A minor breakthrough…
A grade one teacher suggested having playtime in the makerspace for the first three weeks, then working on a single project for the remaining three weeks. Why did we not do this before? The students are much more familiar with the tools and materials than previous years, despite it being the first time any of them had set foot in the makerspace. They were also much calmer and needed less direction and intervention. Amazing. I will suggest this same technique for all grade levels, albeit with the timeframe adjusted slightly as almost all other students have spent at least some time in the makerspace.
STEAM Teaching and Learning 
I wonder about how we can bring this as a tuning in type of activity. Even though must of us (in higher grades) have been to the maker space, how can we use this “play time” to actually tune in to an idea. For our unit coming up, what types of things can we play with to explore? How do we use this to drive our inquiry? I really hope the biofuel person is inspiring.
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