I have always been in love with learning. I crave the amazement and satisfaction that come from the revelation of new knowledge and perspectives. I didn’t really understand this until I was in college and was able to choose my courses and paths to learning. Because of this passion, I became a teacher. I wanted to spark the same interest for learning in my students. Teaching was overwhelming. It was frustrating. It was also incredibly fun and rewarding. I taught in classrooms for five years (3 ½ in sixth grade). When I started, I was focused on following the curriculum that was passed down to me and making sure I was “doing it right.” The longer I taught, however, I found that students were more engaged and curious when we veered off in directions that were relevant and interesting to them. It was when I gave them time to discover their own conclusions that sparked the love of learning in them that I found myself.
When I moved out of state a few years ago, I decided to pursue museum education and became an educator at a local science center. This is how I became passionate about maker education/STEM/STEAM/PBL. The organization emphasized discovery through hands-on learning and it triggered my interest in learning through experience. I loved seeing the excitement and engagement that occured when I facilitated prototyping and experimenting rather than lecturing and leading them down a narrow path of exploration and content.
I believe our job as educators is to spark student curiosity, and guide students to help them discover their own unique passions.
Over the years I have gotten the opportunity to work in a variety of positions in schools and museums. I have written curriculum, led summer camps, taught preschool through eighth graders, and run education programs like Girls in STEM. I love working with educators who want to empower and engage their students in learning.
Lindsay Simmons
Integrating making into literacy instruction engages learners and can cultivate many essential twenty-first century skills such as creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and a growth mindset. In this session, participants will learn about the benefits of infusing making into literacy instruction and even experience their own version of it with some hands-on making.
Lindsay Simmons
During this virtual workshop, educators will get an orientation to their MackinMaker Gamified Kit and receive an overview of how the challenges can align and connect to content area learning and ISTE Standards. At the end of this 75-minute session, educators will understand the unique elements of the kit and feel ready to facilitate exploration as students complete challenges and play to learn.
Lindsay Simmons
In this full day, interactive workshop, we will start by exploring the research behind how maker education and gamified learning not only engage but can foster creativity and innovation through problem solving. Educators will get an orientation to their MackinMaker Gamified Kit, spend time exploring the new making tools included in their specific kit, and dive into how the challenges can align and connect to content area learning and ISTE Standards.
Lindsay Simmons
The Makey Makey Invention Literacy Workshop is a fun, hands-on learning experience where educators will learn how to teach Invention Literacy, Making, and Design Thinking using the award winning Makey Makey invention literacy kit. They will experience the benefits of creating as part of the learning experience and discuss ways this tool could be integrated into instruction.
Lindsay Simmons
The Maker Movement might be a more familiar practice in the library space, but it is a mindset that needs to be cultivated throughout any school. Maker Education teaches collaboration, a growth mindset, creativity, problem solving, and many other crucial skills that they need to be successful in the twenty-first century. In this session, participants will be introduced to integrating maker education into classroom subjects and how this can be an effective way of teaching that celebrates the diverse learning styles and needs of our students.
Lindsay Simmons
This custom, hands-on workshop gives educators an opportunity to explore the products that they have available to them in their makerspaces. Once they learn how the tools can be used, Mackin Learning works with teachers to discover creative ways to integrate these new tools into what they are already doing in their classrooms or libraries to propel student learning. This session is perfect for schools with a new makerspace, or schools with a makerspace that is not currently being utilized. **It is highly recommended that this workshop is paired with an additional maker education workshop so educators have an understanding of this practice prior to learning the products.
Lindsay Simmons
As we continue our movement into the 21st century, we know there is an increased need for collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and complex problem solving. All these skills demand a high level of flexibility and creativity. So, how do we begin to provide these opportunities for our students in meaningful ways? In this session, we will explore why making is imperative to prepare our students for their futures and some of the avenues of making that can be employed in the school space.
When I first started facilitating making experiences with students, one of the challenges I found was that I didn’t really know how to plan for this type of learning. I was comfortable with teacher-centered...
While I have always had a passion for student engagement and relationship-building, when I first started classroom teaching, I took a more traditional pedagogical approach. As many new teachers do, I started my...
Growing up I didn’t often consider if what I was learning would be useful or applicable to me in life outside of school. In fact, I didn’t think a lot about what I would do after I completed school at all. I was...
I’m a rule follower. I always have been. When I was a kid, I would get so nervous I would sweat when I thought someone wasn’t following the rules, and I would be lying if I said I don’t get a bit nervous to this...
There are many obvious connections between STEM and making, but as Dr. John Spencer writes in one of his blog posts, “Too often, we associate makerspaces with STEM classes. People think about coding or robotics...