Throughout this school year, we will feature guest bloggers to share different perspectives on or experiences with boys education on our Head of School blog. Our next guest blogger is Kaya Jones, MakerSpace Teacher, who writes about the importance STEM experiences for boys.

It is no secret that boys love to create, invent, and build. Parents witness it at home with blanket and pillow forts in the living room, cardboard box towers that threaten to fall on family heirlooms, and mashed potato mountains with gravy moats at dinner. Finding an outlet for all of this innovation and creativity in the classroom at Regis is a critical component of our approach to all-boys education, but taking it even further and offering boys an entire class period to create, invent, and build is what makes MakerSpace a favorite amongst our Early Childhood and Lower School students. 

Historically, learning experiences at school were focused on hearing and recalling information. Memorizing lists of historical events or vocabulary words and regurgitating information back on tests was sufficient to earn good grades and move on to the next level. Today’s world requires that the educational environment moves well beyond simple recall of facts and dates. Our students are expected to think critically, solve problems, and find unique approaches to transform the world in which we live. MakerSpace is one of the ways Regis seeks to support the skills that twenty-first century learners and workers need. 

MakerSpace is a STEM-focused class (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) where boys practice engineering design processes and creative problem solving using purposeful technology and everyday, reusable materials and manipulatives. The class introduces boys to things they might not see in a typical classroom or at home such as coding and challenges that they can apply to concepts they learned in math and science in a realistic approach to learning. MakerSpace plants the seed for exploring deeper subjects such as engineering, coding, and robotics. The class is designed to make boys aware of potential career opportunities too, and it also empowers them to feel they can do anything themselves—an intrinsic spirit of curiosity and exploration arises naturally in each student in this environment. 

In MakerSpace boys develop critical thinking skills, learn to collaborate, and have opportunities to use a growth mindset. Boys are challenged in MakerSpace to develop their own solution to unique problems; they cannot just choose from a list of answers. Instead, students have to try things out, reflect, improve on their ideas, and work together. For example, during a second grade science unit on natural disasters, students are given the challenge to create a structure using recycled materials that will withstand an earthquake. To extend on a mathematics unit covering measurement, second grade students apply their knowledge of robotics to design a course using an original form of measurement for the robot to travel. Boys must take risks in sharing their own ideas and suggestions and learn from their mistakes when their design does not work. Most importantly, they feel empowered to try again and not let defeat from a faulty design deter them from ultimately finding success. Their sense of perseverance and true ownership over their own learning is palpable when you enter the MakerSpace classroom. Boys regularly ask to come to MakerSpace outside of scheduled class time to work on their projects because they are having so much fun!  

This year, MakerSpace Club gives third and fourth grade boys the opportunity to explore MakerSpace after school. Students design their own prototypes based on their interests and curiosity. For example, avid soccer fans in MakerSpace Club designed and created their own model of a World Cup stadium with working lights and a score board! These skills of sharing ideas, communicating ideas, asking questions, and trying things out are all the hallmarks of a lifelong learner. This opportunity to learn from mistakes and accept that things do not always work out with the first try fosters confidence, independence, and resilience in our students. 
 
MakerSpace is a place where boys learn that there is never one answer to a question, that there can be many correct solutions to a problem, and that collaboration results in great solutions to problems. Regis boys know each other very well, and in MakerSpace, they work together to apply their varied strengths—different than those they apply in a regular classroom environment. In MakerSpace, boys can be leaders in new ways and they discover new strengths. Boys learn about their talents and weaknesses in MakerSpace, and they realize that there is just as much to learn from their weaknesses as their strengths too.  

Kaya serves as the MakerSpace Teacher for Early Childhood and Lower School at Regis. She holds a B.S. in Elementary Education from Houston Baptist University and is currently completing her M.Ed. in Learning, Design and Technology from Texas A&M University. She holds certifications in Early Childhood-Sixth grade education and ESL. Additionally, She is an Apple & Google certified educator. Prior to Regis, she served as a first grade and sixth teacher. She has a passion for STEM education and encouraging students to extend their knowledge using purposeful technology and critical thinking. Kaya leads the Lower School robotics club and assists with the Regis yearbook.