We know teachers are the quintessential makers, because they are making the makers of the future. And the best teachers we know love to roll up their sleeves and take on do-it-yourself projects with their students.
This week running up to Maker Faire, and over the weekend, we and our friends at Maker Education Initiative are hosting more teacher-friendly events than we ever have had before, and we’re delighted to invite you to them.
This post outlines most of what’s happening from Thursday through Sunday of Maker Week.
Coming with students?
Check out tips for leading a Maker Faire field trip, from teacher Walt Hays. Don’t forget to distribute those waivers and print out some pages of the updated Maker Faire Classroom Playbook and described in detail for last year’s edition. Bring your students by the Young Makers booth to inspire them to start a club and show their projects next year, and stop by the Maker Camp site at Maker Faire to sign up for this summer’s online and free camp program.
Friday: Behind-the-Scenes, Virtual Field Trips
Maker Connections wrap up on Friday, May 16, the day before Maker Faire opens! Take your class on a virtual field trip to the San Mateo County Event Center to get a peek behind the scenes with our crew and Makers.
What’s happening the day before Maker Faire opens? A lot!
At 10:30 am (Pacific), meet members of the Maker Faire crew and hear what it takes to make Maker Faire happen, along with their must-see picks for this year’s Faire.
At 1:00 pm (Pacific), meet some Maker Faire favorites as they get ready for the big weekend and learn what it takes to go from idea, to reality, to Maker Faire.
Find links to watch these live shows (and ask questions!) at MakerConnections.com
Everyone is welcome to tune in and ask questions, but if your class would like to participate live on camera, please fill out our Maker Connections interest form here.
Special meetup and sneak peek, just for teachers
Back for its third year, our ever-popular Educators’ Meetup remains a highlight of the Maker Week. We hold it onsite at Maker Faire so you can be one of the very first to preview the fairgrounds on Thursday, May 15th, 4-7pm. This after-school professional development opportunity features hands-on activities, demonstrations, workshops, networking, freebies (and pizza!) We’ll even have a special behind-the-scenes tour with our Maker-in-Chief and Director of Maker Faire, Sherry Huss! The meetup is open to both formal and informal educators, but space is limited, so sign up now!
Making Possibilities
Maker Education Initiative’s first Making Possibilities Workshop on Thursday, May 15th will bring together more than 100 carefully selected educators who want to implement making into their classrooms and youth serving organizations. While they had an overwhelming response to their open invitation and you cannot go in person, you can join in by watching live videos of the keynotes: Dale Dougherty (Event and YouTube) and Sylvia Libow Martinez (Event and YouTube). Sign up with Maker Ed to find out about any additional video to be produced and released by Intel in the future.
Plan your visit
We have a free app available to download for iPhone, iPad, and Android. You can also go online and choose Makers to visit by topic, for example, all Young Makers.
You could also be kept quite busy just with all the on-stage talks we have that are possibly relevant to your work with kids and inspiring the next generation of Makers. Check out the Education Stage’s full schedule with dozens of talks. I’ve woven those in below with the other relevant talks on other stages or with projects by kids.
