Sponsored by the Virginia Society for Technology in Education

“Embrace the messiness of learning”

As educators, we all know learning is messy. No two students learn the same way and at the same pace. Rather than create structured Maker programs, we should embrace the messiness of learning.

Maker Faire NoVa is proud to present its 3rd NoVa Maker Educator Meetup at their Faire on June 2, 2019. It will be an opportunity for Maker Educators to network and learn from their peers in the region.

This year the MakerEd meetup will be more interactive. In addition to two keynote speakers, we will have lighting talks, breakout discussions and workshops.

Lighting talks are 1 slide/2 minute presentation. They are designed so that you can quickly share an idea or project you are working on so interested people can follow up with you.

We will also run multiple 20-minute breakout discussions and workshops. If you want to lead a discussion or workshop, please submit your proposal. If you just want to discuss on a particular topic but do not want to lead, do let us know also.

Maker Faire NoVa is open to the public from 11 am to 5 pm. Educator Meetup participants must register in advance and have a Faire ticket.

Register for the NoVa Maker Educator Meetup

Meetup Schedule: June 2, 2019
George Mason University, Meeting Room G, 3rd floor Johnson Center

9:30 – 10:00 Check-in
10:00 – 11:00 Keynote Speeches
11:00 – 11:30 Lightning Talks
11:30 – 1:00 Breakout Sessions
1:00 – 5:00 Explore the Faire!

Keynote Speakers

Sylvia Martinez, Author of Invent to Learn

Sylvia Martinez is a maker, mom, engineer, and the co-author of the book, Invent to Learn: Making, Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom, called “the bible of the classroom maker movement.” Sylvia speaks to and works with schools around the world and is president of Constructing Modern Knowledge Press, creating books and professional development advocating using modern technology for learning. Sylvia is also the principal advisor to the NSF-funded FabLearn Fellows program at Columbia University. Prior to that, Sylvia ran the educational non-profit Generation YES, designed and programmed educational software and video games, and was an aerospace engineer specializing in GPS navigation and high frequency receiver systems.

George Meadows, Profession of Education, University of Mary Washington

George Meadows is a Professor in the College of Education at the University of Mary Washington. He teaches courses in Science Education, Instructional Technology, as well as courses in Interdisciplinary Sciences and Digital Studies for the College of Arts and Sciences. His background is in geology, with a BS from Marshall University in Huntington, WV and a MS from Emory University in Atlanta. He worked for several years in minerals exploration (coal and uranium) before taking a position teaching Geology in Sabah, Malaysia for two years. He worked for the US Geological Survey after returning to the US, but having developed a great interest in the teaching of science, gained a doctorate in Science Education at West Virginia University. He has been teaching at UMW for 22 years now. His work over the past few years has focused on the development of Makerspaces in K-12 schools and public educational institutions. He has helped develop Makerspaces and STEMLabs in a number of schools in Stafford, Spotsylvania, Richmond City, and several Northern Neck school districts. He has also helped makerspaces for several branches of the Central Rappahannock Regional Library system and for the Friends of the Rappahannock, a local environmental education group.

Breakout Workshops

Session 1 (11:30 – 12:00)

1: How to improve life in the Latino community – Laura Ramirez-Drain

2: Physical Computing in Scratch – Brian Moran

3: Facilitating Design Thinking Approaches – Dania Roach

Session 2 (12:00 – 12:30)

1: Effective Cross-Industry and Cross-Cultural Collaboration in Research and Education – Nancy C. Wolfson

2: MakeyMakey + Scratch – Emily Nykorchuk

3: Developing Maker-mindset and Design Thinking professional development to build buy-in for Making in schools- Chip Chase

Session 3 (12:30 – 1:00)

1: Meeting the New Virginia Computer Science Standards Through Making in Elementary Schools – James Koontz

2: Collaboration of Public School Teachers and Maker Educators with Hummingbird Robotics – Liza Manfred

3: Learning from Your Students – Angela DeHart

Register to attend the Maker Educator Meetup here!

If you can’t attend this event but are interested in future meetups, please register so we can add you to our mailing list.