We started with the Makerspace Playbook. Wait, that’s not true, we started with me becoming a Resnick groupie and traveling to Boston to a DML conference to meet him. The rest is a lively, scrappy history of my team and I carving out space at a rural public high school for a maker space, connecting… Read more »
Author: Anne Bown-Crawford
Anne teaches secondary level visual/media art and STEAM curriculum. She is passionate about designing and implementing meaningful, relevant learning experiences for high school students. She is the Director of the Arcata Arts Institute and the Innovation Design Institute, both career pathway programs within Arcata High School.
In partnership with her teaching Anne is founding member and Chair of CREATE CA, innovative thinkers from multiple sectors of California’s creative economy, public and private, and State education organizations, charged with rethinking and designing an educational environment for all California students that features arts education as a central part of the solution to the crisis in our schools. She is also a leader within State Superintendent Tom Torlakson’s Joint Arts Education Task Force, which has been charged with writing the Blueprint for Creative Schools - How the Arts and Creative Education Can Transform California’s Classrooms.
Anne is a new media studio artist, and a freelance graphic designer who specializes in branding non-profit organizations.
For more info go to -
createca.net
artsinstitute.net
the-colab.net
Papert Poster in the works!
Cassia Fernadez and I are getting started on designing a dynamic poster with Papert’s Eight Big Ideas. Our goal is to have it downloadable in as many different languages as possible. We will start with Portuguese and English. I think we have other translations in the works, including Swahili! One challenge is to see if… Read more »
A good rubric for projects
It’s hard to get a good rubric to fit the type of scaffolded, interdisciplinary, team oriented, projects we often do in our classrooms/labs. Here is one that I have found pretty worthwhile. It is editable! https://www.edutopia.org/sites/default/files/resources/edutopia-dl-camarata-editable-rubric.doc edutopia-dl-camarata-editable-rubric-1
Swarm Intelligence and how it relates to Making, Design Thinking, and Creativity….
A couple of years ago I attended the 2014 WESTAF Cultural Policy Symposium, co-hosted by the California Arts Council and Gehry Partners. It had a rock star line-up of big brains talking about creativity, many of them referred to STEAM education, Makers education, and creativity. Today I was reminded of one speaker in particular of… Read more »
OK Go takes it cue from Peter Fischli & David Weiss
In 1988 I found this video at SFMOMA. I’ve been using it in classes every year, every since. It is the precursor to OK Go’s wonderful performance pieces. They are resonant of maker curiosity……performance well choreographed with color, anticipation, and narrative….and physics! Der Lauf Der Dinge (The Way Things Go) – Peter Fischli & David… Read more »
Good start up resource
Not sure if you all saw this, but we love Dale’s guide to starting up a Makers Space. Here it is. makerspaceguide
Coping with the challenges of our political aftermath – in our classrooms….
It’s been a tough couple of weeks here in the States. We are all reeling with what happened in our election, what could happen during the next 4 years, and how do we tease apart all the reasons that this was allowed to happen. I believe my role as a teacher, first and foremost, is… Read more »
What do I do differently in my professional life as a result of FabLearn 2016?
My instant reaction was to pause, and reflect on what is my “professional”, since the roles I play in my life, educator, studio artist, mother, curious person, all seem to meld together……in what seems to be a constant quest for a fully integrated life, I suppose. Back to the original question – This experience has… Read more »