- 10:30 : Maker Mom Bootcamp: Carving Time To Make by Sarah Hodsdon on the Education Stage
- 10:30 : Amazing Science by Michael Meneghetti on the Make:Live Stage
- 11:00 : Curiosity Hacked: The Learner Controls the Learning by Samantha Cook on the Education Stage
- 11:30 : How to ReMake the World through Making with Kids by Jennifer Turliuk on the Education Stage
- 11:30 : Making an Electric Flower with the Arduino by Waverly and her Dad. on the Make: Electronics Stage
- 11:30 : Sylvia’s Super-Awesome Maker Show by Sylvia Todd on the Make:Live Stage
- 12:00 : My Cardboard World: Arduino in Context by Derek Runberg on the Education Stage
- 12:30 : Empowering Diverse Young Techies through Soft Circuits by Kanjun Qiu on the Education Stage
- 12:30 : Girls as makers and hackers: Lessons learned from DIY Girls by Luz Rivas on the Education Stage
- 12:30 : Learning by Discovery by Charles Platt on the Make: Electronics Stage
- 1:00 : Top 10 Myths about Making in K-12 Education by Angi Chau, Jaymes Dec, Christa Flores, Aaron Vanderwerff on the Education Stage
- 2:00 : Making Makers Out of Young Children by Rebecca Grabman on the Education Stage
- 2:00 : PancakeBot: Holy Cow, It Worked by Miguel Valenzuela on the Make: Electronics Stage
- 2:30 : How to Start and Run a Maker Club for Kids by Rick Schertle on the Education Stage
- 3:00 : Effective STEM Education: Project Envisioning with Young Makers by Jerry Valadez on the Education Stage
- 3:30 : Maker Ed Cafe by on the Education Stage
- 4:00 : Raspberry Pi: Teach, Learn Make by Clive Beale on the Education Stage
- 4:30 : How and Why To Teach Children to Code by Gary Stager on the Education Stage
- 4:30 : littleBits introduces the Arduino module by Ayah Bdeir on the Center Stage
- 5:00 : Making on a National Scale: NOVA’s MAKING STUFF Outreach Community by Scott Asakawa on the Education Stage
- 5:30 : Teach Kids To Code: one girl’s journey with Raspberry Pi by Richard Jordan, Alexandra Jordan on the Make: Electronics Stage
- 6:00 : What makes a maker?—Habits, attitudes and skills that you can teach aspiring makers by Andrew Milne on the Education Stage
- 6:00 : The Science of Being a Maker by ”Science Bob” Pflugfelder on the Center Stage
- 6:30 : Adopting a Maker Philosophy in Schools by Nate McClennen on the Education Stage
- 7:00 : From Anarchist Free Schools to Modern Maker Spaces by Jennifer Wyld on the Education Stage
- 10:30 : Bringing Making Out of the Maker Space by Alison Evans Adnani on the Education Stage
- 11:00 : Super-Awesome Sylvia’s Super Awesome Top-Secret Project by Gary Stager, Super-Awesome Sylvia on the Education Stage
- 11:30 : Adventures in long distance teaching and learning of making by Chris Gammell on the Education Stage
- 11:30 : The Art of Tinkering by Karen Wilkinson, Mike Petrich on the Center Stage
- 12:00 : Flexibility and Persistence in Youth Maker Projects by Lee Martin on the Education Stage
- 12:30 : An Awesome Project — ”Making” Schools Better for Kids by Gary Stager, Sylvia Martinez on the Make:Live Stage
- 1:00 : The Power and Perils of Pink by Bridget Rigby, Sam King, Judy Ho, Stephanie Chang on the Education Stage
- 1:00 : Compressed Air Rocket 2.0 and Air Rocket Glider by Rick Schertle on the Make:Live Stage
- 1:30 : Raspberry Pi: Teach, Learn Make by Clive Beale on the Make: Electronics Stage
- 1:30 : Designing the first Makerspace in a Children’s Hospital. by Gokul Krishnan on the Make:Live Stage
- 1:45 : Building Idaho Makers — A Statewide Approach for Libraries by Erica Compton on the Make:Live Stage
- 2:30 : Why Art Class Doesn’t Belong in Schools (and other outdated terms) by Matthew Jervis on the Education Stage
- 3:00 : Start Making! @ Computer Clubhouses by Danielle Martin, Alisha Panjwani on the Education Stage
- 3:00 : Maker Dad: projects to do with your daughter by Mark Frauenfelder, Jane Frauenfelder on the Make:Live Stage
- 3:30 : Major in Making in College by Micah Lande, Shawn Jordan on the Education Stage
- 3:30 : If You Build It… by Emily Pilloton on the Center Stage
- 4:00 : Prototype a design workshop for open maker portfolios by Anna Keune, Christian McKay on the Education Stage
- 4:30 : How to Build a Portal Turret (Without Expensive Equipment) by Emiko Soroka on the Make: Electronics Stage
- 5:00 : Never Buy a Computer Again: Recycling Computers for School and Home by Robert Litt on the Education Stage
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