Maker Days in the Middle School Library

While I have been an advocate for STEAM instruction and Maker Mindsets for years, I have my middle school library colleague Jacqui Isser to thank for this particular model. Jacqui maintains a really gorgeous library newsletter she creates in Smore, and attentive student readers of the library newsletter will pay attention to upcoming Maker Days and check in with her to get passes to attend.

I offer a lot of building and arts activities for students on a regular basis through passive programming stations, but my Maker Days offer a little something extra. Here's how I set it up:

I schedule Maker Days about once a quarter, on Fridays. I would like to offer them more often, but our school calendar is really packed and it becomes challenging to find a time when there isn't an assembly or field trip or other conflict that would keep a lot of students from attending.

I advertise upcoming Maker Days to my Library Club students first, with information at the club meeting and in their Club Google Classroom. Then I'll add signage in the library so that regular library visitors know it's coming. I print passes in advance, and students can pick up passes starting the Monday before the Maker Day (they tend to lose them if I give them out any sooner).

Students are able to leave any class with teacher permission AND bring one friend from that same class. They need to have their class work complete to attend, and they can stay for 20 - 40 minutes (at the classroom teacher's discretion). I try to schedule Maker Days so they are near the end of a six-week grading cycle - that last day the testing and review is finished, but some students are needing to make up work to turn in, so the teacher isn't starting new content yet. This allows students to attend Maker Day without missing class content.

Our school day has eight periods, so my passes say students can attend at any time between 2nd and 7th periods. That gives me all of 1st period to drag out all the materials, and all of 8th period to put it all away. I teach library lessons, but I have a flexible schedule, so I clear everything else on Maker Days so I can supervise, replenish materials, iron Perler bead projects, and so forth throughout the day.

What do students make on Maker Days?

Some students are happy just to have extra time with our usual library station materials, including Legos, Keva planks, coloring posters, and board games. But I do like to take out special things on Maker Days, because those are the only days I can manage some of those delicate supplies. I wrote a post about Maker materials with a variety of ideas, and here are some others:

• Jewelry Making is hugely popular with my students - I have fishing wire and elastic cords, clay, glass, and letter beads, charms, spacers, jump rings, lobster claws, pliers and scissors, earring hooks, and a few other supplies at this station.
  
• Zentangles and calligraphy are more fun with some examples - I have some cardstock squares, a guidebook with examples, and pretty pens at this station
• Perler beads (see post link above) continue to be popular - I try to iron those projects all day so they are finished and ready to pick up after school
• Origami star jars and fortune tellers
• Magnetic building kits
• Puzzles

I wondered if middle school students would still enjoy some of these activities or find them too young, and I've consistently found that they are happy to have a little time to create without high stakes for a while. Our students carry a lot of expectations and Maker Days are a great way for them to have some time to enjoy the process of making something - whether it's nostalgic or new to them.