Makerspace: The “Hard Fun" of Creating 3s. Materials construction, selec of other and ¢reation \recent innvation the objectives of ing and creation at ge} encourage the qualities pe ipireaermelaepe niin to inspire in students and grad- ee reas coer edlericksburrg “Academy. Thy. Ase Meet me Or DEA FORE Pe colstoraa problem solving, celebrating persistence and tenacity, and valuing izing all members as leamers ancl experts. Gary Stager and Sylvia Martinez explain Pool ven to Learn—Making Tnkering and Engincering in the Classroom: “A makerspace tial today for students to engage in the real work of mathematicians, scientists, akers, authors, computer scientists, and engineers, ete.” Thave been fortunate to participate in the MALT (Masters of Learning Technolo- programschrough Pepperdine University. In this program, we are not only exploring tech: potential uses in the classroom, but its transformative applications in the learning all learners, Last July, 1 was able to spend a week at Cadre Camp on Pepperdine’s “Malibu campus. The central focus ofthis experience was to help us realize that the process, not the final product, is most valuable to che learner. We were tasked with challenges that created a high failure rate and required persistence to continue trying,in the face of this failure. As | worked and gained confidence with tools I had never even thought of trying in the past, I ele the impact a makerspace could have on learners of all ages, and I wanted to use my position at FA to bring such a place to our school. Makerspaces allow students to experiment with iteration in the Jearning process while developing a “can do” attitude. Carol Dweck, a Stanford psychology professor, has written a bbook called Minds chac discusses the differences between fixed ancl growth mindsets. People ‘witha fixed mindset believe their capabilities are set and thus out of their control to develop or improve. Those with a growth mindset believe that they are capable of growth, improvement, and expanding on their capabilities. Dweck’s growth mindset corresponds with the “maker” mindset, which encourages taking ideas and turning them into various forms of reality. A growth ‘mindset is what we nurcure in all FA students, We want them to see their own potential and feel confident in their abilities to achieve their goals through hard work and perseverance. A ‘makerspace offers a fun environment to learn these valuable lessons. All of our students need challenge and, as we call it in the MALT program, “hard fun” that inspires them to dig deeper and construct big ideas. Makerspaces and the activities, collabora tion, and exploration they encourage, allow each student to direct and take responsibility for ‘clements of their own learning process. In doing so, they epitomize our mission as a school in the most fundamental way’ Mrs Bushman andthe FA faculty are inthe pracess of eating a makerspace forthe 2014-2015 school year FREDERICKSBURG ACADEMY MAGAZINE