1. FuturED

I can remember the first time I heard about Maker-Centered Learning. It was quite hard to find more about it, and the theory was really far from my reality. However, teachers everywhere have been sharing their experiences with MCL, and some are even teaching others how to begin. Here you may find an introduction to MCL and other active pedagogies to take them at your own pace. Feel free to explore and learn even more: https://futured.thomas.org.br/

2. Maker Equalizer

Here at Thomas Maker, there is a fantastic tool that helps me when I am stuck. It helps me visualize if the activities are in tune with all the abilities I want to develop in my students. If they are not, I know where to modify and adjust my classes using the Maker Equalizer. You can learn more about it at the Thomas Maker blog.

3. Maker Intelligence Card Deck

This is another tool that helps me while planning. It is even more specific to each step of my classes. You will see that there are some elements of this tool in our Maker Mission Cards. The Maker Intelligence Card Deck is here to remind us to include the important elements of Maker Centered Learning. It offers 5 steps for our classes: Activation, Looking Closely, Exploring Complexities, Finding Opportunities, Sharing. It has everything we need and tons of ideas to improve our classes and make them more diverse! Learn more about it in the Thomas Maker blog.

4. Thinking Routines

Sometimes, when other people see me with my students in class, they think that it is a mess! This might happen if you don’t structure the activities well, but more important than this is to structure what your students are thinking while they are making and building... It is so nice to know that I am teaching them to organize their thoughts and to be able to show what they are thinking. This is why I love Thinking Routines and use at least one of them in every single class. There are so many of them that it is always possible to find one that fits each task. Here are some links for you to take a look at:

• Harvard’s Thinking Routines Toolbox > It’s a database filled with different Thinking Routines. I’m sure you’ll find one that suits your needs. Thinking Routines + Tools + Practices > These ready-to-use resources were designed by Educators in the Project Zero. There you may find useful tools not only for teaching, but also for documenting and assessing learning.

• Thinking Routines + Tools + Practices > These ready-to-use resources were designed by Educators in Project Zero. There you may find useful tools not only for teaching but also for documenting and assessing learning.

• The power of Thinking Routines > This is a blog post showing some pictures of teaching practice. There you will also find some reflection on the impact TRs have in the classroom.

• Thinking Routines and Maker-Centered Learning [in Portuguese] > This is another blog post discussing the importance of Thinking Routines in structuring maker-centered classes.

5. The Ladder of Feedback

Maker Education is all about collaboration. So giving and receiving feedback from your communities are vital to a project’s success. In class, we need to ask students to provide feedback to each other. However, they need proper scaffolding to support their learning in this thinking disposition. Project Zero has created an excellent visual tool to help students in the process of giving and receiving constructive feedback. You can check it out here.