Worlds of Making: Best Practices for Establishing a Makerspace for Your School(Corwin Connected Educators Series)

Makerspaces: Your questions answered here! Get the nuts and bolts on imagining, planning, creating, and managing a cutting-edge Makerspace for your school community. Nationally recognized expert Laura Fleming provides all the answers in this breakthrough guide. From inception through implementation, you’ll find invaluable guidance for creating a vibrant Makerspace on any budget. Practical strategies and anecdotal examples help you: Create an action plan for your own personalized Makerspace Align activities to standards Showcase student creations Use this must-have guide to painlessly build a robust, unique learning environment that puts learning back in the hands of your students! The Corwin Connected Educators series is your key to unlocking the greatest resource available to all educators: other educators. Being a Connected Educator is more than a set of actions: it’s a belief in the potential of technology to fuel lifelong learning. "Laura Fleming does an exquisite job of creating a guide for all schools to tap into students’ innate desire to create, tinker, invent, and make to learn. Leveraging her experience as a practitioner she provides a compelling, yet simple recipe for any school or educator to transform any space into a makerspace on a shoestring budget. It is time to bring the fun back into learning!" —Eric Sheninger, Corwin Author, Digital Leadership "Fleming provides a concise overview of the Maker Movement as a revolution taking place in learning today. This book makes a case for the importance of creating a culture of innovation and offers practical tips and strategies for those interested in creating their own makerspaces." —Greg Toppo, Education Reporter USA Today

Table of Contents:
Preface by Peter DeWitt Introduction 1. The Maker Movement 2. Planning Your Makerspace 3. Setting Up Your Makerspace 4. Creating a Maker Culture in Your School 5. Makerspaces and the Standards 6. The "Expert" Maker 7. Makerspaces and the School Library 8. Makerspaces as a Unique Learning Environment 9. Showcasing Student Creations 10. Makerspaces as Catalysts for Future Change 11. School Leaders

About the Author :
Laura Fleming has been an educator in the state of New Jersey for 17 years. She has been both a classroom teacher and media specialist in grades K-8 and currently as a Library Media Specialist for grades 9-12. Laura is a strong advocate of using New Media and Vanguard Techniques for Interactive and Transmedia (multi-platform) Storytelling. She has played a prominent role in education as a writer and speaker and has served as an educational consultant on next-generation teaching methods and tools. Laura has also consulted on Transmedia properties, working with producers to help maximize the value of their creations and toolsets for teachers and students. She is also the author of Worlds of Learning:  Best Practices for Establishing a Makerspace for Your School (Corwin, 2015). Laura’s goal is to create learning experiences that empower and equip students with necessary skills to effectively produce and consume content across multiple media platforms. She is also driven to enable educators and cohorts in applying these innovative methods and cutting-edge technology in their fields of expertise. She is an educational consultant, thought leader and speaker on education, librarianship, and technology.   Recently, Laura created a digital badge-based professional development platform in which educators all over the world earn badges in acknowledgement of their informal professional learning. Her library Makerspace has garnered national attention and has served as an inspiration for schools across the country. She is also a recipient of the National School Boards ‘20 to Watch’ in Educational Technology Leadership for 2014. Her goal is to create learning experiences that empower and equip students with necessary skills to effectively produce and consume content across multiple media platforms. She is also driven to enable educators and cohorts in applying these innovative methods and cutting-edge technology in their fields of expertise. Laura is an educational consultant, thought leader and speaker on education, librarianship, and technology. She is also the host of the BAM Radio Show "Movers and Makers."

Review :
"Fleming provides a concise overview of the Maker Movement as a revolution taking place in learning today. This book makes a case for the importance of creating a culture of innovation and offers practical tips and strategies for those interested in creating their own makerspaces." "Laura Fleming does an exquisite job of creating a guide for all schools to tap into students′ innate desire to create, tinker, invent, and make to learn. Leveraging her experience as a practitioner she provides a compelling, yet simple recipe for any school or educator to transform any space into a makerspace on a shoestring budget. It is time to bring the fun back into learning!" "As of now there are about 20 books in the Corwin Connected Educator Series, a seemingly ever-growing set of titles masterminded by Peter DeWitt and Corwin Press. Each book is short enough to be read in one sitting, which makes the collection ideal for book studies and professional development, both during the summer and throughout the school year. Also, each paperback is authored by one or two educators who speak (and blog, tweet, etc.) with a credible voice in the world of connected education. Some of the topics include: Flipped leadership Tools for connecting educators, parents, and communities Blogging for educators Best practices for establishing a makerspace Tools to connect and empower teachers Finally, all of the authors are active on social media, and they regularly present at local conferences, which helps in bringing to life the contents of these books."