Hello, this is Bryan, the newest maker mentor.  I am going to take a few minutes to introduce myself and tell you what I’ve been doing since joining the Maker Jawn team.

As part of my orientation to the Maker Jawn team, I have traveled to all six of the libraries with Maker programs.  Entering a maker space here in the north Philadelphia libraries is to enter a whirlwind of paper bits, play-dough chunks, and a stream of hot glue.  Let me tell you that children love hot glue.  But amidst chaos, there are some really interesting things happening.

I have already seen two short films, TWO, created by children at different libraries.  These were separate, independent projects.  There is box garden made by the kids at another library.  I’ve watched children extract DNA from a banana, build miniature cardboard houses, and shoot stop motion animation.

As impressive as those products are, and they are quite impressive, it is the self-directed projects that amaze me the most.  Some children enter the maker space already determined to make or complete a project of his/her choosing.  Whether it is to build a mask for their movie or to make a gift for a family member, the child then problem solves and plans his/her way through the project.  The kids make it work.  This is a sweet spot of learning that I hope to foster and encourage.

I’m so glad to have joined the Maker Jawn team and look forward to blogging monthly updates.