"Today was a big day in my grade 4-5 STEM class: It was our first time to start the “Maker Studio” rotation. Maker Studio is a concept I developed this past summer attending Maker Faire Kansas City and the awesome “Create, Make and Learn” week-long #MakerEd #STEM summer institute in Vermont coordinated by Lucie deLaBruere (@techsavvygirl). Last year was my 17th as an educator but my first as an elementary STEM teacher. I enjoyed developing and sharing lessons about a wide variety of topics, but as a “STEM teacher” was uncomfortable with my predominant focus on direct instruction lessons. Some of my favorite units from last year focused on the science and technology of music and sound, kitchen chemistry, and collaborative projects in MinecraftEDU involving permiter/area building challenges, coordinate grid scavenger hunts, and more. Our projects and activities together in these units were engaging, fun, and standards-based, but still relied predominantly on direct instruction. The after-school “Makers Club” I facilitated provided many opportunities for student-directed learning, but didn’t change my predominant teacher-directed instruction during STEM class. My summer PD experiences at #MakerFaireKC and #CML14 were transformative. Enter “Maker Studio.”"
Via
John Evans,
Timo Ilomäki
What tools are there to help students PRODUCE writing online? Lauren Davis identifies five areas that for producing writing:
* Collaborative tools
* Grammar and language resources
* Fun prompts to get their juices flowing
* Brainstorming and drafting graphic organizers.
* Research tools
What tools are there to help students PUBLISH writing online?
* Magazines
* Online contests
* Class e-newsletter or newspaper
* Book review website
* Class blog or website
There are links to many resources thoughout this post and in many cases specific suggestions are provided for grade levels. If you are not using online tools with your students this post provides great resources to help you begin the process.