teachers?

Being a student in middle school is not easy. However, being a student in a middle school with teachers that teach straight out of the textbook is even worse. We, as students, need teachers that teach us things that are outside of the textbook, things that we will need for the rest of our lives. I'm not saying that we don't need writing or math skills in our lives, but skills like working with a group, not giving up, and being open-minded are also extremely important.

Teachers should challenge us. They should give us, students, difficult tasks that doesn't just require knowing facts and figures, but thinking outside of the box, and coming up with different ways of solving a hard problem, even when it seems impossible. In other words, teachers should have us do activities that teach us persistence, particularly to not give up, no matter what happens. Just because the "traditional approach" doesn't work, kids should try another way to solve a problem instead of giving up. This leads me to my next point, innovation.

We are now in the 21st century. No more obsolete ways of teaching, or outdated ways of solving problems by flipping through a textbook. As 21st century learners, we, the kids, need to be innovative and creative when it comes to learning. Beyond what we learn in textbooks, we need teachers to encourage us to be original, and to not fear failure, for failure leads to success. In the WWP school district, we are now using Chromebooks in nearly all of our classes. It is our textbook, calendar, notebook, and much more. We have said goodbye to the traditional pen and paper ways of learning. We now have the entire internet at our fingertips, letting us explore other ways to overcome challenges. 

One of the 21st century competencies, "collaborative team member", is no longer restrained to a physical meeting. Google hangouts has allowed us to work on group projects from the comforts of our own homes. Google Drive allows us to all work on the same document at the same time, edit each others' work, and post comments on the final products. By using new technologies, we are redefining what it means to be a collaborative team member, Of course, teachers still need to provide us the opportunities to work with a group in order for us to learn this skill.

How should teachers empower students.

We all have complained about a teacher sometime in our lives, but teachers are really necessary. One might think," teachers teach and so do textbooks so why don't we just read textbooks?" and another might reply, "it's to control the students." Quite the contrary actually, teachers are there to let students go free because in my opinion, no one can learn without wanting to learn. Teachers are here to empower students by teaching students how to learn! Because no one is in school forever (unless you are Michael Nicholson of course). In our future lives we are not going to have study guides and textbooks to look at, we are going to have our minds and whatever we can get our hands on so I think teachers should empower students by teaching them how to learn because as Clay P. Bedford said "You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives."

Maker Movement- Inspires Creativity

Being a Maker does not mean tinkering away with no goal, there is a lot to it. A lot includes, people screaming, "NOOOOOOOOOO!" because they cannot find baseboards to build their ultimate creation. This is an inspiration. Littlebits and makers fit together each complimenting the struggle to make things work. To be a Maker you need creativity; to use littleBits you need to be able to channel creativity.
We snap together littleBits so that the juice of the battery flows to give intended results. This can be a war or an easy achievement. It all depends on our creations.

"Where does the creativity come in?", you make ask.  Well you have to depend on the resources around you. Say, you have to put together multiple littleBit circuits for you creation. What do you do? The way the regular brain works, "Oh, no! Well, this mess we can't continue. What was I thinking?" the negative thoughts are endless. But the way the maker sees it is, "Okay what do I have, and what do I need? Is there anything here I can use to put this together?" As a result you will find something. No one ever said to be creative you had to use special tools! We use tape, paper, and confetti to make it work. Makers face problems that lead them to use their imagination - their creative force.

Preparing for #DLDay

.@thomascmurray @wwpscience show how #edtech has made a difference in education at their schools. #DLDay pic.twitter.com/DuYnIWRN9s

— Digital Learning Day (@OfficialDLDay) February 5, 2014

.@wwpscience presenting #science lesson with #edtech. #DLDay https://t.co/uS3hy42AEv

— Digital Learning Day (@OfficialDLDay) February 5, 2014

Last year, I was honored to present at Digital Learning Day in Washington at the Library of Congress. I had my presentation and all of the tools: littleBits, rovers, student work examples, and the ever so important stack of business cards. Truth be told, I felt incredibly bare. Student work, and the impact of great partnerships, needs to be shared by the students. I showed the pictures and videos of the high school students building their rovers and collaborating with their elementary students, and guests at my station were, at least superficially, impressed. Nothing I said about how great it was for the students to explore local habitats with student-created rovers could have really captured the excitement, the joy, and the learning I saw in the high school and elementary school students in Ms. Bugge's and Ms. Rizziello's classes. As the groups left, I exhaled and hoped I had done the program, and the students, justice.

