Page 30 - THE Journal, April/May 2017

STEAM continued from page 28
“They have to learn the responsibility of cleaning up after themselves, putting those materials back,” Kosarych said. “If it’s more organized, the better it is for them to use the space.”
To keep small items organized while they’re in use, Winnetka Public Schools uses cafeteria trays for students to carry materials to their work space and keep them from rolling away and getting lost.
Gokcek, the STEM/PBL curriculum developer at Harmony Public Schools, also suggests designating someone to be in charge of the makerspace. “There has to be someone dedicated to the space to schedule the visits, to keep a log of who- ever is using the equipment and to ensure they’re properly training to operate the equipment,” he said.
6. Encourage Tinkering to Repair or Repurpose Broken Tools
Inevitably, some things will break. While most other school equipment will either get replaced or sent out for repair when it’s broken, makerspaces offer a third option: tinkering, which can mean either repairing the equipment in-house or repurposing its parts for use in maker projects. “Who is going to repair the equipment, who is go- ing to do maintenance?” Gokcek said. “Are you going to outsource your maintenance or are you going to ask your staff members to do their own maintenance and repairs?”
By adopting that philosophy, schools can even save money by purchasing used equipment with the intent of repair-
ing or repurposing it once it reaches its end-of-life. “That gets into this idea of hackerspaces and this idea of tinkering,
where you go buy equipment that’s maybe halfway through done, and you finish off the equipment, you build your own 3D printer,” Gokcek said. “Once you do that, any problem that comes up, you just do your own repairs.”
7. Be Fearless
Miller tells teachers and administra-
tors to be fearless as they venture into the maker culture. “We always talk about how kids can’t be afraid to fail,” she said. “Well, the adults can’t be afraid to fail, either. That’s what maker culture is all about.”
Leila Meyer is a technology writer and contributing editor for THE Journal. She can be reached at leilameyer@gmail.com.
VIEWPOINT
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● Ask questions first and then read. To help students get a better understanding of key concepts, have them skim an article and form questions based on the titles, subhead- ings and photos they see. Have them try to answer the questions on their own before they start reading. Bring Science Alive!
also has activities and examples of how to conduct a “scavenger hunt” that requires students to identify features and structures that might give clues to what they’re going to learn before they start reading.
Writing
● Use graphic organizers. Before students write anything, particularly a lab report, it’s helpful to have them use a graphic organizer. Many graphic organizers include elements like sentence frames or sen-
tence starters to help students focus their thoughts into written words. If they’ve never used a graphic organizer before, demon-
strate the entire process of how information in a graphic organizer is eventually turned into a report.
● Advance inquiry skills. Asking great questions is essential for better writing. Bring Science Alive! allows teachers to supply students with multiple questions or writing prompts that learners can choose and own. These online question-and-answer activities often spark more in-depth conversations while allowing students to practice writing meaningfully about STEAM subjects.
● Have students be the teachers. Con- sider assigning a unit project where teams of students present a lesson for a related topic. Students can design essential questions, cre- ate handouts, and co-create a lesson assess- ment for their peers. Teaching to the class requires them to write and communicate information in a highly digestible way. It also gets students interacting with one another and advancing scientific discussions.
Better Literacy = Better STEAM Learning
Both Common Core and NGSS emphasize the importance of speaking, listening and communicating about mathematical and scientific concepts. Integrating literacy tools into STEAM subjects does more than help students and teachers fulfill objectives. Better literacy helps students identify and more thoroughly understand key concepts. With teachers’ help, they can build on these skills to explore on their own, master subjects and continue to use these skills wherever they go in their educational career and beyond.
Ann Lorey is a middle school Common Core and science coach in the Palo Alto Unified School District.
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