The Maker Movement

I'm very excited about this article, and what it could mean for science and math classes everywhere.  The "Maker Movement" focuses on the doing of the STEM fields that usually get lost in dry, boring text, long lectures, and seemingly endless testing.  Part of what draws me to become a science teacher is the vast array of physical experiments that can lead to understanding the complexity of the world around us - taking apart chemical reactions in common household items, discovering the functions of diverse plant and animal life around the globe, recognizing weather systems and how hard those weatherman really have it - these are all things that can either alienate students or get them excited and thirsting for knowledge.  As necessary as tests and texts may be to our current educational system, it shouldn't end there, and the makers certainly bring the data off the page and into a student's hands.  To me it seems obvious that this is the way to get students involved and motivated to learn, not only in the classroom, but outside of it as well.  Maybe the fear of embracing a new way of learning and the technology to do so is what keeps some more "traditional" educators at bay, but hopefully the new wave of teachers that are comfortable and very familiar technology can usher in an era of hands-on, project based learning.  I know that's my intent.