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3d printing be used in school

How Can 3D Printing Be Used in School? [STEM Project & Behavior Management Series] [ep.151]

How Can 3D Printing Be Used in Schools? [STEM Project & Behavior Management  Series] [ep.151]

3d printing be used in school

Check out the full episode on How Can 3D Printing Be Used in Schools? [STEM Project & Behavior Management Series]:  

 

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Episode Summary

Have you been wondering the best way 3D printing can be used in schools? It can be overwhelming thinking about all that goes into planning and implementing a 3D print lesson. In today’s episode, I’m breaking down how 3D printing can be implemented in your STEM classroom. I share the best systems to set up for 3D printing, how to manage behaviors, 3D printing lessons, and so much more.

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • Ways 3D printing can be used in schools
  • Systems to set up for 3D printing
  • Tips and strategies for behavior management
  • 3D printing lesson ideas

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript: 

Naomi Meredith [00:00:00]:

You got a new set of 3D printers, but you're not quite sure how to get started. Who is managing all of these 3D prints? What should students make? How many kids should work on a project? We are going to be answering all of those questions and more in today's episode. If you are listening to this episode about 3D printers and you are about to turn it off because you do not have 3D printers, don't shut off this episode. You can still do 3D print projects without a 3D printer.


Naomi Meredith [00:01:08]:

I am going to explain that, but bear with me. It this episode is still for you whether or not you still have a printer. All of the creating of 3D prints is still exactly the same whether or not you have 3D printers, and that's gonna make sense in a little bit. When I first got my 3D printers when I was a k through 5 STEM teacher, they were delivered literally a week before the COVID shutdown. I was so excited opening up these 3D printers. I had an older one in my classroom that didn't work. It wouldn't even read current 3D print files, and you would try to put the files on a flash drive. They couldn't even convert to the right file format.


Naomi Meredith [00:01:55]:

The printer was loud. The extruder, the part that the plastic comes out of wouldn't even work. And it was older, and it was good at its time, but it didn't work for me anymore. So, I got those 3D printers delivered. They're the MakerBot Sketch Classroom, and I'm not sponsored by MakerBot, but I really love these 3D printers for an elementary space because they was literally take them out of the box and you are ready to go. So I got these 3D printers delivered right before the COVID shutdown and didn't know that was going to be the thing. And so when we were told to go home and we weren't going to come back, I actually brought the 3D printers home with me. And, no, I didn't keep them.


Naomi Meredith [00:02:42]:

I brought them back, but I had purchased these 3D printers and didn't have any experience with 3D printing. And I thought, well, this might be a great time to learn. Students can still create a project. I can print it and deliver it, which is something that I did end up doing. And then I also was working with a few of the parents in my school community who were in health care, and we were 3D printing some ear savers. So they're pretty cool. It was a print file that was sent to me that where you put it on the back of your head and then your mask, loops would loop over the back, and then, it would really help for people who are wearing a mask all day. So I learned really quickly how to use these 3D printers and how to use the software during this time because, well, we had time, and I actually created a bunch of video tutorials for the platform that I like to use for students called Tinkercad.


Naomi Meredith [00:03:40]:

And those tutorials are still available up on my YouTube channel. They are still relevant and really helpful, and I'm also gonna explain how I actually use those when I teach 3D print lessons. From there, I have printed thousands of prints and have learned the tips and tricks of when it comes to teaching these lessons with students and making sure that the prints are successful. And this is from nobody training me by myself. And I'm all about being efficient and doing things that would work best. So, I'm gonna talk about in this episode the systems you wanna set up for your 3D printing, some behavior management tricks, and some ideas for some lessons. When it comes to the systems for your 3D printing, you wanna get started on your 3D print lessons pretty early on, most likely in the second semester. And the reason for that is, by now, the students are used to your classroom and your teaching style and all of that, and, also, it's gonna take you a long time to print.


Naomi Meredith [00:04:46]:

The biggest thing and the biggest headache, I would say, which it's not that bad, if you don't have if you don't have assistance, horrible. But the biggest thing is managing all the prints and staying on top of it. And I learned that very quickly because I wanted everybody to 3D print. I don't think it should be until the older grades where students are 3D printing. I think they should be designing and developing those skills as soon as kindergarten. And so what I did is while I pad the 3D printers at school, so when we actually did this in class, I realized there were a bunch of common questions that students would ask me. They would ask me, what is printing right now? Whose class are you printing? How long is this going to take? When are you gonna print my class? So I came up with some posters in a system and process that will not only help answer the students' questions when they're looking at the 3D printers, but also help me stay on track of whose projects were done and all of that. And so I actually have these all for free for you.


Naomi Meredith [00:05:53]:

You can print them out. There are pictures to show you how I use them in my classroom, and I kept my printers out in a space where students could look at the project's printing because it's really important too to nourish that curiosity and have kids get excited about what 3D printing is and how this is another type of printer that we can have to create things in a 3D world. What's really cool too, if you're intimidated about 3D printing, it's really not as hard as you think. And I had it in my head, this misconception, that 3D printing is overly complicated. And all it really is and I took a class in with a bunch of kids about 3D printing, because I wanted to hear other adults teach kids about it. But they said it's just like a hot glue gun extruding that plastic, and it's just going in layers and layers and layers, like icing a cake. And so what it's doing is when you create that file, when you create that 3D image on the computer, the program will slice it. You might have heard of that.


Naomi Meredith [00:06:59]:

It's gonna cut it up into layers. So when the printer reads that file, it's reading those layers and going in that pattern. That's all it's doing. It's not that complicated. And if you ever play around with a 3D pen, it's literally a hot glue gun, but it's a pen. And you wanna stack the layers on top of each other to make it a 3D shape. So when you create that 3D print station, put it in an area that kids can see so they can understand what is happening. Maybe they get to see their print in action, but I would write down the class names of who it is.


Naomi Meredith [00:07:35]:

I would say, who's this printing, what project they are working on. And so that would really help answer those questions. Of course, I would answer them too, but they learn soon enough that I had all that information right there for them. Also, create a space where you can put the finished 3D prints because you're just going to be staying on track of these for a long time. This was actually part of my morning routine for half of the year. Once I got settled in the day, I would line up all my prints for the day. And then throughout class, I would keep track of if it got finished, or the students would tell me it was finished because that is the hardest part about 3D printing is as a teacher staying on top of it, making sure things are printed, making sure whose print is who, and keeping it organized in your class. Once you have that little 3D print station set up, you wanna think about how do you want to save their prints.


Naomi Meredith [00:08:31]:

How are you going to collect their finished projects? The platform that I like to use with 2nd grade through 6th grade is called Tinkercad. It is a free software to use, completely free, and they have improved it over the years where there actually is a teacher component where you can set up a class a lot like Google Classroom and have all of your students print in one place. If you do have Google accounts and set it up that way, it's really cool because as students are designing with you over the years, they get to see all of the projects that they have created. You don't have to have Google accounts to get started, but it's a great asset if you do, and it's really easy to see all of their projects. So, thinking about how you want to collect those prints, I have my students name the file in a specific way. I have them name their files, so there's a way you can rename it just like a Google Doc or something like that, where I have students name the file with their first name, last initial, and then a dash or a slash and their teacher's name. Because when you are keeping track of all of these prints, they're all gonna kinda start looking the same over time. And so that's going to keep things really organized when you start downloading these print files that you know whose it is.


Naomi Meredith [00:09:56]:

My 3D printers actually would say on the screen the file name, so that was really nice as well. And then in the software that would take the files, so you download them off Tinkercad, you put it in the software that talks to your 3D printer so you don't print it directly from Tinkercad, so don't be worried. Oh, they create it. They're gonna send it to the printer. It doesn't work like that. Once I had it in the software that talks to my printers, I could even see the names of who printed. So if I forgot, oh, whose print is this, I could go back into that platform and double check. And then if I needed to reprint something, I knew whose it was.


Naomi Meredith [00:10:36]:

In terms of organizing the finished prints, I had little boxes on top of my 3D printers and had ziplock bags where I would just write the names of the student, had the bag on top of the printer, and when it was finished, I'd put it in the bag, and then I had a big bag for each classroom. So like I said, it's a lot of management for a teacher. My free 3D printing station setup is gonna help you a ton. For my younger students, I like to use it's free on the computer and a paid app on a tablet, but Doodle 3D Transform, where students actually draw their 3D print design. And the cool thing about this app is that when students are drawing on one side in 2D, simultaneously in real time, they see their design in 3D. So it's helping them understand, oh, this image I'm making on the computer is flat, but when it gets printed, it's going to have all of these elements. So it's a really good way to help students understand what is happening. I would typically use this with younger students, kindergarten and 1st grade, or even students who are older who need more support, this is a great option as well.


