Learn ‘How to…’Workshops for Kids
This idea came from a Grade 5 student. He asked for ‘training’ more or less on how to use some of the tools he needed to complete his iTime project. We came up with this idea together. ‘Learn to..’ workshops for kids. We thought of a few ideas and I added a few that might be useful and of interest and created the posters below to promote the idea to classes.
Im still working out the logistics of it all, I will begin with a small group of kids. I imagine that these are a ‘niche market’ but time will tell. I can always run another session if there is enough interest. These workshops pertain to skills to help them with iTime projects or Makerspace that they will need. It also gives exposure to kids to try something new that they would never have a chance to do- like soldering or using a hot glue gun. It needs to be short as it will be at lunchtimes, at least at first. Maybe I can even get into classes to do these.
It would be great for this to be student led, where the kids are the experts and teach each other. After a few workshops I will be in a better position to see what the future hold for this type of professional development.
The Learning Journey 
I will be interested to see what develops from this. I have never learned skills for making in isolation. It’s always been because I needed a skill to complete a project. For example, I would need to learn to solder so I can complete the wiring on a micro-controller. As a part of the iTime planning, students are asked to identify particular skills that they need to develop. Keep me posted on how this goes 🙂
Agree, Im the same. See how it goes. At this point Im trying to do anything I can to promote the maker mindset- makerspace Ill let you know how it goes!