We offer various camp options to best fit your professional learning needs.
STEAMmaker Camps are first professional learning for educators, and second a super-fun camp for kids. We help educators learn to create and facilitate engaging learning spaces in their schools, libraries, and classrooms!
5 Day STEAMmaker Camp
(let’s dive in and experience a full MakerSpace in microcosm)
Teams: teachers with students for 4 days; 1 day with teachers-only
This is our most effective camp where teachers get to learn alongside their own students, sharing a democratic, student-centered approach to learning. Teachers get to learn — and practice in real time — how to facilitate and guide the learning process with questions. Highlights to this camp are when teachers get to experience how to continually ramp-up the learning, to deeper levels, and encourage student persistence and grit when project fatigue becomes real.
Teams enter the camp immediately facing an engineering challenge, then present their results to the other teams. Teachers immediately begin learning strategies to take back to their classroom for deeper engagement and challenge.
Camp progresses as teams experience each module, building and learning new things each day. At day 3, teams are then challenged to “mash-up” what they’ve learned at the various modules to “make life better for a specific group of people” that each camper selects. The final day is about polishing up and presenting their work at the final finish line, celebrating all they’ve achieved.
The 5 Day Camp is effective learning in action as teachers get to experience the setup of a makerspace, the challenges offered, materials needed, learning pedagogy, academic learning, soft-skills fostered, and most importantly, how to walk kids into becoming their own independent learners.
3 Day STEAMmaker Camp
(let’s get our feet wet with how the modules work and experience some management and guidance role modeling)
Teams: teachers with Students — 2.5 days; .5 day with teachers-only
Our 3 Day STEAMmaker Camp is a great way to bring a deep introduction to student-centered learning and makerspaces to your community. Teachers and students get to experience various modules and learning by doing. Excitement and engagement are high as teachers get to learn — and practice in real time — how to facilitate and guide the learning process with questions.
Students are excited to be taking charge of their own ideas and growth with challenging, but fun opportunities. Teams end the camp presenting their work and accomplishments at the final finish line, celebrating all they’ve achieved and where they’d like to continue.
1 Day Campfire Workshop
This is introductory level only and is more of a workshop than a camp.
Our 1 Day Campfire Workshop is a terrific “driveby introduction” to some of the basic concepts of makerspaces. Participants will be able to see modules that are set up and some of the tools that are used. Questions to be answered include: What is a makerspace? What equipment might be there? What’s the learning that is fostered? How can a makerspace enhance our kids’ learning?
Our Campfire Workshop can seat up to 80 adult participants
Which camp should I choose?
Ask yourself the following questions:
- Are the majority of your participating staff already implementing Project/Problem Based Learning in their classrooms?
- Do you already have a MakerSpace in your school?
- Does the majority of your staff have some expertise with electricity, 3D printing, building, or sewing, etc?
- Will the teachers be self-selecting to participate (experienced)? or is this a whole-community learning experience (beginner)?
Based on the answers above, please select your community as either BEGINNER or EXPERIENCED.
The most effective camps will:
- have between 30 and 60 participants
- have teams that include 2 teachers from the same school or district
- have teams comprised of a student : teacher ratio
- 2 : 1 (min students)
- 8 : 2 (max students)
- min/max depends upon age/readiness of students (more needy students might need more teacher support)
- include participants who are new to makerspace concepts
- include teachers both inside and outside the traditional STEM content areas
At a 5 or 3-day STEAMmaker Camp, educators will learn
- how to create a MakerSpace that is affordable for their school or classroom
- needed materials lists (tools and consumables)
- resources for further development and learning
- classroom/space management and safety
- motivation and engagement strategies
- development of self-initiative and persistence in learners
- how to build endless levels of learning for each module
- how to find and support quality mentors
- intentional tie-ins back to STEM, STEAM, and Standards content