Naomi Meredith [00:11:49]:

The designing doesn't take as long. You don't need to create accounts. And so what I would do is when I'm introducing this platform, I would show the students how the platform works. We would make something for fun, try out all the buttons, and see how it goes. And then when we got to the designing, whether it was whole group, we did the designing for our project, or if I pulled small groups for this, then I would save their print file, the same system, first name, last initial, teacher name, and then I would airdrop it from the Ipads to my computer, or you could do something similar like email it to yourself just to get it off of that device. If you are a teacher who doesn't even have 3D printers, you don't even need to set up the 3D print station or set up those systems and processes, but you can actually still do all of the lessons. You would do everything exactly the same, and you would teach it as if you did have 3D printers. Maybe their print won't get designed.


Naomi Meredith [00:12:52]:

Maybe they have access to a 3D printer or the public library, or maybe you know you're gonna get a 3D printer later on, or maybe your district has one to borrow. I had that situation before before I got my new ones. And so you can still teach these lessons exactly the same. You don't have to have 3D printers to teach a 3D print lesson. And so if you feel like you're missing out, oh, we just can't do this, you still can. Everything's gonna stay the same. They just aren't gonna see what it looks like printed out. That's it.


Naomi Meredith [00:13:26]:

And that's all on you and the teacher anyway. I know some teachers maybe in middle school might have students manage this process, But to be honest, I was in my classroom all day, and the students would rotate every week. It was just easier if I did it and stayed on top of it. In terms of behavior management with your 3D printing, it might not get as crazy as a Makerspace lesson might be. I usually have students work by themselves or in a group of 2. I don't do bigger than that. And if they are in a group of 2, I have them collaborate on the same computer. I do know in Tinkercad, you can actually share a file and collaborate on the same file at the same time like a Google Doc, but I prefer that they actually are looking on the same screen so that they are interacting and talking about their project if they choose to work together.


Naomi Meredith [00:14:15]:

For 3D printing, I actually didn't mind students creating on their own. Yes, I know that means that there's a lot more prints to print, but I wanted all of my students to have the experience of designing. It's a little bit with Makerspace because you can pass the objects around, someone might be gathering materials, someone might be doing some research, So it just is different with the material sense. But with 3D printing, I wanted students to figure out, okay, here's how you zoom in and out. Here's how you add new pieces. And especially since I had students 3D printing from kindergarten, I wanted them to grow in their skills year after year. So that's why I didn't mind them designing on their own, but they would collaborate and talk to each other and help each other out because they were using the same platform. Also, sometimes I had students who actually collaborated in the planning process of what their project was, and they were creating the same exact thing on their own devices, but they were talking to each other.


Naomi Meredith [00:15:19]:

So they had the same invention, but they created it on their own so they could both learn the Tinkercad, and so I would start my 1st day of building that background knowledge and gathering information and planning their designs a lot like you would with a Makerspace lesson. The next day, I would have students finish up those plans, and then the last 10 minutes, we would set up their accounts in Tinkercad for 2nd through 5th grade. This would take a little bit of a while because they had to click through some options, add in the teacher code, which also is a really important skill with technology is reading the prompts. What is the computer asking me? Can we follow directions in order? And so we would get them all connected, and then the last little bit, I would show them some things about the platform and how it works like an overview. Now thinking about your position, you probably teach a lot of classes in the day, and that can get really tiring on you teaching those same basics over and over and over again. And so I recommend screen recording yourself and playing your video of you showing those things. That's what I did. I already have the videos.


Naomi Meredith [00:16:36]:

You can show mine. That's fine. We will embed the playlist for you in the show notes. But it was so funny. I would show these videos. It's me talking. It's the whole thing. I'm showing them exactly what I would show them in person, just because I knew I was gonna show this to, what, 5 classes, 4 classes for a month.


Naomi Meredith [00:16:59]:

It's the same thing over and over again, and I wouldn't miss anything. And they were absolutely quiet, and they're super engaged. So a nice little hack. It's still me teaching. I'm just making sure I don't miss anything. Then on days 3 through 5, so I had students 5 days in a row. They had the time to work on their projects, but in the beginning, we would still do a little bit of background knowledge, so building upon why we're doing the project. And then also I'd show them another tutorial video.


Naomi Meredith [00:17:28]:

I did not expect my students to know everything about the 3D print platform, and they might still not know even at the end of the week. They might have figured out the things that I'm showing in the video before I even show it, and that's fine. I couldn't teach them everything in one day. So instead of and this is a growth mindset thing too. Instead of the kids coming up to me and whining, I don't know how to do blah blah blah, or I don't know how to stack a shape. I'm like, oh, well, this is a great opportunity to click around and try something. That will be our lesson tomorrow, but maybe you can figure it out before tomorrow. And some kids might even hear the conversation across the room and say, I already know how to do that.


Naomi Meredith [00:18:11]:

Let me show you. And so I would show I would teach that mini lesson just like you would as a classroom teacher. Some kids might know some of the things before you teach it, but it's okay for them to hear it in a different way. Throughout the week, I would show them or teach them little segments that would help their design. So by Friday, they were good to go and knew some basics about the platform. Before they could be finished, I did have students physically check with me their actual design. They could not be done with their design until we physically talked about it together. Now, you might say, oh my gosh.


Naomi Meredith [00:18:46]:

This is so exhausting. Why would you even do that? Well, if you don't do that, first of all, if they need to make changes, they're not going to understand why they need to make changes if you just go and do it by yourself. And so it's a good learning experience where, hey, you need to do this in your project so it will print. And in all of my 3D print lessons in my TPT shop, I actually have a checklist of what students have to do in their design to make sure, yes, you follow the project rules, but, also, are you actually completing your project in a way it's actually going to print? Because there are things in 3D printers you have to do in order for it to print or it's not gonna work. And so I would talk with every single kid 1 on 1. I would go to their computer. We would talk about their design, I would scroll through. I actually took a wireless mouse with me with the USB port.


Naomi Meredith [00:19:40]:

I'd plug it into their computer, I would scroll around on their computer, check out their design, look at it, make sure they followed the directions, and then, if they were good to go, great. They could close out and be done, or oops, you need to go fix this. Now some of you also might be thinking, this is a thing with 3D printing. Do I ever reprint prints? And it depends. If there was a student who I know was working and trying their best in class and there might be something in their design that didn't go as planned, the next time I see them or I might even catch them in their classroom, I might let them know, hey. This part of your 3D design didn't work. Can you fix this and I will reprint this for you? And I would just keep track of who it was and what class they're in, and then I would reprint it because I was printing for months, so it was no big deal. Still, sometimes, and you know, and you've seen this, you have some kids who are off task.


Naomi Meredith [00:20:38]:

They create something in their 3D print, and you've talked to them about it, they still use all of the random shape, it's it has nothing to do what you're working on, I might not even print it. And that really is a learning experience. We've talked about it. I had gave you a chance to fix it, and you still didn't follow directions. So when it comes to the day that I am passing out those 3D prints and they don't have something, that's their own fault. And that might sound a little bit harsh, but you can only do what you can do. And a few kids don't follow directions. It is what it is.


Naomi Meredith [00:21:15]:

You've tried. Like, this is a two way street, and so they will learn. Oh, well, next time if I want something printed, I better try. So that can definitely happen. Just kinda gauge the experience. For the most part, kids would know if they don't do what they're supposed to do, I'm not gonna print it. They learn that pretty fast about me. I am very a strict nice kind of teacher.


Naomi Meredith [00:21:37]:

I will give you lots of chances, but, also, you gotta do the work, and if you don't, that's your problem. So, but for the most part, everything worked out. Here and there, you also might have students who are absent. I'm, well, hey. Sorry. Hopefully, you're here next year. We're not gonna do this project. We have to move on, and that's how it goes.


Naomi Meredith [00:21:55]:

Now when it comes to lesson ideas, also a systems thing, a couple of questions. I would even have kids ask me this, or I've seen this in classrooms, which I don't understand, is would I print random designs? Oh, I found this really cool 3D print. Can you print it for me? No. I would not. I am not a free source 3D printer. I'm not gonna go print random things you found on the Internet just because you want a little plastic toy. I would say that is not my philosophy of a 3D printer. We are going to design what we print.


Naomi Meredith [00:22:27]:

This is another way of creating something just like you would in a makerspace project. We are creating our prototype through printing it. And so, no, I am not printing out random things that I find on the Internet. So along with that, what I what could kids print whatever they wanted? No. That's why I would physically check with what they have. And, honestly, it this was always a question for kids who are new in the building. Other kids are like, no. She's not gonna do that.


Naomi Meredith [00:22:52]:

But our lessons were so purposeful that the kids are really excited about what they were creating, and all of the lessons were tied to standards and building to solve the problem. So I do have some lessons when it comes to 3D printing to help you get started. I do have an episode more about 3D printing, a few of that I'll link in the show notes. And also all of the 3D printing lessons, there is a free playlist that you can grab. But in terms of the lessons, they're all connected to standards that are appropriate for their grade levels and help solving those issues and problems. So in kindergarten, they create a key chain to help take care of the earth. 1st grade, we talk about animal traits, their babies and their adults, how they are similar and different. In 2nd grade, they create a custom birdhouse, and this helps them learn the cuss the shapes in Tinkercad and how it works.


