Monmouth Memorial School has some innovative ideas on how to involve more of its students with their makerspace. Not only is this makerspace available to whole classes and individuals throughout the day, but students in grades 6-8 also take a unified arts class where they are exposed to many different components of the makerspace, including 3D printing, motors and electronics, woodworking, sewing, all the way to virtual and augmented reality. By the time the students finish middle school, they will have developed makerspace skills, learned about the design process, and completed an independent project. These projects can be hands-on, virtual, or anything in between with some projects including a YouTube instructional video on quilt sewing, marble runs, an American Flag made out of wood and stain, safety guides on tools in the makerspace, and a three-foot-tall basketball hoop.

The makerspace projects are spearheaded by Elizabeth Bellegarde, the district librarian, and Seth Mitchell, who is the school’s technology integrator and the 2022 Kennebec County Teacher of the Tear. Bellegarde feels the system is a great fit for their school, saying “I feel as though the set-up we have is ideal for our school’s structure, allowing the maximum amount of student access.” That structure allows for many different projects happening all at once, with one space designed as a work area that involves everything from power tools and snap circuits as well as materials for the Lego Robotics and VEX Robotics teams, which competed in the 2022 Vex Robotics World Championship.

In the makerspace unified arts class, 6th-8th grade students will be working on a wide array of projects simultaneously, with Bellegarde moving between groups to provide support when needed. Students enthusiastically switch between low-tech and high-tech skills to complete their projects, but the energy and excitement from the students is constantly pulpable.

“It takes time to build that culture,” Mitchell says, “having administration who see the value in this program makes it even more successful.”

Attached to the main makerspace area is Monmouth’s studio space. This area contains a wide array of materials including a sound board, iPad teleprompter, green screen walls, and resources for video editing. “Students and teachers have this wonderful resource available [that can] extend learning in a way that wasn’t previously possible,” Bellegarde says. “By using the makerspace this way, classes become more fun with memorable experiences that will increase retention.” For many students in the makerspace unified arts class, having flexibility between both learning spaces gives them even more options to create unique projects.

Bellegarde wants to continue making these learning resources available for as many students as possible. “We are still working on making more students aware of this opportunity, the makerspace unified arts class is a huge part of that,” she says, “but the students who do take advantage of the makerspace find it to be a rewarding experience.” Not only can students participate in the unified arts class, classroom teachers can use the space for whole-class learning experiences as well as individual students working independently during study halls and available times throughout the day. Bellegarde sees these learning experiences leading to the development of lifelong design, critical thinking, decision-making, and independent skills. “For me, this is the best part of the makerspace.”

This story was written and coordinated by MLTI Ambassador Joshua Schmidt as part of the Maine Schools Sharing the Success Campaign. To learn more, or to submit a story or an idea for a story, email rachel.paling@maine.gov.

The Maine Department of Education’s MLTI Team, including MLTI Ambassadors, Nokomis SLAM students, and MLTI SLAM Coordinator, Kern Kelley spent the day presenting at the SLAM Showcase for sixth grade students and teachers from Hartford/Sumner Elementary School on November 22nd. This was the second of six SLAM (Student Leadership Ambassadors of Maine) Showcases happening at schools across Maine this year. (Read about the first SLAM Showcase here) 

The SLAM show empowers MLTI students to use their devices and technology tools by providing a platform where students can give back and share their innovative work in their schools. The live SLAM in-person showcases have been designed to directly align with MLTI’s vision that all Maine students engage in authentic, relevant, technology-rich, learning experiences that prepare them for a fulfilling future. 

Hartford/Sumner 2nd grade teacher Kelley Houghton attended a SLAM summer professional learning and applied to host a SLAM Showcase. As the selected candidate, Houghton invited MLTI to bring the SLAM Showcase to 6th grade students and teachers at her school. 

The students spent the day learning about robotic coding with MLTI Ambassador, Martha Thibodeau, learning about Canva, free design software, with Nokomis High School SLAM student, Mia Coots, learning how to use TinkerCAD, a free web app for 3D modeling, electronics, and coding, with Nokomis High School SLAM student John Davis, and learning about how to create Virtual Reality with MLTI Ambassador, Tracy Williams. 

The SLAM showcase provides the opportunity for students and teachers to learn new techniques and programs. Fifth grade teacher, Kate McCarthy, excitedly sat alongside students learning about Canva during one of the sessions. “I am very excited to use this in my classroom,” McCarthy later told SLAM student, Abby Caron, during a follow-up interview. 