This year, I am heading down to DC with an army. My amazing group of 6th grade Maker Ambassadors will be leading the discussion on ways to have a student-centered classroom, how to embed activities that develop growth mindset, and how the maker movement inspires creativity. I will not need to speak about student voice because their voices will be heard. Nothing makes me more content. There will be no need for me to chime in with my opinions about how technology can transform learning experiences. The teachers will hear it first hand from the students, the modern learners, who crave these opportunities. The students will be leading the show on, well, how they are leading the show in our classroom. I help them on their journey and get out of their way. It's what I have always done as a teacher. This year, the students will be on the stage as the world listens. I will be there, continuing to support, motivate, empower, and smile proudly as their guide on the side.

How to Explain Growth Mindset to Students

Growth Mindset is a great new way of looking at things that can have amazing effects on classrooms and learning.  For all the teachers reading this post, this is how it can be explained in a way that's easy for even little kids to understand.
Growth mindset is the opposite of fixed mindset.  With a fixed mindset, you think that your brain can't change and you  can't get any smarter.  If you fail a math test, it's because you're stupid, not because you didn't study or hadn't learned it.
Meanwhile, with growth mindset, you believe that the brain can get better, stronger, and smarter.  Guess who's right?  The second person!
For an easy way to see how a growth mindset can be beneficial, check out this simple chart.

Mindset	Fixed	Growth
Thoughts	I can’t change my mind I can’t get any smarter	My brain is changeable If I challenge my brain, I’ll get smarter
After a tough math test...	I didn’t do well on the test.  I’m stupid	I didn’t do well on the test.  This is something I need to work on
Actions	Cheat, don’t study because they believe it won’t help	Work hard and believe they can do better next time
The Outcome	Bad Grades	Good Grades

What is a student centered classroom?

What is a student centered classroom?

A student centered classroom is one that is based around the students' needs, not the teacher's. A teacher's curriculum and planning for class should represent what the student wants to learn/needs to learn, not what the teacher has to teach. A teacher can come up with a prompt, or challenge, for the students, but it must be the students that solve the problem, not the teacher telling them how to. In the Maker program, Dr.MC gives us challenges, and we find solutions for them. When Dr.MC told us to build a rover out of LittleBits, she didn't tell us how to do it, she just gave us the challenge. It was up to us, the Makers, on how we wanted to go about doing it. In a classroom, if a group of students were weak in one topic, say, probability, but the teacher only taught geometry, the students' needs would not be met. Instead, the teacher should alter his/her lesson plan to include probability. In a student centered classroom, the student not only enjoys the class, but most importantly, they learn the most.

After the 1st Trip to Millstone!

Collaborating with the elementary school students. 

Today, we traveled to Millstone River Elementary, the 4th-5th grade school nearby Community.  We had 1 goal in mind: Teach the MAGIC kids about littleBits.
MAGIC is the elementary school equivalent of PRISM, and as we stared back at the sea of 4th grade faces, we knew awesomeness was in store.

Working through littleBit challenges.

It started with chaos.  We were all rushing around in different directions, trying to do stuff.  Sundhar and I were kinda competing for chances to talk.  It was not exactly the way we wanted to start.
But eventually, we got through all that stuff, and started showing the kids how the Bits worked.
"They fit together with magnets, so you can't put them together wrong, and, like, electrocute yourself."
"Green bits do something.  They might glow, or spin, or annoy eighth graders..."
 "Who knows what THIS thingummybob is?" (points to a battery)
Yeah.  It was pretty crazy.
After that, we turned the 4th graders loose to experiment on their own.  We challenged them to make thing that moved, glowed, and made sound.
Now we heard them start really getting into the "maker" mindset.
"Hey, I wonder what happens if I flip that switch?"
"Check this out!"
"Hey, how'd you do that?"
"I wonder how that works..."
And then, I heard the best one of all.
"Hey 6th graders!  This is AWESOME!"
Yes.
It was.

How Bits Work (The basics)

How do bits work, really?  I mean, it isn't like the buzzers will just magically beep and the LEDs just magically glow.  So this is what I learned about what makes the littleBits work the way they do.
Everything starts with energy.  No, this isn't some crazy acupuncture lesson, it's just science.
There are multiple forms of energy, such as electric, heat, sound, nuclear (which doesn't really apply to the LittleBits), and more.
The battery stores the electric energy, which is transferred to the blue module.
When you attach a green module, that electric energy is turned into different kinds of energy.  If you attach a buzzer, it will turn into sound energy.  If you attach an LED, it turns into light energy, and et cetera.
Now on to pink mods.  Say you have a switch.  When it's switched to "off," the circuit is interrupted because the wire inside isn't connected.  When it's switched to "on," it connects and the green mod does whatever it's going to do.


Some Bit Pics:

Pre-Washington Thoughts and Realizations

A month ago, Dr. MC told us that we were going to Washington DC to present to many people and meet congressmen and senators, we didn't know what to think, or how to react. Now, a little more than one week until the day we leave for DC, I finally know what to think, and what I realized in the past month about organizing a presentation working with a team.

