A Transformational Journey in the Makerspace: Intro
I was asked a little while back to work with the 9th grade Human Geography classes to make an object that was a reflection on one of three books they are reading. The three books are The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, the story of a young boy in Malawi who builds a better life for himself and his community by building a windmill out of recycled materials; The Kabul Girls Soccer Club, about a girl who starts the Afghan Youth Soccer Exchange after September 11th to help unite girls in Afghanistan to give them hope for the future; and Outrun The Moon, the story of Mercy Wong who breaks out of poverty in San Francisco and helps heal the city after the earthquake of 1906. I thought it sounded like a great project and I had some time in my schedule, so I readily agreed.
What I didn’t understand, and hadn’t thought to ask about, was that every 9th grader at my school takes Human Geography and that there are 7 classes. That means that within a week every 9th grader at the school will come to the BITlab to make an object as a part of a small group that demonstrates their understanding of the Transformational Journey of the main character. I thought I would go on a journey of my own and document my experience of this week of making. Each day in the week to come I will share some pictures and thoughts on how it’s going and what the kids are working on.
The students have been reading one of the three books. They have been prepped to think of ideas in their small groups. The BITlab is tidied up and ready to go and at 8am on Monday the journey will begin with two classes arriving at the same time. I hope you will check in on how it’s going!
