Monday, May 18, 2015

Curtis Makers Present at Region 11




Throughout this year, some of our Curtis students have met on Wednesdays in the library for maker club activities. These activities have changed throughout the year, based on student feedback. Sometimes we were creating with Legos & LittleBits, sometimes programming our Speros & Ollies. Sometimes we were working on green screen creations, and sometimes we were coding in the computer lab, using Scratch and Code.org. 

We have had visitors drop by to see us, one of them being Mrs. Erin Griffith from Region 11 Education Service Center (ESC). She was very impressed with what our students were doing with coding and robotics and asked if we would share our experiences with adult learners.  The group we were presenting to were education leaders from all over Region 11. Mrs. Griffith wanted them to see the way our students were taking charge of their learning and the after school maker club.  Curtis Makers were more than willing to share!  What a wonderful opportunity to tell our story and give our students a voice. The hardest part was narrowing down our presenters because they ALL wanted to share!

Students selected to travel to Region 11 divided up into teams and chose what they wanted to present. They chose to present about the green screen, Spheros, coding, LittleBits & Makey-Makey. The students decided on the things they needed to bring and how they would present. They were completely responsible for their items and their presentation. It was great to see them take charge of this!

When we arrived, our Curtis Makers got busy setting up their stations. The students took great pride in creating a display that would showcase their maker item. Before our presentations began, we enjoyed a catered lunch in the dining area. We were even able to check out their cool Collaboration Station with some moving chairs we are sure we need at Curtis!

Our students presented to two different groups. I shared a little about our journey with a short presentation. As I would get to different parts of our journey, one of our students would come up and share. It was so wonderful to hear their confidence as they told the attendees about what they had learned and accomplished.





The students answered questions as the adult learners came around and talked with them about what they were presenting. They did a great job of sharing their knowledge of what they had brought to present.

I have to say, this was one of those days that affirmed that there is so much right about education today and this generation of learners! These students were well-spoken and clearly able to explain all of the great things they have been doing this year during our after school maker club! They told our story well, and I was so very proud of them!

Here is a look at our day...