On Friday I had an amazing day talking about Makerspaces and STEM with a wonderful group of educators at the NJPSA headquarters. Almost forty teachers, curriculum coordinators, and administrators spent close to six hours listening to me talk about the how and why of getting started with Makerspaces in schools. I was originally going to be co-presenting with Laura Fleming, but due to a family emergency I was unexpectedly flying solo. I was a bit nervous, but thanks to a fantastic audience that was more than willing to participate, share their stories, and ask questions, it ended up being the most fun at a workshop that I’ve had in a while.
We had a lot of fun with the Ready, Set, Design activity that I had learned about from Kevin Jarrett, and I think I caused a surge in sales of the Extraordinaires Design Studio Pro (also discovered via KJ!) after sharing my kit with the attendees. I covered a ton of material over the course of the day, and even brought part of the Mobile Makerspace with me. I hope those who spent the day learning with me are able to go back and do amazing things in their districts!