Naomi Meredith [00:23:40]:

In 3rd grade, we talk about life cycles, and they have to create a model of the life cycle of a living thing. In 4th grade, they create a hollow design. It is empty on the inside, and they create a nightlight that actually will sit on top of a lit up circuit that they make outside of 3D printing. And in 5th grade, they have to create an invention that will help protect Earth's resources. If you're looking for a shorter challenge or something, like, oh, I don't have as much time, the birdhouse challenge is a really good one to get started. It is the quickest project because it doesn't take as much detail because it is more of a starter project. So if you're a little bit short on time, definitely check that one out. As a recap, we talked about the ways in 3D printing to set up your systems, how to manage behavior during this time, and then also some lesson ideas.


Naomi Meredith [00:24:36]:

Don't forget, everything is linked for you in the show notes, and you can also get a free podcast playlist where I have all of the 3D printing lessons organized and all of the episodes in my podcast organized in topics. So if you want to learn more about specific things, that is completely free for you. It's the same exact show you're hearing here, but organized into those categories so to help target what you need. You can find that in the show notes, or you can head on over to namie meredith.com/podcast playlist.

3D Printing Video Tutorial Playlist:

Free Podcast Playlist with other episodes about 3D Printing:


3d printing be used in school

 

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More About your host, Naomi Meredith

Naomi Meredith is an online K-5 STEM Coach in Colorado supporting elementary teachers world-wide navigate the best practices, strategies and tools out there. With over a decade of experience teaching, 5 years teaching elementary STEM, along with a M.Ed. in STEM Leadership and STEM Certificate, Naomi helps teachers world-wide to navigate best practices, strategies and tools out there. 

She offers a variety of tools to help teachers feel successful teaching STEM to their elementary students through lesson plans, online courses, coaching and speaking events.

She truly believes that any teacher out there can learn how to use STEM, innovation and hands-on learning in their classrooms effectively. She can’t wait to connect with you and be your guide!

More About The Elementary STEM Coach Podcast

Are you tired of scrolling online for your next great STEM lesson? Do you feel like there is no time to plan, research and test meaningful STEM lessons, so you throw together a hands-on activity and hope that it works? What systems and routines should you set in place to help students be creative, critically think, and collaborate? 

The Elementary STEM Coach is a podcast for K-5 STEM teachers, classroom teachers, GT specialists, and homeschool parents looking for actionable STEM solutions. Each week, Naomi Meredith will share tools, resources and lesson ideas that are actionable in your classroom and create highly engaging experiences with your students. You’ll learn systems and routines that will create control in the chaos and that will keep you organized all year long. 

Your mindless scrolling days are over! Your new STEM-best friend is now here in your ear buds!

STEM Lesson Plan Auditing

The Power of STEM Lesson Plan Auditing [ep. 106]

The Power of STEM Lesson Plan Auditing [ep.106]

STEM Lesson Plan Auditing

Check out the full episode on The Power of STEM Lesson Plan Auditing:  

 

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

Have a STEM question? Leave a voice message for the podcast!

Episode Summary

If you want to create lessons that are meaningful, engaging, and aligned with the standards, then STEM lesson plan auditing needs to be part of your classroom strategy. In today’s episode, I break down the importance of STEM lesson plan auditing and give some tips and strategies for conducting your own lesson plan audit.

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • How to set up your STEM lesson plan audit
  • Tips for conducting your STEM lesson plan audit
  • How to review your STEM lesson plan audit

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript: 

Naomi Meredith [00:00:00]:


One of the most time consuming tasks as an elementary STEM teacher is planning lessons. While planning lessons is one of my most favorite things to do as a teacher, it does require a lot of work, especially if you are teaching multiple grade levels. How do you keep track of it all, not to mention make sure that you are adding in the necessary content for the year along with grade-level standards? If you've taught STEM for even just a year, it's important to take a step back before you just dive into your lesson plans and see what you have taught so far. How I like to do this is by conducting an overall lesson audit. And what do I mean by the words lesson audit? In this episode, I'll be sharing with you how important a STEM lesson audit is and what this means for you and your future planning. If you are listening to this episode as it is coming out, I am so happy to be back. So I've had a bunch of episodes still come out in the month of June. Shout out to my podcast manager, Andrea. She kept the podcast running like she always does, but she's amazing. And we made sure that two episodes a week were still coming out for you while I was getting married and then going on my very long honeymoon. So I apologize if I'm a little bit rusty in this episode, but I'm just so happy to be back. It was the most memorable month of my entire life. And now here we are back in action when it comes to all of the STEM content and all of the goodies and things that I have planned for you and help support you in your STEM space. In fact, while I was on my honeymoon now, I didn't do a whole lot of work, but here and there, I would check-in. I got this really sweet message from one of you out there, and I wanted you to take a listen. 


Kelly [00:02:36]:


Hi, Naomi Meredith. I just wanted to say that your podcast is absolutely awesome. Thank you so much for making it so many awesome resources for students. So excited to just keep listening and implementing some of your ideas into my second-grade science classroom. Thank you so much, Kelly Babb from Murphysboro, Tennessee.


Naomi Meredith [00:02:55]:


Thank you so much, Kelly, for your kind message. It absolutely made my day. If you want to leave a message like she did, or even if you have a question for me, you can do that. It's absolutely free. Super easy to do off of your phone. If you go to Naomimeredith.com/voice, you can leave a voice message just like that one. 


Before you jump into your researching and brainstorming and STEM lesson planning, it's always great to take a step back and reflect on how the year went. And oftentimes, because we are so busy with our hands in so many baskets and planning the lessons, going to the meetings and running the after-school clubs, and cleaning out our rooms for summer, we don't necessarily take the time to actually do this and think about our overall year and how everything went. And if we don't take a step back and actually do this, we might even find ourselves in a space just like before, where you are rushing from lesson to lesson. You don't know if things are working, but you just made sure you had a lesson go out there. But it might be a little bit random. And then it's this vicious cycle, and you just never feel like you can catch up. So taking the time now when lessons are fresh in your mind, doing a STEM lesson audit can be extremely valuable. Also, when it comes to this, this is really going to make sure that the lessons that you have taught are actually meaningful. STEM class should be really fun. Okay, don't get me wrong, I absolutely love it. It is an absolute blast. However, it still needs to be meaningful. You can still have these really fun lessons for your students that are also high level and even work on collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, and also are tied to standards. It does take a bit of pre-planning on your part, but let's take that time now to do that lesson audit to really think through those lessons. 


So when you are planning, you are keeping all of these important factors in mind. I sometimes get messages from you over on Instagram at Naomi Meredith underscore if you're not already following me over there, but I get a lot of messages over there. And many of you have admin who aren't super supportive of what is going on in the STEM space. Trust me, I absolutely get it episode to come in the future. I've had non-supportive admin before when it comes to STEM, but there are a few factors that can come into this, and there are some things you cannot control, but some things you can control. And more often than not, it's the curriculum that we're teaching because we are walking into these spaces that have limited supplies and zero curriculum. So instead of just going for that wow factor like, oh yeah, let's play with robots today. Oh, let's play with Lego bricks today. There are some ways to use these awesome tools but still be meaningful with them. And I talk about this all the time, and again, I know it's a lot of work. I've done it. I totally get it. But my goal here, especially with this podcast, is to help you be successful and prepare you with these tools and tips, and resources so that you do have high-level lessons and you do have an amazing space that your admin is extremely proud of and wants to tell everybody about it. I know that you love what you do. Almost every STEM teacher I talk to absolutely loves the position that they are in. But let's be real. 


Think about your lessons. Are your lessons just fun and fluffy but really don't have anything to back them up? Or are your lessons still fun but have really highly engaging learning experiences that are cross-curricular and standards-based? So this lesson audit that I'm going to walk you through in this episode is really going to give you that deep thinking and reflection so that if there are adjustments, you need to be made, which is okay because that's part of teaching. You don't get it right the first time. I never did. So this is all part of the teaching and learning process and just how you can prepare going forward with your lesson planning. To do this audit, first, you need to set it up so you can do this. I would prefer digital. That way, you can link things. Sure, go ahead, do this on paper. But I would just say do it digitally. And then you have unlimited room. But anyway, create a table or a spreadsheet. And on that spreadsheet, you're first going to have major categories when it comes to STEM themes. So those things that I am thinking about are Makerspace, digital citizenship, 3D printing, coding, robotics, those major themes when it comes to STEM, those big major things that you are going to teach your students, you're going to have those big categories and have different sections. You could create a different spreadsheet for each of these, or you could just have them all on one page. Then you're going to have different columns for things that you are going to analyze for every single lesson that you taught your students and for every single grade. So like I said, you probably want to do this digitally because there are a lot of things you're going to analyze to make sure that you are teaching these high-level lessons. So what are those things that you need to look for for each of these lessons? Here are some indicators that you want to add to your columns. The type of lesson that you're teaching, is it a multi-day lesson? A one-day lesson? A STEM station. What kind is it? Are you seeing patterns? Are you doing the same type of lesson teaching? How long is it taking you to teach that lesson? If you are doing a project, what kind of structure if you are using when it comes to your lessons, are you doing too many structures? Are you using the engineering design process? Are you only using it one time in the year, and then you're frustrated that kids don't know it? Keep track of these things. Also, look at your lessons from year to year to year. Is there a progression of learning, or are your lessons really random? Are they not building off the year after next? They don't have to. But when it comes to having the same kids year after year, is there a way that you can have your lessons build off of each other? Yes or no? Also, keep track of the standards that you taught. This might be a little bit annoying and frustrating. Maybe if you're not planning with standards, you can also hear little Frederick in the back squeaking his ball. So I apologize for that. But this is very important. Even though most of you don't have STEM standards currently, your lessons need to be rooted in something. It's not just some fluffy random lesson. I'm going to say that probably a lot, but keep track of all of these things. So for every lesson, as I said, that you teach all of your students and all of the grades, you're going to go through all of these indicators and just keep track of the things that you have done or maybe you haven't done them yet. 