Following each session, students were invited to participate in the SLAM Exam where they are asked to answer a related question and invited to upload the work they created in the session. At the end of the SLAM Showcase, examples of student work are highlighted as part of the SLAM Show for all participants to view. Prizes were randomly selected from correctly answered SLAM Exams. 

Kelley tells us that the SLAM Exam is a low barrier way for the SLAM program to collect and showcase student work, promote student participation, and entice students to participate in future events. “Even if they don’t get a prize during this show, there is always the opportunity to share work during any of our SLAM shows, so we always hope they will share again and possibly win a prize during a future event.” In addition to the Live SLAM Showcases happening monthly this school year, SLAM also hosts weekly virtual SLAM shows where students across the state can participate. 

The day ended with a group activity that allowed students to, not only share their work, but also share what they learned and highlight their take-aways from a day of hands-on learning. Students also got the opportunity to take a group picture with a drone that was provided to the school, in addition to virtual reality (VR) headsets for each student that can be paired with any mobile device to show their parents and guardians the work they created that day in the Showcase.  

Check out a video of the SLAM Showcase here

To learn more about the MLTI 2.0 SLAM program visit: http://MLTI.me. View the latest SLAM episode on the MLTI 2.0 Youtube Channel. To sign your school or classroom up to take part in SLAM, fill out this form. 

Follow the Maine Department of Education on Facebook and Twitter to see a posting of the latest virtual SLAM show each week. Subscribe to the Maine DOE Newsroom to see a recap of the in-person SLAM shows each month. 

(Pictured: A Glenburn student looks through the telescope at the Star Party.)

Establishing a culture of creation, innovation and hands-on learning is becoming a focal point at Glenburn School. The driving forces toward that goal are a couple of long-time educators – Technology Integrator, David Davis, and Technology Director, Ken Worster. Last year the administration implemented a plan to repurpose a science lab to house materials for a new STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math) Lab. Worster advocated for functional space for technology creation since the one-to-one devices had made the traditional computer lab unnecessary. Davis credits his administrative team at Glenburn for its support of this initiative and feels “fortunate that [his] administration had the vision of technology integration” in order to bring this plan to life.

The STEAM Lab consists of several technology tools including a laser cutter, green screen, a fleet of iPads, a recordable microscope, over a dozen 3-D printers, codable robots, and more. Davis and Worster’s hope is to establish the lab as an integral part of the curriculum for educators. Worster mentioned that the immediate goal is to have teachers “looking at their content and bringing it to David in a way where they can have that conversation about how they can integrate our technology.”

Even in the Lab’s infancy, Davis is already seeing its impact in the classrooms, most notably in the sixth and seventh grade English Language Arts classes. In those classes, students have been able to dive deeper into their reading by designing and printing 3-D objects or characters from their books, by recreating scenes with green-screen video, and by etching “plaques” with the laser cutter that outline the author’s biography.

Additionally, Davis and Worster envision enhanced student engagement through the STEAM Lab by incorporating it into science classes across the school. Davis integrated an astronomy theme and tiered the work for the various grade levels. Students in kindergarten through second grade used the online platform Wixie to design constellations that were then etched with the laser cutter, students in third through fifth grade also used the laser cutter to design the phases of the moon, and finally, sixth through eighth grade students created a 3-D model of a footprint that incorporating each student’s constructed quote acting as if they were to be the first ones stepping onto Mars.

Davis and Worster concluded the unit by coordinating with the Challenger Learning Center and the Versant Power Astronomy Center at the University of Maine to host a “star party” outside at the school. The night was a huge success with over 200 family members attending. It allowed students the chance to stargaze with a telescope which Worster noted was the first time for most of them.

Even with the initial success of the STEAM Lab, Davis and Worster know that it will take time for the innovative culture to spread throughout the school. While they admit the program is not without its wrinkles, they are hopeful that a steadfast dedication to technology integration will create breakthroughs for their staff. Davis knows that it pays off to start small and have it build from there, “If I could just get [the teachers] there once or twice, it will take on a life of its own.”

This story was written and coordinated by MLTI Ambassador Rob Dominick as part of the Maine Schools Sharing the Success Campaign. To learn more, or to submit a story or an idea for a story, email rachel.paling@maine.gov.

The Gorham Middle School (GMS) library website is a rich resource for students to discover and access reading materials from their home or classroom using their MLTI iPads. Librarian Suzanne Liacos-Dix has created an extensive collection of Book Talk videos, a Google Classroom stream, and a selection of Google Forms to engage students in sharing their literary passions with others. This year, in collaboration with 7th grade teacher, Sherry Coyne and the GMS technology integrator, Terri Dawson, the library website has a new feature to help engage students in Silent Sustained Reading (SSR).

