Questions About Coloring & Makerspace

Reader Mail Bag!

I get questions ALL the time from our dear PLN & blog readers! Mostly through Twitter and sometimes through email. Let's answer this one I got this morning about my recent Zen of Coloring & Makerspace Starter Kit blog posts!

Gwyenth, Congratulations on your blog award! I looked at your blog, and I am intrigued by your coloring corner post. Can you please share with me a list of the books you bought for coloring purposes? Did you have copies made of the ones the students wanted to color? What kind of pencils did you purchase? Please share how you advertised it to the students. Did you have in a corner or have the students as for the materials? I don't want my materials to walk off? What are your best practices?Also how can I subscribe to your page,so I know when you make new posts? One last question, what do you think about having board games and cards the library? Any ideas on which ones to purchase if you do This? Thanks for all of your help! I appreciate it very much!

Some really good questions, here! Hope the answers are helpful and informative!

Questions & Answers:

Can you please share with me a list of the books you bought for coloring purposes?

Sure! You can see the covers of a lot of our coloring books on my Instagram, Vine videos, and pictures, but I just made this handy clickable Amazon Shopping List of what I bought for you and I also added it to the Zen of Coloring blog post - thanks for the great idea! I'll have to blog about Amazon lists next! While I was doing that, I thought I'd also make one for the whole $350 Makerspace Starter Kit , that I blogged about last spring, too! Basically, you don't have to spend a fortune to set up a Makerspace area. In fact, I'm still not 100% sold on that this isn't just a passing fad (Shocking, I know! Don't tell Diana Rendina I said that!), so I don't have a 3D printer yet and I'm not re-designing my whole library just yet. I'm baby steppin it right now.

 
 
Did you have copies made of the ones the students wanted to color? 

Nope, that would break copyright! I had the kids claim a page & keep it in the book. See the Guidelines I posted and feel free to use or adapt it! I also menitoned on the blog post about FREE downloadable drawing pages. If you search for them, they're out there and really cool! Remember, Attribution is EVERYTHING!

What kind of pencils did you purchase? 

The pencils I got were sorta expensive, but I thought quality counts and it was a box of 50. Please see the Amazon Shopping List with comments for the exact set.

Please share how you advertised it to the students.

I used Instagram and Vine to share with the kiddos, but really the best of all advertising - was word of mouth! Once kids saw other kids coloring and the pics of the 8th graders coloring the other kids got excited for it! I also blogged about it on our school library Edublog but who knows how many of my kids actually read it, right!? Word of mouth, always!



Did you have in a corner or have the students as for the materials? 


The whole Makerspace area is in a group of 4 study carrels at the top of our Media Center. But you could also put it on a rolling cart! I mention this in a keynote I do about how to integrate new innovations in a stress-less easy way called Choose to be an Ed Tech Trooper - you don't have to go full throttle or make huge changes when starting a Makerspace. I think again, baby steppin - start small to start & grow bigger later on if you like it and it catches on!



I don't want my materials to walk off?

You have to sorta let that go, they might just walk off - along with our books! But for some of the more expensive parts - like my charging station and charging cords I used zip ties. On the coloring books I put our library stickers on em.

But there's a certain part of the Zen of letting go with all theses innovations. It's gonna be messy, it may end up being wasteful, or some parts might walk off but that's the cost of doing business. I always start from a place of I trust you with this - you're part of our community. But then I also sharpie label and zip tie! LOL There's a part where you just have to belive and let it go.

What are your best practices?

Great question! I have to admit, I'm learning as I go how to manage this. I've shared my Coloring Guidelines and also the Way of the Lego. with some of how we're going to manage this. I might re-do this graphic but this is the latest version. Basically, your kids are part of the Makerspace and Library community and kids should abide by our guidelines or I'll kick them out...... for a little while!

Also how can I subscribe to your page,so I know when you make new posts?

Thank you so much, that's very kind of you! Two easy ways! Let's Stay in Touch!  Follow by email link on the right side of my blog and G+ subscription follow button, too! - scroll down baby! I also usually pin my latest post to the top of my Twitter page.

One last question, what do you think about having board games and cards the library? 
I think that's a really cool idea!! I'm going to do that soon!

Any ideas on which ones to purchase if you do This?

I would probably create a survey Monkey or Google Form & poll the kids what they want! For funding you could also ask for PTA donations, and then maybe go to the thrift store! Don't have a budget? You can sign up for a Donor's Choose project list! Here's Diana Rendina's 5 Tips for Creating DonorsChoose Projects As for the games, Monopoly has got to be one of them, though don't you think? Classic! Also, RISK! I would also get labeled zip lock bags for the pieces. At the same time I would TRY not to be TOO OCD about pieces getting lost. Posted Community Guidelines again (OK, they're rules - I just don't want the Library to be a rule obsessed community so I call them guidelines) - if kiddos don't clean it up - they get put on Makerspace probation! For a day or 5 min - I play it by ear. I really really have to battle between my desire for keeping the library looking cool & neat with accepting that they're just kids & they will be messy. It's a constant internal struggle!

Got more questions? No problem! Ask away! But first please, When in doubt, Google it out! If you are looking for something that I've blogged about Google "topic of search and daring librarian"

Example: bean bag daring librarian brings up all these results and the blog post!

The Daring Librarian: You Don't Have to Marry It!


I hope all this helps and thanks for reaching out to me.

Srsly, I'd LOVE LOVE LOVE to see pics and blog posts about whatever you end up doing! And if you're not Twitter, consider joining our PLN to connect with more teacher librarians who are trying out the Makerspace movement!

I probably will be adding this to the blog post cause they were really good questions!

Cheers & have a Happy New Year!

~Gwyneth




What did I forget? What would you like me to blog about next? Let me know in your comments!


To A: You were spot on. Thank you. Next time I will answer reader mail when I'm not fighting a cold. LOL Why do we often get sick on school vacations? Always seems to happen!