Again, this is more of an audit, not so much a plan. So if you have some holes and gaps, that's absolutely okay. Leave them blank. You don't have to fill them in quite yet. That's when you're done with this audit, you'll actually get into that lesson planning. Once you're going through and conducting that audit, this will really help you organize your whole entire year. So you have that spreadsheet set up. You've gone through every single lesson that you've taught kids. Then comes the part where you're actually reviewing the audit. So you have filled in this information. What are you going to do with it now? So here are some important things that you should definitely think about. Which STEM topics are you really strong at? Are you really strong at doing those maker space projects? Is that something that you are doing in your classroom all the time? Are there other areas that you would like to try or that you haven't even touched in your classroom? Maybe you've been a bit wary about 3D printing, but you do have a 3D printer. Or maybe you don't have a 3D printer, and you still can do 3D printing. Side note, I do have a whole playlist about 3D printing. So I have actually categorized all of my lessons based on the topics that I've talked about here on this podcast. So if you go to Naomimeredith.com/podcastplaylist, you can see all of those categorized playlists, and there's one all about 3D printing. 


So with this audit, think about those big major themes. Are there things that you are really heavy in, and are there areas that you are a little bit less than or you haven't even taught yet? Also, compare grade levels when it comes to this. All grade levels can do all of these topics. It's just going to look differently for their age. So are you doing some things more than others? So there are a lot of different questions when it comes to even just those major themes in STEM. Also, look at what types of lessons you are teaching. Are you doing all whole group the entire year? It's easy to start off with a whole group, and I actually recommend that as you get to know your students. But there are a lot of different structures that you can use in your classroom if you prepare students to get to these structures and you keep practicing them, they are extremely successful, just like STEM stations. That was something I was scared to do, but it was absolutely magical in my primary classes. So look at the types of lessons you are teaching that also go into whether you are teaching a lot of one-day lessons or multi-day lessons. Sure, maybe you'll see the school for an entire week, and you don't want to manage multi-day lessons. But at the same time, you are planning week to week to week because you have to have a brand new lesson every single week. So think about that. You can mix it up, have a variety of multi-day lessons and also one-day lessons. There is value in both, but this will actually help you look at, oh, that's why I'm feeling rushed. I have to plan a brand new lesson every week. Fun fact you don't it's okay to repeat things with kids and help them feel confident in their skills. They're probably not doing what they're doing in your class at home, and it's okay to do it again. So don't feel like it has to be a brand new surprise every time it is okay. Think about a classroom teacher. Most of us here were classroom teachers before we set up those systems and routines with kids. And they might do a lot of things over and over and over again every single day of the school year. So same with you in a STEM classroom. It's okay to repeat things a major thing too. When looking at your audit, are you teaching standards? Are you only planning with some standards? Are you only planning with your science NGSS standards? Have you even touched the math standards or the ELA, or even the ISTI standards for students? Yes, there are many standards to look at but become familiar with them, and then it will be automatic. This is really important to add in your audit whether or not your admin looks at your lesson plans. It's good to keep track of those standards that you're teaching, especially when you have all of these grade levels. You want to make sure that you hit most of those things in your classroom, and you're like, oh wait, we've already done a big unit about this, then let's do something else. So here and there, I get an idea. I'm like, oh, I've already taught a lesson like that. I can save this for code teaching or vice versa. 


And also, I mentioned this before. When you're looking at your audit, do you have a progression of learning with your lessons? This is a little tricky in filling out the puzzle pieces. Where do you want your students to be in kindergarten and then all the way up to fifth grade? Or do some of you even have up to 8th grade? How do you want them to progress through their skills over the years? And this might change a little bit too. When we talked to Jennifer Mayhan in her episode, when she was talking about grant writing, we had a lot of similarities where we saw in our programs the first couple of years, the students were all around the same level when it came to their skills. But over time, we needed to progress their learning and really build off year after year so that students were building up their skills, and as they were learning, they were getting better, which is great. That's a good thing. That's really good. So think about your lessons. Are you always doing the same thing, k through two? Or can you start adding in that progression of learning as students become comfortable with their skills and diving in and learning more as a recap? Here is how you can have your powerful STEM lesson audit to help prepare you for your next set of lessons. First, set up your audit. So do that digitally and create a spreadsheet with those different categories and columns. Next. Well, actually do the audit. This might take some time to search through, and this will help you get organized too when you do start implementing your year Alum plan. 


And finally, it can be a little bit scary, but review your audit. You do want to go through and draw some conclusions because this is really going to help you be more cohesive with the lessons that you're teaching your students and, again, make you feel like you're not rushing with all of your things but you're being prepared for the entire year. Now, this spreadsheet is actually a template I have already created. This was one of those things that was floating in my mind for such a long time, and then I had to draw it down. I have all these notebooks I carry with me, but I had to actually draw them and then create them. And this is actually part of the beginning of the STEM into summer group coaching program. So this is actually what my students are doing in this program where they did a whole year-long plan lesson audit, and I gave them feedback and along with that a supply inventory. So this was super cool for me because I got to see behind the scenes in these teachers' classrooms. I got to see exactly how their years have gone so far, the materials that they have on hand to give me that background of, oh, okay, here's how your program is and what you're doing with all these grade levels so that I have been able to prepare lessons that we're going through each week to then build up their year-long plan. So this is, again, a really great way to put together where your program is at and how to build for the future. 


So this template is all in my STEM into Summer group coaching program. You can actually still jump in. It's not too late. So, again, if you're listening to this in real-time, it is July 2023. You can still jump in. It'll be at a discounted price. So check that out at Naomi. Meredith.com STEM into summer. And I mentioned this here before, I'm really excited about this, but the elementary STEM coach is coaching. So I have group coaching, and a lot of you have reached out that you have been interested in working with me one on one. So maybe a group setting isn't your thing, but you want to spend some time with me. And so now that I'm all married up, back from my honeymoon, I have spots available as well when it comes to working with you one on one. So there are different levels of time that we can work with. So it'll be for the short term overall, but there are different amounts of time that we can work together. So whether it is this lesson audit, if that's something you want to work on, we can work on that together, give you the spreadsheet for that, or if it's even something else that you would like to learn and explore, maybe you want to create a whole robotics unit with me, then that is something we can also work on. So whatever your needs are, I'm the coach. I'm your guide to help you along the way. But if you are interested in that, you can go to Naomi Meredith.com Coaching. Again, thank you so much for having me back here on the podcast. And I am so excited to help support you with this other layer that is here in this whole elementary STEM coach world and online space, and so thrilled to have this opportunity to work with you, live and be with you every step of the way. So thank you so much again for being here, and I will chat with you soon.

STEM Lesson Plan Auditing

 

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More About your host, Naomi Meredith

Naomi Meredith is a former classroom teacher turned current K-5 STEM teacher and coach. Her role not only includes teaching over 500 students in her school, but also leading professional development and co-teaching with teachers to help them integrate STEM & Technology.

With over a decade of experience along with a M.Ed. in STEM Leadership and STEM certificate, she helps teachers navigate the best practices, strategies and tools out there.

She truly believes that any teacher out there can learn how to use STEM & Technology in their classrooms effectively. She can’t wait to connect with you and be your guide!

More About The Elementary STEM Coach Podcast

Are you tired of scrolling online for your next great STEM lesson? Do you feel like there is no time to plan, research and test meaningful STEM lessons, so you throw together a hands-on activity and hope that it works? What systems and routines should you set in place to help students be creative, critically think, and collaborate? 

The Elementary STEM Coach is a podcast for K-5 STEM teachers, classroom teachers, GT specialists, and homeschool parents looking for actionable STEM solutions. Each week, Naomi Meredith will share tools, resources and lesson ideas that are actionable in your classroom and create highly engaging experiences with your students. You’ll learn systems and routines that will create control in the chaos and that will keep you organized all year long. 

Your mindless scrolling days are over! Your new STEM-best friend is now here in your ear buds!

3d printing with primary students

Easy as 1, 2, 3D Printing with Primary Students [ep.105]

Easy as 1, 2, 3D Printing with Primary Students [ep.105]

3d printing with primary students

Check out the full episode on Easy as 1, 2, 3D Printing with Primary Students:  

 

 

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Episode Summary

Have you been wondering about how to incorporate 3D printing into your classroom but are not sure if it will work for your younger students? 3D printing with primary students is possible. Today’s episode is the audio recording from a virtual summit I spoke at. In this episode, I am sharing tips and strategies for implementing lessons on 3D printing with your primary students.

