Take A Look At Altamont Creek Elementary's New Makerspace

From Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District: In the center of Altamont Creek Elementary School’s new makerspace, things seem peaceful and quiet. The lights are off and the room is mostly empty – not devoid of anything, but full of potential. It is an open space and an invitation to build. Principal Tara Aderman is recounting the inception of her school’s new makerspace and her vision for it going forward when the door swings open. Aderman welcomes a group of students into the room and it takes twenty seconds for the makerspace to light up and spring to life. Undaunted by the myriad options, the students dive right in to starting projects from scratch, pulling out materials and letting their imaginations run loose in the open space designed exactly for that purpose.

This makerspace is filled with enough tools and options to keep the wildest imagination occupied. There are standbys like a Lego wall, blocks, construction paper, glue, textiles, sewing, and needlecrafts. Small robots - Bee-Bots, Dash & Dots, Spheros - can teach students about coding and be programmed to move around the room. Then there is everything at the intersection of high and low tech, including a Makey Makey that allows students to connect everyday objects to a computer program, Squishy Circuits - a conductive and insulative dough, and littleBits - simple, magnetic electronic blocks. Students can design three-dimensional objects with Tinkercad software and print them with a 3D printer. One student has started a vlog “newspaper” for the schools using the Green Screen.

“There’s no direction to the makerspace,” said Aderman. “I wanted kids to think about what they want to do, and I wanted them to have a freeform space where they could do it.” This is the school’s first year with the makerspace, brought together by Aderman’s leadership and a committee of parents and teachers, though Aderman was careful to consider the students’ opinions – it would be their space, after all. The kids ended up wanting more low-tech materials like blocks, glue, and paper; but it was important that this was a place for them to learn about new technology too, and to explore ways to express their creativity with coding, bots, and much more.

Altamont Creek’s makerspace takes the place of the school’s old computer lab. “Classrooms should be integrated with technology,” said Aderman. “Kids need to get a strong foundation for naturally incorporating tech into their education. At this point, computers should come with the classroom experience.” To that end, computers were pushed out of the lab and into classrooms, making room for a new space with new gadgets with which students could acquaint themselves. With help from a committed PTA, Aderman hopes the school will have a device for every student by the end of the year.

The science curriculum at Altamont Creek is developed through the Project Lead the Way (PLTW) Launch model. Students are empowered by the PLTW model to explore and play in their learning. It encourages discovery and creativity in pathways such as robotics, computer science, and engineering. The school’s partnership with the nonprofit organization ties into Aderman’s larger vision for the makerspace – that students take the values of making, designing, and creating back to the classroom, just as they did with the computers. Students should feel comfortable utilizing the same flexibility and reflection they practice in the makerspace in their regular assignments.

Aderman hopes to see the makerspace transition into something new after teachers and students have learned to implement those values naturally in their everyday lessons. “The ability to demonstrate and articulate their process is the key to the makerspace,” she said. A student who takes skills learned in the makerspace back to a writing assignment or a math problem is getting the most out of it. Eventually, each classroom should be equipped with the tools to provide students the creative and reflective outlet that the makerspace is incubating now. By then, students at Altamont Creek should be accustomed to discovering new spaces in their minds, to instinctively turn the lights on, and get to making.

Photos courtesy of Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District:

(Image 1) Students in the makerspace

(Image 2) Coding and programming Spheros

(Image 3) The Lego wall

(Image 4) Students working with the Green Screen