From Stafford County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Bruce Benson:
There has been a lot of talk of late about maker spaces in education, as in dedicating space in our schools to support making things. Wikipedia defines maker culture as “a contemporary culture or subculture representing a technology-based extension of DIY culture that intersects with hacker culture (which is less concerned with physical objects as it focuses on software) and revels in the creation of new devices as well as tinkering with existing ones.” I believe maker culture is much broader than this, extending into virtually every discipline through the lens of creativity. I had the opportunity last week to visit two classrooms that clearly embraced maker culture in two very different ways.
In Ms. Hansen’s Drama 2 class at Colonial Forge High School, we were introduced to basic choreography as a part of a unit on musical theater. Among others, we learned, and practiced, step touch, ball change, three-point turn, Lindy step, paddle turn, high kick, and bell jump (The last of two were particularly difficult for me. And, let me just say, my high kicks were anything but high!). Student groups were then challenged to choreograph (i.e. make) a dance routine for a song incorporating at least fifteen different moves.