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • Why you should do 3D printing with primary students
  • Tips for planning and implementing a 3D printing lesson
  • Examples of 3D printing lessons I’ve implemented in my classroom
  • 3D printing tools I use with my primary students and tips for using these tools

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript: 

Naomi Meredith [00:00:00]:


3D printing isn't just for older kids. Little kids can 3D print too. And I am talking more than just keychains for every grade here. The actual design of the print might not be as complicated as the older students, but this is a great opportunity you don't have to miss out on in your classroom. And your students aren't missing out on either. Make sure to check out the last episode if you haven't already, episode 104, and I talk all about 3D printing there as well. Also, this isn't the first time I have talked about 3D printing on this podcast. I have a free podcast playlist that is dedicated to all the episodes about 3D printing, and you can get that for absolutely free.


Naomi Meredith [00:00:45]:


And a whole spreadsheet with all of the other podcast playlists that I have, along with all the timestamps, and you can keep track of your professional development. You can grab that naomimeredith.com/podcastplaylist. While the audio from this episode has never been heard here before on this podcast, this is a presentation I did at a past online summit. In this session, I'll be sharing with you practical ways on how you can get started with 3D printing with your primary students.


Naomi Meredith [00:01:46]:


Easy as one two 3D printing with primary students. It's not as scary as you think. And I think by the end of this session, you will feel confident and excited to try 3D printing with those little ones in your classroom. Let's face it, they are some of the most creative kids that I have in my class. So harness that creativity, and let's get them to 3D printing. So before we get started, a brief introduction. I am Naomi Meredith. I am a current K through five STEM teacher and coach, and I love helping teachers navigate STEM and technology in their own K through five classrooms.


Naomi Meredith [00:02:26]:


So wherever you are, you are in the right place, even if you've never 3D printed before. I had never 3D printed before two years ago, and I have learned so much. So definitely stick with me because you can learn a ton of ideas to help you with this 3D printing journey. I am also a dog mom to my little boy Frederick, and that is my boyfriend right there, my teacher, honey. He is also a teacher, like I said. He teaches high school Spanish, so we have a fun mix in our house. So why in the world should you 3D print with the littles? Well, like I said, they are so creative.


Naomi Meredith [00:03:08]:


They have such awesome ideas. So we want to harness that creativity and also build that curiosity about new tools. Whenever I have the 3D printers going in my classroom, they are absolutely obsessed and memorized, and 3D printers actually, when you watch them, they are really calming. They go in layers. So there's a great video by National Geographic kids that I always show in my classroom. It's a couple of minutes long, but it talks about how 3D printers work, and it's just like icing a cake. So it's melting plastic and layers upon layers. So the kids love it.


Naomi Meredith [00:03:44]:


They think it's super amazing and it is really cool. It's super cool. Also, if you get started when they're younger, and you're thinking about being in your position for a while, whether you are a classroom teacher, a STEM teacher, or a library media specialist, and you know that you are going to have access to 3d printers, starting them younger will actually help them learn skills that can be built on year after year. So when I started in my K through 5 STEM position the first year, oh my goodness. We had to build up so many skills with not just 3D printing but a whole lot of other projects. But it has gotten a lot easier in a lot of ways because kids have those basics that they can apply to new projects. So it might be hard at first, but like I always say, everything new is hard at first. So this is a great time to get started.


Naomi Meredith [00:04:35]:


And also, once you have those 3D prints done, there is so much pride in their work. It's pretty amazing seeing what the kids have created digitally, and then it's sent to a printer and then printed it out. It really brings their work to life. Yes, we do a lot of hands-on building in my classroom and digital designing in other ways. But it's not always, of course, 3D printed. So that's pretty amazing seeing your design come to life. So when you're getting started to set up a 3D print lesson, these are the things that have really guided me through the process. I do 3D printing from kindergarten through fifth grade and with my younger students.


Naomi Meredith [00:05:17]:


These are the things that have really helped me. First of all, of course, we are trying to connect those standards and integrate them in meaningful ways. I'm really big on that, even in the STEM classroom. So when I am planning my 3D print lessons, I'm always looking at the standards keywords. So not everything works for 3D printing. Let's be honest. Not everything works for engineering, design, process, or the scientific method. But when it comes to that 3D printing, here are some keywords I typically look for when I'm brainstorming lesson ideas.


Naomi Meredith [00:05:48]:


So, create, make a model, and design a solution. Those types of words really lend themselves to a 3D print project. Also, with the little kids, especially if this is your first time, create something simple. They're still going to be proud of themselves. It doesn't need to be complicated, but it can still be a meaningful lesson. So if you are purposeful in your planning, if you are backward planning, yes, backward planning in STEM, then your actual design with kids doesn't need to take a whole week. In fact, the lessons that I teach don't take the full week. But we're still working on those course concepts as a whole.


Naomi Meredith [00:06:28]:


So I'll show you some examples in the next slide. Also, taking that classroom teacher experience that I have is that creating a small group is very helpful with 3D printing. I have tried, sorry, whole group instruction when it comes to 3D design, but that was kind of a disaster. So I highly recommend, once the students have planned their designs, pull small groups to work with you to create those 3D designs. This could be over a span of a couple of days, and it will be a lot more successful, with less frustration between the students and with you. So let's look at some examples of what I've done in the primary grades. On the far left, we have a little keychain, and the standard talks about communicating ways to take care of the earth, a brief version of that Next Generation Science Standard.


Naomi Meredith [00:07:27]:


So during the week, we talked about ways that we can take care of the earth. We read lots of different books, and watched videos. We even one day created a recycling plant separate from this 3D print. And then, by the end of the week, we planned our 3D print designs. And I did pull small groups to draw their design. We will talk about different platforms in just a bit. So, hold on, I know you want to know what did you use? What did you use to make this? So with that little earth keychain, they actually did draw their design. So that was what a student created.


Naomi Meredith [00:08:00]:


You notice around that earth, there is that weird flat part that is called a raft in 3D printing. So that is a base layer that I can choose to get printed before their actual design goes. This is really helpful for this project because they are drawing with their finger on the iPad is what I used. And so all of their stuff doesn't fall apart. If I had more time, this is during this weird COVID year. I didn't see the kids. This is the last project we did this year. But if I were to see them again, I would actually have them add details using Sharpies and paint markers.


Naomi Meredith [00:08:37]:


You notice that in the second example, the students had time to do that. For the keychain, I used one of those little leather pole punchers. It's for making jewelry. So I was hammering in the raft, and then I added in a keychain. So the kids are really excited about that. So they have a charm to remember about their communication. For the second one, it's talking about for the first-grade Next Generation Science Standard about animal babies and their adults and what traits they have that are similar and different. So again, we researched throughout the week.


Naomi Meredith [00:09:12]:


We used a lot of epic books. We looked at webcams of different zoos and different pictures that I pulled of animal babies and their adults. Again, lots of videos. So we researched a lot. Again, like for kindergarten, in a different way, we researched a lot about the animal of their choice, and then they planned the animal they wanted to create. And they had to write about things that the animal babies had that were the same as their adults and things that they had that were different because it just depends on the animal. There are a lot of similarities and differences. So we built upon that vocabulary.


Naomi Meredith [00:09:49]:


I then printed their drawings again. So they drew these on the iPads. We did do this in small groups, and these printed really fast. So, something to keep in mind. This is part of the tips. Keep your 3D prints really small because you can actually get it all done. I keep all of my prints K through five to about an hour of print time per kid that is still in my school. Over 500 hours of printing.


Naomi Meredith [00:10:13]:


But I was able to get it done with no problem. I have pretty good printers. So these little guys are really small, they can fit in the palm of their hands, and they were very excited that they could play with them. So that was their final design. The third one is a second-grade example, the little bird. I actually found that design online, so a kid did not make that. However, I could have kids make a bird, but their goal was to it's talking about animal patterns and things in your area, something like that, for second grade. So we looked at different examples of birdhouses that were natural and also man-made.


Naomi Meredith [00:10:52]:


And students designed and then created a prototype of a birdhouse that they could actually build in real life. So a lot of kids were really excited once they got their little design. They were excited to take this home and it inspired them to build it out of real materials. So, big question. You're probably wondering what tools you are using for kindergarten in first grade. At the time. I am using Doodle 3d Transform. As of right now. I know that it is an iPad app.


Naomi Meredith [00:11:22]:


I was doing a little bit more research on it. I was able to find it on the computer. So, what's really cool about this Doodle 3D is that on the left-hand side, students draw their designs, and then simultaneously, on the right-hand side, they can see what their print is going to look like in 3D. So it helps them build that math vocabulary. The difference between 2D and 3D. They can add colors to their design. And we're going to talk about some tips. It doesn't actually print in color unless you are fancy and get some filament that plastic you put in the printer that has lots of colors.