The GMS library website features a link to join a Google Classroom where Mrs. Dix streams library announcements like new book arrivals, book fair information, and author visit events. She has also created a Google Form where students can request a featured “Favorites Shelf” to display their top picks as well as a form to request new books to be added to the library. The forms are student-friendly and provide students an opportunity to have a voice in the library collection. The Google Classroom stream allows students across grade levels to have conversations that they might not otherwise from expressing excitement about a new book release or sharing thoughts on upcoming events with others. The stream is also an opportunity for Mrs. Dix to help students learn how to communicate effectively with others and become good digital citizens. Mrs. Dix says there is a long waiting list for the Favorites Shelf that just started this September. It has been extraordinarily popular with the students!

Like many middle schools, Gorham Middle School has a Silent Sustained Reading period during the day to allow students to dive into a book of their choice for a set amount of time. Sometimes getting students to actively engage in SSR can be a challenge. Sherry Coyne, a 7th grade teacher on the Little River team reached out to Mrs. Dix about an idea she had heard about that might help support students who have a difficult time with the SSR period. Mrs. Dix talked to the technology integrator and a new, creative solution was born: Meet a Book Mondays. Using Book Creator, an app for web browsers and tablets that “enables students to create and read multimodal digital books,” ¹ along with audio recording and image editing tools on the MLTI teacher MacBooks, Mrs. Dix and Mrs. Dawson created a comic book style book that is full of book previews, character descriptions, book release announcements, audio recordings of chapters and more. The book has a vibrant and fun design to grab student interest.  The Meet a Book Mondays book is projected for the class all together during SSR. Students fill out a feedback form on their iPads and draw whatever comes to mind as they listen. The following day, students have the option to read the books that they learned about. Students can come back to Meet a Book Mondays any time as it is readily accessible via their iPads. Mrs. Coyne has seen a positive result since introducing the project to her students, they are more engaged and she feels like the SSR time is becoming more valuable to students. They are already exploring a new Google Maps project based on the response from students on a particular book that they learned about through Meet a Book Mondays. They plan to virtually follow and map out a character’s journey around the world. After hearing about the success on the Little River team, other teachers are beginning to use the Meet a Book Mondays book with their classes for SSR as well!

Mrs. Dix’s library website and the Meet a Book Mondays Book Creator Project are great examples of blending educational technology tools into every day learning to provide accessibility and actively engage students in a creative way. Using their MLTI devices to create and access content, both teachers and students are connecting and discovering new resources to support reading. You can see the Gorham Middle School Library website and the ongoing Meet a Book Mondays project here: https://sites.google.com/view/gorhammiddle/home

¹University of Massachusetts Amherst. (n.d.). Learner-Centered Tools, Book Creator. Online Tools for Teaching and Learning. Retrieved October 18, 2022 from https://blogs.umass.edu/onlinetools/learner-centered-tools/book-creator/.

Thanks to the Maine Learning Technology Initiative (MLTI), every September, with the excitement of a new school year just beginning, the Learning Commons Team at Mt. Ararat Middle School (MAMS) prepares, organizes, and deploy 600+ laptops for student to use as critical tools for their learning throughout the school year. It is a group effort by Karen Silverman, Candy Wright, and Kat Campbell to get every kid their laptop. MAMS asks for all hands on deck, so they also are lucky to have the help of the IT team, Ryan Palmer, Corrie Calderwood, and Kate Greely.

The groundwork for laptop deployment starts in the summer. Each machine is cleaned, charged, and fitted with a student name sticker. These stickers are placed not only on the machine but also on the charger and case so that if anything is lost throughout the school year it can be returned.

There were many brand-new devices this year and Karen shared student reactions.

“Students were excited when I…showed them that all our laptops flip into tablet mode. They loved that! And then I would do my best Vanna White and tell them ‘but wait there’s more!’  MAMS students all have touchscreen laptops this year.”

MAMS was able to choose a Chromebook model from CTL for their students, one of the six choices available through the new and reimagined MLTI 2.0. Karen, who served on the 2020 MLTI Advisory Board, is now able to work with a program that is not just devices, but also offers the opportunity for teachers to develop their craft around technology. The program’s long-term goal is to provide the equitable integration of technology for engaging and effective educational experiences.

Students at MAMS are excited for the opportunities and most students have begun using their devices, and many students will be taking them home this week if their parents opted them in. Throughout the year, the Learning Commons Team will support students in troubleshooting problems, or if a student has lost their laptop, they will help locate it. This will keep the team busy until June when the same type of organization goes into collecting the devices and preparing them for the following year, until then the devices will help students at Mt. Ararat Middle School be engaged in learning.