Your child will be working in a hybrid technology environment accessing two strands of learning. The first strand consists of classic computer lessons that focus on digital citizenship and Keyboarding. Those lessons have been introduced in the lower grades and will make up the Classwork for this class. The second will be 21st century skills in a Makerspace work lab.

The purpose of makerspace is to encourage a generation of da'Vinci's. In a community where students are often evaluated by their last success or failure, we teach them that failure is part of the learning process and it's OK to fail forward. This enables a child the freedom to exercise their imagination and creativity without the fear of failure. It also allows them to explore their own learning and develop a true understanding since they aren't afraid to not have the answer. Instead of focusing on the destination, we focus on the journey it takes to get there.

Makerspace is a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) based learning environment where every student creates, thinks, invents and builds in different technology-rich stations. Grades are based on student ability to work in a group environment, ability to stay on task, classroom behavior and maintenance. The students will be utilizing these stations for short introductory units of study. They may include computational thinking where they practice coding and robotics. They may also become familiar with circuitry and Basic electronics using electronic components. Both of these centers may be supplemented by our Lego station. In addition, the students may do 3-D Printing using makerbot printers and 3D Pens. Another station may include engineering where they learn to construct simple machines using donated materials and/or legos. Students may have an opportunity to do Video creation and editing. Finally, Students will explore design using donated and craft materials. Stations are added, disbanded and reorganized as needed so these stations are subject to change. Please also be aware that we are collecting materials, so if you have any to donate, please send them in with your child. Also, your child may be filmed on still or video camera during this cycle and will be utilizing the internet in an appropriate and safe, supervised atmosphere. Students may also be uploading their videos in a program called WeVideo for final viewing.