Naomi Meredith [00:11:58]:


I usually try to print in lighter colors that they could color with real markers. So 3D Doodle design has been really successful. You can pull the prints off of the iPad into the 3D print file of your choice. So my 3D printers use STL. That's the one it prefers. So I'm able to download it that way. The other app that is really great for elementary students as a whole, so I use this for second through fifth grade, is Tinkercad. This is a free doodle.


Naomi Meredith [00:12:30]:


3D is a little bit paid. It's not expensive, but it's worth the money, especially if you're going to use it a lot. And a lot Tinkercad is free. It is a little difficult for second graders, especially if it's their first time. However, they are capable. And like I said, if you're starting Tinkercad at minimum at second-grade level, by the time they get to fifth grade, they're going to be creating really detailed projects. So I was really excited for my second graders this year because they were building upon those skills. So Tinkercad is free.


Naomi Meredith [00:13:00]:


They can sign up with their Google account, but you don't have to have a Google account to use it. There is now an iPad app, but also it is a web-based version as well. So whatever they work on at school, they can also work on at home. And it saves multiple projects, which is super great. And you can also, again, download their designs and then send it to your printer when you're thinking about using Doodle 3D. Here are some tips that I have found. I've done this app with hundreds of students, so here is what I have noticed. Make sure that the drawings are flat on their surface.


Naomi Meredith [00:13:33]:


You can get more detail. They make things pop out. But in the examples that I showed you, the designs were flat, and then they still had a thickness to make them 3D. Also, make sure that all lines are connected. When we made those baby animals, we did an outline of the animal, and then they filled it in with the paint bucket so that it could be solid and draw the little details later on. There's a little tool in there. When they're drawing, there's a pencil, which is the automatic default. I actually recommend using the paintbrush.


Naomi Meredith [00:14:06]:


The paintbrush produces a thicker line, and it prints a lot better. The pencil makes this line that's really skinny and breaks easily. So have them make sure they use the paintbrush. You can use the colors of the rainbow to help visualize the design. A lot of kids actually like doing that to make sure that they added details, but they don't need to color it in the app. It's just an extra bonus. Just to help with that visualization, there is a camera to take a photo of the paper design. I have tried this.


Naomi Meredith [00:14:36]:


I haven't found it super successful. The kids actually get more frustrated tracing what they took a picture of. So we actually still plan on a piece of paper for everybody, k through five. We still plan on paper, and then we end up drawing or designing in the digital platform. If you're thinking about using Tinkercad here again, you could sign up with Google, but you don't have to. It's very helpful, especially if you're going to have the same kids year after year. If they stay with that same email address, all of their work actually saves over the years, and they just have to put in a class code. So that's really helpful to gain access to their work, especially if this is your first time.


Naomi Meredith [00:15:19]:


Allow students time to explore and look at all the options. Tinkercad is more difficult than Doodle 3D. I would not use Doodle 3D beyond first grade unless you need some students with some accommodations. Tinkercad has a lot of tools, so the kids really like looking through everything and trying stuff out. And I don't give it all away the first day. They often will figure stuff out on their own, but I will give them some guidance. So once we have some exploration time, I'll teach a new skill each day that they can apply to their design. So maybe the first day, I'm talking about stacking shapes, and the next day, I'm talking about how to add a hole in their shape.


Naomi Meredith [00:15:56]:


The next one is flipping their designs, so adding that gradual release in there is super helpful. Also, having clay available for you as a teacher to model the concepts that you are teaching, or also to have students build on the side what they're trying to build on the computer, is super helpful. I have done so many demonstrations with clay and the kids. Having that physical model in front of them is extremely helpful in visualizing that abstractness on the computer. And a really big thing before you get things printed, make sure you check every single design as a teacher with the students, that everything is smushed together. So just like when you are using real clay, if you're firing it in a kiln, you don't want things just side by side. You want them smushed together so that all the pieces stick. Managing 3D prints can be a lot, but my tip for this is that I would save their designs with their first name and then their teacher's name after it.


Naomi Meredith [00:17:01]:


Just in case something gets messed up, you have to print it again. You have it all ready to go. Keep all of the prints together in a folder on a device. So have each folder for a class. You can AirDrop or email from that 3D Doodle app. So I will do that with my iMac and our MacBook Pro, and I will AirDrop to everything and then keep their planning sheets to organize prints so I'll have a class list when I am printing, and then I will put their planning sheet on top of the printer if that's the one that's getting printed. When the print is finished, I'll put the planning sheet and their final design in a bag. Keep all the bags together for one class, and then I'll keep them when I see them again or deliver them depending on what we are doing.


Naomi Meredith [00:17:45]:


So I made for you guys a resource to help you get started. Remember all of these apps and some other little things to try out. So if you go to that link, it's been on every slide. It's naomimeeritis.com 3d printpresent. You will have all of these slides that I'm using right now to help you with the notes and also a separate document that will give you some more tips, tools to try, planning sheets for the kids, and planning sheets for you as a teacher. Thank you so much for joining me today. I'm so excited for you. Even if you've done 3D printing before or if this is your first time, just dive right in.


Naomi Meredith [00:18:22]:


The biggest thing actually is learning your printers, and that's a whole other session, but hopefully, this will give you some guidance when you are working with your primary students to help them be successful. Of course, reach out if you have any questions about 3D printing or even STEM and Tech in general. My email is contact naomimeredith@gmail.com. I also have my website Naomimeredis.com. I love me some Instagram, so it's at NaomiMeredith_ and if you want to follow me on my Teachers Pay Teacher Shop, Naomi Meredith from the STEM Tech Co. You can get updated when new STEM and Tech lessons, including my 3D print lessons, will be posted, and you can implement that in your classroom. Thank you so much again, and I hope to hear from you soon. This presentation had a ton of visuals, and I bet you are dying to see all of the examples and handouts.


Naomi Meredith [00:19:15]:


You can grab the video recording of this episode, the video slides I referenced throughout, student examples, and bonuses for only $5. That's less than a fancy coffee drink. This will all be linked in the show notes, and you can check it all out here naomimeredith.com/pdreplay

3d printing with primary students

 

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

 

Connect with Naomi Meredith:

 

More About your host, Naomi Meredith

Naomi Meredith is a former classroom teacher turned current K-5 STEM teacher and coach. Her role not only includes teaching over 500 students in her school, but also leading professional development and co-teaching with teachers to help them integrate STEM & Technology.

With over a decade of experience along with a M.Ed. in STEM Leadership and STEM certificate, she helps teachers navigate the best practices, strategies and tools out there.

She truly believes that any teacher out there can learn how to use STEM & Technology in their classrooms effectively. She can’t wait to connect with you and be your guide!

More About The Elementary STEM Coach Podcast

Are you tired of scrolling online for your next great STEM lesson? Do you feel like there is no time to plan, research and test meaningful STEM lessons, so you throw together a hands-on activity and hope that it works? What systems and routines should you set in place to help students be creative, critically think, and collaborate? 

The Elementary STEM Coach is a podcast for K-5 STEM teachers, classroom teachers, GT specialists, and homeschool parents looking for actionable STEM solutions. Each week, Naomi Meredith will share tools, resources and lesson ideas that are actionable in your classroom and create highly engaging experiences with your students. You’ll learn systems and routines that will create control in the chaos and that will keep you organized all year long. 

Your mindless scrolling days are over! Your new STEM-best friend is now here in your ear buds!

3d print with the standards

3D Print with the Standards in Mind [ep.104]

3D Print with the Standards in Mind [ep.104]

3d print with the standards

Check out the full episode on 3D Print with the Standards in Mind:  

 

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

Have a STEM question? Leave a voice message for the podcast!

Episode Summary

Today’s episode is the audio from an online summit I spoke at. In this episode, I am sharing how to incorporate 3D print projects into your classroom with the standards in mind. Whether you are new to 3D printing or experienced, I share a lot of great takeaways for you to incorporate into your classroom.

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • The benefits of implementing 3D print projects into your classroom
  • How to incorporate 3D print in your classroom with the standards in mind 
  • Tips for incorporating 3D print into your classroom in a meaningful way

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript: 

Naomi Meredith [00:00:00]:


Whenever I've had new students come into my STEM classroom and see that I have 3D printers, a common question I get asked is, “Are you going to print us whatever we want?” I say no. And I say, “No, you're gonna actually make something that's going to get printed.” They don't like that answer at first, but then they realize it's okay. It's an okay answer. Too often, I've seen 3D printers being used as a hub to print little toys that students print without any real purpose in mind. I've said this before in this podcast, but when I started doing 3D printing with my students, I had never 3D printed before myself. Any new tool can be scary, but this is actually a skill in how to design and do 3D printing that I love to teach my students. And, honestly, the hardest part about doing a 3D printing unit is actually managing the prints anyway. Not so much teaching the students how to create the 3D design. It's keeping up with all those prints. Well, the audio from this episode has never been heard before on this podcast. This is a presentation I did at a past online summit. In this session, I'll be sharing with you how standards can actually inform your 3D printing projects and how you can use this innovative tool in a meaningful way. 


