Month: October 2016

Hispanic Heritage Month Meet your #Maker 

/ Gina Seymour / 1 Comment

Last year we celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month in our high school makerspace. Our ELLs (English Language Learners) made paper flowers practicing following directions, new vocabulary including names of colors all with beautiful results. We also made piñatas with foreign language classes where students had to keep in mind they were engineering to fail as the purpose of piñatas are to break. We’ve all been there when a piñatas refuses to break even though beaten unmercifully. Too light on the tape and they fall apart before you hang them up. Too much tape, well forget about getting at the candy.

Piñatas: “The original piñata was shaped like a star with seven points. The points represented the seven deadly sins, and the bright colors of the piñata symbolize temptation. The blindfold represents faith and the stick is virtue or the will to overcome sin. The candies and other goodies inside the piñata are the riches of the kingdom of heaven. Thus teaching that with faith and virtue one could overcome sin and receive all the rewards of heaven.” We’ve come a long way in piñata design.

We not only made piñatas again this year but also expanded the celebration and learning to other cultural items such as worry dolls, typical of Guatemala and Peru and calaveras (skulls) a prominent feature in Day of the Dead celebrations.

Worry Dolls: “According to the Mayan legend, when worrying keeps a person awake, he or she tells a worry to as many dolls as necessary. Then the worrier places the dolls under his or her pillow. The dolls take over the worrying for the person who then sleeps peacefully through the night. When morning breaks, the person awakens without the worries that the dolls took away during the night.”  Perfect for our stressed out teens!

 

Calavera:  “Calaveras are whimsical caricatures-most commonly drawings- of skulls or skeletons.” Look at the individuality and creativity!

 

Our celebration included building an ofrenda (an altar in honor of the dead. RIP Selena.) I learned that November 1st is a day honoring children and November 2nd is the day honoring adult spirits. I mistakenly thought the spirits were all honored on one day only.

 

Cultural literacy is important and as such is part of the Foreign Language curriculum. The activities were available to anyone, students and staff, regardless of scheduled class participation. Anyone could stop by the makerspace during the day and participate as we all benefit from a global cultural education. I also believe one successful program leads to another…

So now the Italian teachers approached me stating, “You know Italian Heritage Month is also celebrated in October, Gina.” There’s an emphasis on ‘Gina’ as they know I’m of Italian descent my father having emigrated to NY in his twenties. It’s amazing, I didn’t have to seek out the department to work on a project together; they contacted me! It’s wonderful to collaborate with enthusiastic teachers and I’m looking forward to using and highlighting maker activities to celebrate Italian heritage. So stay tuned, blog post on the events coming soon.

For instructions on how to create the items listed above, check out my HHM Libguide at http://hslibguides.islipufsd.org/HHM

The Compassionate Maker: #Make a Difference in the World

/ Gina Seymour / 2 Comments

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Last year around this time a former student barely 18 years old passed away suddenly. Tragic and senseless, that was the impetus of compassionate making as an outlet for teens in my school. The idea to make for others to alleviate or help in making one feel better whether to heal wounds caused by grief or to assist local community agencies is one of the cornerstones to compassionate making. I wrote about this experience in Teacher Librarian called The Compassionate Makerspace: Grief and Healing in a High School Library Makerspace. The article details the collaboration between Mrs. Volkmann, our Interact Club advisor, and myself and how students came together in the makerspace to create a memorial to a peer.

I work regularly with service based clubs in my school. Advising. Assisting. I used to lead the Interact Club, a rotary based club for teens, with the guiding motto Service Above Self. I’ve always had this sense of helping others. There are so many in my school who share this same philosophy so collaboration is easy.

Making for a cause or to benefit another being is not a new idea. Mankind has shown compassion for centuries. What is new is the way we can foster this emotion. As teachers and maker leaders, we can model and facilitate compassion in children and we can do that with the availability of makerspaces. While STEM is a major focus for many makerspaces (and rightly so) there’s no need to exclude crafting. And while my teens love to craft for themselves, I also have many who come in to make items for Mother’s Day or an Aunt’s birthday.

I welcome this.

I embrace this.

I facilitate this.

Expanding on the work we’ve already done, we have dedicated an area for our MakerCare activities benefitting others. We don’t have a specific service learning  requirement at our school, but many students need service hours or activities for resumes. A sign-in book to log and keep track of their hours resides in this area.

Many character education programs, in my opinion, don’t work. They ‘talk’ about being compassionate, kind, helpful. One of my favorite sayings adequately describes my sentiment, “Acta non verba.” Deeds not words! You’ve got to do something. #Make a difference!

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This September we’re starting with our furry friends in need. We’ve all seen shelter dogs, whether on TV or while on a visit to a facility. Bored and sad in a kennel waiting for a forever family to bring them home. How simple it is for us to make a difference in their lives using a few upcycled fabrics. Old, stained, worn fabric from tees, jeans, and towels can have an extra life. Simply call for these items to be donated to your library. Once collected, cut the fabric into strips and braid. Who needs expensive pet store toys?

My two shi-poos love their homemade toys. (I make theirs from the lone sock bucket in my laundry room. You know how it is, two socks go in and only one comes out….Btw – what’s up with that?)

If you want to get fancy find some old tennis balls. Tennis clubs and high school tennis teams are good place to ask for free ones. Why spend the money? I’m fortunate my school has a tennis team and we also have a local tennis club. Make a slit on both the ends, then push your braid(s) through. Voilà dog toys!

This year some of our projects will go overseas, such as Little Dresses for Africa, and many will stay close to home like our dog toy project. Either way, our teens are making a difference in the world – local and global.

I hope you’ll join me here on this blog as we document and discuss the successes and failures of our MakerCare program. Let’s build a community of caring, compassionate makers.

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