Help me give my students the chance to do even more with 3D printing. They can now print items over 2X the size of what our current 3D printer can create, with this 3-in-1 tool!
My students are learners first and foremost. They want to learn about this, that, and whatever I can teach them. They adhere to my philosophy of getting the most out of education that you can while it's still free!
High school students absorb all sorts of knowledge on a daily basis.
It's my job to ensure that what they are learning is relevant and current to the real world that they will soon be out navigating on their own! Additionally, middle school students explore their curiosities on a daily basis and I want to lead them down a path where they value the educational process and actively seek out new and innovative learning experiences!
My Project
The “Maker Movement” as it has come to be called in education was not born overnight. As a matter of fact, students “making” has been a common theme in my career. From students using modeling clay and digital cameras to create “claymation” videos, to students now designing all sorts of objects on Google SketchUp and printing their designs on 3D printers, I have often looked for the end result of a project to be something tangible. Students won’t always remember your lesson objectives, or the websites you explored together, but they will remember their creations. Many such projects I have done were an end result of a common goal, a simple one at that. The goal of these projects was to engage students while learning cross-curricular content in a fun and memorable way. Needless to say, the most memorable lessons I personally learned in school were from educators giving me a chance to design, to build, to experiment, to create, to draw, to have fun while learning content that has no life in a textbook, wasted ink on a worksheet, or no place anywhere “in theory”. Making is a natural part of life and is strongly encouraged when we are young, but why not when we are older and more mature? When we grow up, we seem to focus on making money or even making a difference, but no longer on things that are tangible. The “Maker Movement” is our return to simplicity, or earlier times, where tinkering is not only considered a form of teaching, but a successful and masterful one at that!
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