Organizing a Presentation

Organizing a presentation is no easy task. The hardest part, in our case, is getting our LittleBit rover ready for presenting. The rover has gone through many prototypes, but every day, a new problem seems to pop up. Be it the wiring, batteries, or treads, there is always something that goes wrong. As a Maker Ambassador, I have learned to deal with problems as they arise, and if I can't solve them, I work around them. If I can't find a pair of small treads for the rover, but have a lot of large treads, I alter the rover's wheels so they fit in large treads instead. Of course, these are only problems with the "prop". Preparing for questions people may ask is another hard part. My fellow Makers and I must be ready to answer any question. This means we have to know exactly how the LittleBits and our rover works. However, as much as we plan, we all know, deep down, that there will always be that one technical glitch, or that one question, that will stump us. When that happens, we will only be able to improvise, and come up with our best answer, or solution to the problem.

Working With a Team

Working with a team is no easy thing, but working with a group of eccentric and quirky Makers is even more of a challenge. At first, our largest problem was communication. I would come upstairs to work on the rover, only to find that it was disassembled. Then, I would have to waste twenty grueling minutes rebuilding the parts of the rover that were completed yesterday. Also, sometimes a team isn't focused. It's good to fan out and each work on a different part of the presentation, but eventually, a team needs to come back together and fit together the different "pieces" or parts they are working on, into a final presentation. We as Makers divide up our jobs, but we are inclined to completely ignore what another group is working on. In other words, working together is not easy. The most valuable lesson that I learned from this experience is that you can't always get people to do what you want to complete. Instead, you have to work with them, and compromise.

Being part of Makers this year in PRISM has taught me many important life lessons, and valuable skills that I will use for the rest of my life.

How the Maker Movement Connects Students to Engineering and Technology

Student Voice Matters

Student voice is a concept that's very important, especially in classrooms.  In many conventional classrooms, the teacher is supposed to teach and the students are supposed to listen. Not so with PRISM.  In PRISM, our voice matters, and our opinions are considered vital.  And according to researchers, this has a very beneficial effect on learning.
For example, studies have found that students being able to express themselves freely is extremely helpful in improving student-teacher relationships and helping kids really dive deeper with topics and look at how they connect to their own life.
Another benefit is that sometimes teachers might even be able to learn something from the kids, and understand their perspective to find out how learning could be made better for them.
At PRISM, we understand these benefits and use them in our projects.  For example, this very blog post you're reading right now is an example of student voice.  We get to share our opinions and views with the world.
We also use the website Edmodo to share resources, cool insights, and ideas with each other. 
Plus, in PRISM, we get to make the rules, and are treated like equals, and valuable team members.  We get to plan, build, and share, all on our own.
In short, at the PRISM room, we're not supposed to conform, be seen and not heard, never question people, and never let our opinions be heard.  
We're expected to explore.
We're expected to redefine.
To discuss.
To argue.
To design.
To question.
To dream.
To think and build and present and write, discover, test, go our own direction, let our voices be heard, share our opinions, and, in short, be #makers!

Have Persistence

What is the most important thing to have if you want to be successful?
Talent?
No.
Education?
Never a bad idea, but no.
Money?
No.
Technology and resources?
Still no.
No, the key to success has been around for almost forever.  The key to success is grit, perseverance, and the ability to keep going when everyone else has stopped.
It's the thing that allows you to bounce back from failure.
The thing that allows you to keep trying no matter how hard things get.
It's the thing that allows you to work harder than anyone else and create something that will change the world.
Grit is sooooo underrated.
The effects of persistence weren't really formally studied until Angela Duckworth entered the stage.  Angela Duckworth was one of the first psychologists to study perseverence's effect on kids, and her work leaves a lasting influence.  It has been found to be more important that IQ, and the reason there are so many promising kids who fizzle out later on.
At PRISM, we try to emphasize grit, so along with learning about circuits, programming, and technology, we also learn how to keep our head up in failure.
For example, in late January-early February, we were working on our rover.  It was for multi-terrain use, but we kept encountering setback after setback.  The baseboards didn't work. The wheels always turned to the right.  The controls were seriously limited.  The materials were occasionally falling apart in our hands.  You name the problem, I assure you, we had to deal with it.  But we kept trying, kept improving and testing and redesigning and... persisting, and in the end, we got a rover, a rover we would have never had if we had quit, and with that, an experience that would last us forever.  
Meanwhile, another story of overcoming failure in the PRISM room was not from Makers, but from the Scenario kids.  We had all worked harder than we ever thought we could on our stories, but in the end, there could only be one winner. (Congrats, Stella, btw.)  We could have just curled up into a ball and sobbed our eyes out (Which I'll admit, we did do for a little while,) but we managed to get back up on our feet again, and we're ready to blow away the competition next year.
All in all, PRISM has taught us how to think, and how to never give up.  Not only did we learn how to use Arduino and other cool gizmos, we learned how to keep going, and this is a skill that will stay with us, even when the technology becomes a thing of the past.

