Going into my first year of the MAET program, I have to admit- I had no idea what to expect. Yes, I would undoubtedly have TONS of course work (hello, it’s a graduate program…) but other than that, I really had no expectations. So thinking back to my feelings last week when my instructors shared we would be not only learning about Maker Faires but planning and orchestrating our own…you could say I didn’t know what to think. Shocked, surprised, scared- you name it, I was probably feeling it.
Now that my colleagues and I can call ourselves successful Maker Faire hosts (go #MAETy1!!!), I would call this experience nothing short of extraordinary. Not only that, I believe it’s safe to call it life changing. I feel I didn’t just plan a Maker Faire- I lived it.
Image Credit: Emily Sherbin
“You don’t learn unless you question,” (Berger, 2014, p. 24). As we study the book A Beautiful Question in my MAET program, I’ve the chance to reflect a great deal on the importance of not being afraid to ask questions to deepen my learning. Author Warren Berger (2014) stresses the need for everyone– teachers included- to push to ask the “whys and what ifs” (p. 13) This is exactly where my colleagues and I began our journey as the ‘makers’ of our Maker Faire. Though we were ALL feeling the emotions I mentioned above (scared, shocked, panicked…), our instructors posed the challenge of us first thinking of questions that we needed to ask.
WHO is a maker? WHERE do they make? WHAT do they make? HOW do they share and collaborate?
I can relate the need for questioning to having a maker mindset– a maker is anyone who is curious, creative, and NOT afraid to ask those difficult why and what if questions. Throughout this Maker Faire experience, I dared to ask those questions. Was it terrifying?Absolutely. Could my colleagues and I have easily given up on the idea of us putting on a Maker Faire? Definitely. Did we, though? NO. My colleagues and I chose to not be afraid to answer all of our questions, no matter how difficult. We tinkered, we observed, we played, and we collaborated. We were makers.
During the planning process for our booth, my colleague Katie and I initially started with the idea of having our participants create anything using the materials we provided and using their finished product to add to a growing collaborative story. We were thrilled with this idea! I expected our instructor to share the same excitement for our idea with us, though instead we were met with LOTS and lots of questions [insert teary face here].
I admit, at that moment I felt defeated and frustrated– I mean, who wouldn’t? No one likes it when their ideas are questioned. Returning to the idea of maker mindset, though, I understand my instructor’s need to question us. By revisiting our idea and adapting our thoughts, Katie and I embodied the maker mindset. We challenged ourselves to be reflective and creative thinkers, producing a wonderful final product.
Ironically enough, we chose to center our booth around a question:
What is something from your every day life that you wish you could improve or #MakeItBetter?
Our end goal was for participants to leave with an understanding of the creative and re-visionary aspects of the design process. We challenged the makers that entered our room to think of something from their every day life that they have always wanted to improve in some sort of way. From there, they could construct a prototype of their idea using the three types of materials we had laid out: play-dough, pipe cleaners, and Stikits. If you are interested in learning more, check out our step-by-step plan.
Katie and I both hoped to push the thinking of the makers that entered our room, similar to how our instructor pushed our thinking. We aimed to provide participants with an active approach to learning our objective, which can simply be defined as “learners taking control of their own learning” (Bransford, Brown & Cocking, 2000). By coming up with an idea of an object from their every day life that they wish to change, participants actively learned the revision process by experiencing it firsthand.
All in all, our booth (and the Maker Faire itself) resulted in great success. Having now lived the maker experience, I see tremendous pedagogical value for the Maker Movement both inside and outside of the classroom. Being a maker simply involves the the willingness to explore, create and share. In one way or another, I believe that we are all makers.
Slideshow and Vine created by: Natalie D’Amico. Slideshow and video image credit: Natalie D’Amico
References Used:
Berger, Warren. (2014). A More Beautiful Question: The Power of Inquiry to Spark Breakthrough Ideas. New York: Bloomsbury USA.
Bransford, J. D., Brown, A. L., & Cocking, R. R. (2000). How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience and School. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.
Natalie D'Amico 
2 thoughts on “Make it Better!”