Naomi Meredith [00:01:54]:


Hey there, and welcome to this session on 3D print with the standards in mind. I am your presenter, Naomi Meredith, and I am so glad that you are here today. Whether you are a STEM, tech teacher, or general ed teacher, you are in the right place. Whether you have experience with 3D printing or you are brand new to this, there are lots of great takeaways that you can add to your classroom and help you with your future or current 3D print lessons. So a little bit about me before we get started, I am a former classroom teacher turned current K-5 STEM teacher and coach, and I love helping teachers like you navigate STEM in technology in your K-5 classroom. There's a picture of my little family and that furry little guy, little with the big ears, not the one with the sunglasses, is Frederick the dog, and he is a sweet little naughty boy, which we are so happy to have. 


So why in the world should we be concerned about 3D printing, and why should it take place in our classrooms? 3D printing is a great way to prototype designs. Building with cardboard and clay and all of the hands-on types of things should not go away. Don't take those away. Those are still powerful and meeting people. This is just another way where students can create with technology and not just be consumers and create their prototypes that can actually be printed out in typical plastic in a classroom setting. However, you could have very advanced 3D printers and lots of different filaments that can print out for you. Also, 3D printers are becoming not only more common in schools and libraries but they're becoming more common in various industries. There are a lot of companies that build buildings that use ginormous 3D printers to print out some of the materials that they're actually going to build with. This saves on shipping costs; they can print things on-site. If they run out, they can print more, and there are so many benefits to that. Likewise, 3D printers are being used in the health industry. They're messing around with biological tissue print out things that can be used, and also, some restaurants are trying 3D printing with food and how they're using sued as a filament to print that out. So it's pretty amazing how it's becoming more and more common, which is great because then the cost of 3D printers in the filament, the plastic that goes inside, is a lot cheaper, and we'll have more and more in our houses. Also, 3D printing is a way for students can collaborate online with digital tools. So the way our world is going digital is not going away, and students need to be able to collaborate effectively when using those digital tools. So it's a really cool way that students can see their designs and share those technology skills. 


So just like any lesson with cool tools, it's really not about the tool, but it's how you set up that lesson for success. So it's all about how we can look for the great standards that would make sense for these 3D print lessons. So when we're looking at our standards, we wanna think about those words like create, make a model, design a solution, Those will actually work best when thinking if you wanna do a 3D print lesson. Not all standards are created equal, so not every standard's gonna work well for 3D printing, which they shouldn't. Not everything's going to be 3D printed. So really analyze your standards and see where students could create something to demonstrate their learning. From there, once you have your standard in mind, typically, we'll look at the science standards, and we'll go into the process later on this in this session. You wanna have a process for creation. So maybe you're going to use the engineering design process, which is also a standard. Maybe you do some project-based learning, design thinking, wherever the flow of your lesson is going to go, this works great for 3D printing. Also, if this is your students, and maybe your first time using 3D print software, you definitely wanna balance out the time for learning the tool and also demonstrating the standard. So if this is a first time kind of thing, you're definitely going to have to have more modeling of how to use the tool. And then from there, students are able to apply it. So the first few time, I've noticed that with my students, the first time I used 3D printing, it did take us longer to design, and the designs were more simple. But the years after that, the kids were a lot quicker, but they did have more details in their design since they had some more tricks than their tool belt on how to use the software. 


So just like anything, when you're thinking about, especially technology tools, there is that progression of learning, some are gonna be really quick at it, some are gonna need more time, but definitely allow more time than you think when you're in that creation space. So when we're thinking about that first part looking for the standards and the keywords, I like to use all of these when planning any STEM or technology lesson for my classroom to ensure that I am using things that are common for the gen ed, which you could also do this in a general education classroom. So I use the common course state standard to the math EMEA, also speaking and listening, the common core mathematical practices, the next generation science standards, or you could use whatever science standards your state or district requires, and also the ISD standards for students. So if you're not familiar with those, Those are technology and innovative practices to help kids be amazing learners for our time now, but also beyond. So let's take a look at how I would think about the standards when I'm going to create a 3D print lesson for 3rd grade. So you could apply this to the grade that you teach. So I like to, so I know I'm gonna do 3D printing. Of course. That's why you're here. And so from there, out of those standards I showed on the last slide, I actually start with the next generation science standard. So every this is my core of the lesson, and everything else is going to fit in within that. So the standard for this 3rd grade 3D print lesson, I looked at those keywords and it's something like developing a model to show the birth, life, and adulthood of a living thing. So, basically, life cycles. That's what that one's saying. And so develop a model I thought would be excellent for this 3D print lesson. And, actually, I was inspired by going to museums and aquariums. I like to travel a lot, and I go to a lot of museums and aquariums and zoos. When I'm traveling, and they always have models and interactive models that you can touch and feel. And I thought, oh my gosh. These could definitely be 3D printed. What if my students created this, then this could be something, I guess, even further in a museum or a zoo. So I get kids excited about that, and they actually share examples of when they have seen this as well. So it brings to life what their 3D print actually is. 


Why would you need a model? Well, here's an example of why you would want a model of a life cycle. Alright. So from there, we have the common core standards. So I like to look at the reading informationals will be using some research to help them with their model. So we will read that informational, and then we will write down our think to help them get to the end of the year grade level standards. Part of their writing will be digital, so one of the standards goes along with that. They will eventually have to share and talk about it through presenting. So whether it is having a little museum presentation or it might have them record using a digital little tool online. There are those speaking and listening standards along with that collaboration. So definitely become familiar with not only your typical reading informational standards, but the speaking and listening and the writing and how that can integrate as well. This is also where you can add in the common core math standards as well depending on your grade level. So I know with 3rd grade, there is a lot about geometry and shapes, which the platform I like to use for 3D printing uses a lot of shapes. and identifying shapes to help create the things. Other grades and beyond, we can talk about lines and angles. So once you've become more familiar with platform, you can definitely even add in more of those specific common core math standards here. 


From there, we have our mathematical practices, which is great because these are A lot of those, like, long term skills that can apply in any setting. So the one that we chose for this lesson is number 5, whereas students are using tools strategically, which they definitely have to in this and manipulate the shapes and the objects in their design so that it makes sense and represents what they want to show. Finally, we have our NST standards for students and students are taking on their role as innovative designers, so they're thinking about how they can use the pictures of life cycles that they have researched and read about online. and how they can create it in a 3D format. And so they can there are some animals in the platform they can pull from. But overall, they have to figure out how they're going to design those living things in their program. From there, so we really dive into the research of the standards. And the standards actually are gonna take the longest amount of time when you are creating your lesson. which is great because you know your lesson is going to hopefully be purposeful and make sense with the whole 3D print design. I like to use the engineering design process when we are in that creation mode. So the question was how can we create a model to demonstrate the life cycle of a living thing. Imagine we look at lots of different life cycles of living things in ways that they're shown. Through their plan, we do some research using online tools, and then to create and experiment and improve. There should be an arrow back and forth from experiment and improve. There's a lot of that going on with this 3D print program. So no matter what program you use, there is a lot of experimenting and improving and creation And then finally, once it's printed, definitely allow yourself a lot of time to print these, then they can share like we talked about in person or using online tools. 


So here are some student created examples. I actually personally have not created any of these. The kids always up with better things than I do. On the far left is an example of 1 of the life cycles of a frog. So they use different shapes to show that, and there is an option to type. So it's about the size of my palm. These are all very small, by the way. That is a little tip. Make your print the design small so you can get through them a lot quicker. The middle one is a 4th grade example. We tied it to a standard about light and how there's a transfer of energy from the battery to the circuit tape, that shiny tape on there. So students created a night light, so they have to design their 3D print hollow and then have a hole on the bottom so that when they placed it on top of the light, it could shine through. The last one is a 5th grade example, and it goes along with a standard that talks about how or resources need to be protected and preserved, so students research different problems that are happening to Earth like not natural disasters, but things in the environment. And then they designed a invention or improved an invention to help with that problem. So that's a student's design. I believe it went with something with water when hydroelectric power. You noticed there's a little thing too. These are just the colors of filament. Filament is the plastic that comes in the 3D printer. These are just the colors that I happen to have. I don't necessarily let students choose the colors since I don't have a whole lot of opt So this is just things that I had you could with lighter colors, use Sharpie or paint pens to color the designs if you wanted to, those have been successful in the past for me. There are lots of 3D print tools out there, but when you're thinking about getting started in the class 


These are 2 very popular platforms, and they are free to use as of the time of this recording. So we have TinkerCAD and Sketchup. Both have really great similarities and differences. Doesn't usually matter what 3D printer you have, They are just creating in these platforms, and then you can download it as the type of print file, your 3D printer reads. put it in that program your 3D printer talks to and go from there. So you don't have to have a specific 3D printer. Also, if you are watching this and don't even have a 3D printer still have kids design, and they can still share. It just might not be printed or you can send it off to maybe a local company, and they'll print them for you. So don't be held back if you don't have a 3D printer. You can't do this. You definitely can't. You can just show the model on the computer. Now when you're thinking about just some little teacher tips and when you're teaching 3D printing. I have done 3D printing for every kid in the school, k through 5. So every year, I'd print at least 500 plus prints. So these are things that I know work. Is possible, depending on your school, have students create their account using Google. It's just really easy to sign up. That way both platforms pretty sure use Google. That way they can save all their work from year to gear, so that's really, really helpful. Of course, allow kids time to explore. So about the first 5 to 10 minutes, if they've never used the platform before, Let them play around and see what they discover, and you can have a discussion. What did you notice? What are you wondering? What tools did you find so then they can be more comfortable with the tool. Also, when you have the balancing, demonstrating the skill, demonstrating the standard and teaching new skills, I will have a mini lesson each day. So the students know, okay. We have done our research. We're going to create our model. They know that's what the goal is. However, I still teach them a new skill each day that they can apply to your design. 


