A-MAZE-ING! Foxview student is first to complete Sphero robot programming challenge

Congratulations to this 6th grade Foxview student for his first-place finish in the Sphero robot programming challenge!

Creating some G-Force in the FX Studio Makerspace

A student in the FX Studio Makerspace shows off his G-Force gadget.

Learning Robotics a littleBit at a Time!

Students in the FX Studio Makerspace test out their littleBit Gizmos & Gadgets vehicle.

Gizmos & Gadgets allow students to follow project blueprints or engineer their own designs.

WPS Grant Provides littleBits Gizmos & Gadgets Kits!

Gizmos & Gadgets student creation in FX Studio Makerspace

Thanks to the generosity of a WPS Innovative Educator Grant, the FX Studio Makerspace was able to purchase seven littleBits Gizmos & Gadgets kits. All 5th and 6th grade classes will have the opportunity to build, engineer, and create with these kits for four days this year! 

600 Students, 1 Makerspace? No Problem!

Students in the FX Studio Makerspace

We're excited to announce that by the end of December 2015, all 600 students at Foxview Intermediate School had received their Makerspace orientation! Beginning in January 2016, students now have the opportunity to drop in to the FX Studio during their workshop times.

SRT Workshops at the Middle School

Over the last few weeks, we've taken a different approach to utilizing our Makerspace at the Middle School.

For the first couple of months, we made the decision to have the space "open" and let students drop in and experiment with all of the new items we had to offer. We felt this was an important exploratory phase to give all students a chance to jump in and see what areas they might really like and try and generate some project ideas.

In an attempt to try and take the experience deeper, we wanted to offer more indepth explorations of the tools we have available. So far, we have offered workshops featuring:

Coding with Google Apps Script for the "Hour of Code" week.

Programming the Sphero robot to complete a maze.

Modifying the hardware of the Raspberry Pi to allow for touch and gesture control on the Hover add-on board.

We have more sessions planned for the future to explore other ways of using the Raspberry Pi, 3D modeling and Printing, Green Screen video making and editing, App Development, electronics prototyping with littleBits, and much more!

The future is exciting here at our Middle School makerspace as we get new equipment, new ideas, and new students willing to create their own learning.

FX Studio Makers - An Adventure in After School Clubs!

This semester, to give students a little more time to build their skills and familiarity in our Foxview makerspace, we began an after school club called "FX Studio Makers". Over five weeks, we have rotated the students through five different stations, giving them an hour to complete an activity or challenge related to their station. The stations we had included:

 Using the Makey Makey to play Tetris with our feet:

Programming the Sphero robot to complete a maze:

Learning to Code Through the Game of Pong on the Kano Kits:

Building electronic prototypes with the littleBits:

Constructing models and representations with Megablocks:

It has been amazing to see the students grow in their ability to collaborate with one another and really explore and test things out. We are thankful for the support and assistance of Mr. Valentine, a 6th grade teacher, who was excited to get involved when we first proposed the idea.

This club will run through the end of November, and start up again in February with a new group of students!