Changing Outlooks on PRISM

In PRISM, one thing that is emphasized is freedom.  Unlike in traditional classrooms, in PRISM, Dr. MC and the rest of us get equal power shares, and there are next to NO rules.  We get freedom to use resources however we want, and Dr. MC treats us as equals rather than just a bunch of random students.
This outlook has a positive impact on our class, because while we experiment with little bits and rovers and computers and Arduino, we're also learning leadership, self-directedness, and ability to do stuff without being given a gargantuan stack of rules and guidelines.

~#KGB

PS- 4c6f6e67206c6976652074686520416d617a696e67204f72646572

Rover Updates 2-9-15

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
After a Long Lunch and a stressed-out flex, the result was the first rover prototype. It wasn't much, just a LittleBits Base Board supported by four wheels. But it was the first prototype of the rover-in-progress.  Sure, it was boring, uncontrollable, and always turned to the right. But it was just version 0.0. Next up would be adding treads, remote controls, and headlights to make a real all-terrain rover. And the LittleBits Base Boards are terrible! It took forever just to get the motors on the mounting boards! But now we know it can support it's own weight, and likely more. So just wait for new features!

Rover's First Steps!

Our rover is finally moving!  Of course, we'll have to attach the entire upper half, including headlights, facetime, and servo, and we'll have to work out some minor things like the whole we-can't-exactly-carry-the-battery-around-wherever-the-rover-goes thing, but yeah! Here it is!

For Makers, we should perhaps create our own projects, create a presentation about it, and also make a rover together.

Washington

I, Katherine Benjamin, am INCREDIBLY excited.
In just a few short weeks, myself and 7 other people are going to WASHINGTON DC!
Yahoo!

Educator Expo 2015

The Maker Ambassadors were thrilled to share what they love with their teachers at Community Middle School. They facilitated a design challenge from Stanford University's d.school and encouraged teachers to tinker around with the littleBits by completing a circuit and creating something that lights up, moves, or makes a noise. 

For a folder of resources from the Educator Expo, click here. 

One Wild Ride!

It's 2:50, and we're waiting for Dr. Mc, way over by the main lobby.  We're hauling huge containers of Bits, and waiting, nervous, for the meeting to begin.
Teachers slowly trickle into the commons, while we wait for Dr. Mc.  Oliver is practically jumping across the hallway with nervousness, and as for myself, I am screaming at random people, mostly because they made me lose my place in my book.
"OK, who has the stickers?" I ask.  We look at each other sheepishly.
"So nobody brought them?" I say.
Apparently not.  But I have no time left to worry about it, as Dr. Mc is here, finally here.  We file into the commons, carrying little bits and not-so-little backpacks.  
We set up on the stage thingy, where we put out signs, spaghetti, marshmallows, string, tape, and other odds and ends.  The teachers look at the jumble of kids and seemingly random objects with curiosity. 
This is a teacher's faculty meeting, but this time we get to be the teachers, the showers, the presenters.  Here come our first present-ees.  The gym teachers, and some others that I don't know.
We divide them up into groups, and then explain what all this chaos is about.  Their challenge: Build a free-standing structure out of 20 spaghetti sticks, one marshmallow, and a yard each of tape and string.  In 10 minutes.  And made better and taller than the other team's.
We introduce the activity while obsessing over broken hunks of pasta.  We give the teams their spaghetti, set the timer, and watch them get to work.
The first group sets to work, sticking stuff to other stuff, while the other argues about engineering and design.
They were fighting like a bunch of kids.
Dr. Mc, with a smile, reminds them that it was a collaboration exercise, and not building the Taj Mahal out of stale food products.
Meanwhile, the first group inquires about the meaning of "free-standing" as it was used in our instructions.
We explain that it just means that you can't use any part of your body to prop it up.  The group smiles and one member suddenly jumped up onto our table.  I had flashbacks of our PRISM room.  Then the teacher started taping spaghetti to the ceiling. 
While they did that, I devised a time-saving innovation called M-Pacs, short for Material Packages.  They were compact versions of all the materials you would need for your towers.  I called for more string, just as I heard the unmistakable snap  of spaghetti breaking.
Forty-five minutes and one stale, extremely manhandled marshmallow later, it was time to pack up.  While other PRISMers did the easy jobs of untaping signs and putting empty boxes into empty bags, I crawled around underneath our stand, shoveling up the tiny pieces of noodle.  Oh, what fun.