“iterate it!” by holger lippmann is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

With our school’s introduction of a literacy coordinator, double blocks of non-negotiable literacy time, plus dedicated reading time mean time taken away from teachers’ schedules for extras like STEAM. I’ve turned this into an opportunity for more STEAM integration — part of the long term plan to get STEAM out of the makerspace and into classrooms, much the same way that technology crept out of the computer lab and into daily use. Instead of signing up for double blocks of time, classes are now scheduled for one block per week. This frees up nearly half of my schedule for me to push in to classrooms, pod areas, and other learning spaces around the school — such as the garden. It’s exciting because I’m not sure exactly how it will work out, and energizing because it’s a new challenge to take on. With the addition of portable makerspaces around the primary school, my new opportunities to get into learning spaces, and a generally high level of comfort with STEAM thinking among teachers, I’m optimistic about the new school year.