This week we are hosting an introductory Approaches to Maker Education workshop entirely online for the 1st time! Excited/grateful that 30 educators have kindly volunteered to be our #DistanceLearning testers. Follow #MakerEdApproaches for updates & insights. #MakerEd

We are using a combination of Zoom calls (some whole group and some breakout rooms), interactive online tools like Padlet, and an email forum for sharing reflections. The team has done a lot of thinking about how to make this hands-on workshop work well in a virtual format!

But first, we asked everyone attending #MakerEdApproaches to introduce themselves and share their "Why" — why are you an educator? What motivates and inspires you? The responses have been so great to read. Going to share a few in this thread:

"I experimented with unschooling, I saw the engagements that emerged when learning is hands on, playful, curious, and intellectual. I'm motivated by my desire to nurture creativity, curiosity and purpose to make a difference in how we think about education." - Joanna

"It's fun stepping back and seeing peoples' imaginations be sparked, see them fail and keep trying, see them trying something new, and then apply it themselves somewhere else." - Andrea

"One of the main reasons I chose to be an educator is that I love to learn from them, I believe in the knowledge of a student and the reverse part of teaching. I always learn something new, even if I'm just teaching for 20 minutes or 3 hours." - Rebecca

These are just a few of the awesome folks joining us for learning this week. We're going to be digging in to project design, learning approaches, and equity conversations. Check back all week: #MakerEdApproaches