Now I teach 24 classes in a month. We use the same program for almost all of them, so I highly recommend this is another teacher tip not on here. Make videos of yourself teaching about the tool, quick little videos that you could play as your mini lesson because that way you won't forget anything. and then students who are absent can rewatch it. So very helpful tip. Also, using clay to model what's happening in a print, is very, very helpful. I always have modeling clay or Play Doh on hand so I can have students build what they're thinking of in their brain because it is that abstract thinking when you're creating it on the computer. But, also, when you're teaching a lesson, you can model it with the clay. I also have foam 3D shapes, which I will use them to help name the shapes and manipulate and show how the tools will work in a program. Also, make sure everything in a design is smooth together because sometimes when you look at designs, there's just a thin layer of things floating, so you want everything to be smooshed together. so that it doesn't fall apart no matter what platform that you're using. Also, when you are man managing these 3D prints, I recommend having students save their design with their name and then put a dash or a slash in their teacher's name. That way, you can download all of their prints, put it in one file, and then you have them all organized and can check them off on a checklist, a roster of the student names. Also, again, AirDrop, email download, have it all in one folder on one device. Keep it all in one place. Depends on your program. 


Maybe you have to put a flash drive in your 3D printer. Sometimes you might need to reprint something. Maybe you wanna make multiple copies of something. So if you have all of the prints downloaded, at least when you are 3D printing, it's really helpful. And then keep their planning sheets. I always have students still plan through drawing on paper. I keep their planning sheets, and I like them to see how their plans developed into their final model, but also helps me stay organized so I have all their planning sheets I know I'm printing so and so's design, and then I put their planning sheet in a bag with their name on it. And then it keeps me all organized, keeps all the papers organized, and then they can use that for their final project. So we are almost at the end here, and I wanted to give you a good takeaway with this 3D print toolbox. So there's a couple of outlines to you plan using the process that I showed you with the standards along with some standards broken down from 3 through 5 where I think they would work great for 3D printing. So thank you so much for joining me today. Please reach out if you have any questions or concerns or how you can use this in your classroom. My email is on there. ContactNaomiMeredith@gmail.com. You can also find me on my website, NaomiMeredith.com, Instagram, and Twitter at NaomiMeredith_, and also at my TpT, teachers pay teachers, shop, Naomi Meredith. Thank you so much again, and I am so excited to have you try and keep adding to your 3D print tool belt. This presentation had a ton of visuals, and I bet you are dying to see all of the examples and handouts. You can grab the video recording of this episode, the video slides I referenced throughout, student examples, and bonuses for only $5. That's less than a fancy coffee drink. This will all be linked to the show notes, and you can check it all out here at naomimeredith.com/pdreplay.

 

3d print with the standards

 

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

 

Connect with Naomi Meredith:

 

More About your host, Naomi Meredith

Naomi Meredith is a former classroom teacher turned current K-5 STEM teacher and coach. Her role not only includes teaching over 500 students in her school, but also leading professional development and co-teaching with teachers to help them integrate STEM & Technology.

With over a decade of experience along with a M.Ed. in STEM Leadership and STEM certificate, she helps teachers navigate the best practices, strategies and tools out there.

She truly believes that any teacher out there can learn how to use STEM & Technology in their classrooms effectively. She can’t wait to connect with you and be your guide!

More About The Elementary STEM Coach Podcast

Are you tired of scrolling online for your next great STEM lesson? Do you feel like there is no time to plan, research and test meaningful STEM lessons, so you throw together a hands-on activity and hope that it works? What systems and routines should you set in place to help students be creative, critically think, and collaborate? 

The Elementary STEM Coach is a podcast for K-5 STEM teachers, classroom teachers, GT specialists, and homeschool parents looking for actionable STEM solutions. Each week, Naomi Meredith will share tools, resources and lesson ideas that are actionable in your classroom and create highly engaging experiences with your students. You’ll learn systems and routines that will create control in the chaos and that will keep you organized all year long. 

Your mindless scrolling days are over! Your new STEM-best friend is now here in your ear buds!

3D Printing in Classroom

3D Printing in Classroom Settings with Bruce Wyman [ep.70]

3D Printing in Classroom Settings with Bruce Wyman [ep.70]

3D Printing in Classroom

Check out the full episode on 3D Printing in Classroom Settings with Bruce Wyman:  

 

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

Have a STEM question? Leave a voice message for the podcast!

Episode Summary

How can you implement 3D printing in classroom settings in meaningful ways? In today's episode, I chat with Bruce Wyman, who is an experienced STEM professional, the owner of 3D Protect Me, and an environmental advocate with a demonstrated history of working in the education management industry. Bruce shares how to add 3D printing into your instruction and gives insight into some differences between elementary and middle school 3D printing creations.

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • Bruce’s journey to becoming a STEM teacher
  • How he incorporates 3D printing in his STEM classroom
  • Examples of 3D printing activities he has done with his students
  • An overview of resources for teachers who don’t have a 3D printer in their classroom
  • How to promote student collaboration on 3D printing projects

Meet Bruce:

Bruce Wyman is an experienced STEM professional, business owner (3D Protect Me), & environmental advocate with a demonstrated history of working in the education management industry. He is  Skilled in STEM-based activities, all things 3D (Scanning/Printing/CAD design), & educational organizations. He previously taught elementary STEM and is currently teaching in the middle school space.

Connect with Bruce:

Resources Mentioned:

 

Episode Transcript: 

Naomi Meredith  00:00

How can you implement 3D printing in meaningful ways? 3D printing isn't as complicated as you might think and there are so many possibilities with it when using this type of creation with students of all ages. In today's episode, I'm talking with Bruce Wyman. We connected online when Bruce first moved to Colorado, which is where I live, and I even got to see his classroom virtually. We met up in person and talked so much about STEM and 3D printing. We had a great breakfast, and I could totally see his passion when it comes to creation, and especially 3D printing. So I knew from there once I got the podcast going, which we are here today, that I needed him on the show. Bruce Wyman is an experienced STEM professional business owner of 3D Protect me, and an environmental advocate with a demonstrated history of working in the education management industry. He is skilled in STEM based activities, all things 3D, and educational organizations. He previously taught elementary STEM and is currently teaching in the middle school space. You're going to get some great information in this episode today on how to add 3D printing into your instruction, as well as some insight with some differences between elementary and middle school creation. Excited for you to listen to today's episode. 


Naomi Meredith  01:53

Well, thank you, Bruce, so much for being here today. After all the technical issues, how many STEM teachers does it take to get into a podcast? We made it. So if the audio is a little off, I had to unplug my microphone. But we're here, we're doing this and I know we're gonna have a lot of great stuff, chatting together today. So thanks for agreeing to do this. I don't know how we connected. I think you reached out to me, I can't remember. But I remember having a Zoom meeting with you. You were setting up your classroom and I was looking at your elementary classroom when you moved to Colorado.


Bruce Wyman  02:32

Yeah, that was that, and that classroom was enormous. It was a former Kindergarten classroom. This year, my class is about a third of the size and I have 13 3D printers in there, so we're pretty tight.


Naomi Meredith  02:45

Okay, well, that's perfect. Because we're talking about 3D printing. You have 13? That's amazing!


Bruce Wyman  02:51

Yeah, I'm pretty fortunate for sure.


Naomi Meredith  02:53

Oh, my gosh, I'm so jealous. Well, I know we're gonna get into all things 3D printing. That's why I have you on here because we have a lot of experience with this. But if you wouldn't mind, before dive into that, tell us about yourself and your teaching background. You have an interesting background because you were in elementary, and now you're in middle school, which I think a lot of teachers can connect with. So if you wouldn't mind chatting about who you are.


Bruce Wyman  02:56

I wouldn't mind at all. Thanks a lot for having me on. I really appreciate your time. Sorry about the technical snafu. You could blame it on me to your listeners. Yes, well, I was a well, first of all, Dad. I'm a dad and a husband with two kids. But then I would like say teaching is definitely the number three thing in my life for sure. Yeah, so I got into it about maybe 15 years or so ago when my kids were little. I was coaching them and I was like, you know, this is kind of like teaching so maybe I'll transition into teaching. I have and so far it's been pretty good. Did one of those career switcher type programs from the corporate world into teaching. My first year I taught Kindergarten, which nearly killed me, but it was super awesome. And then most of the time I have for about nine years I've taught sixth grade and then a couple years in middle school and it's my sixth year as a STEM teacher. So super excited.


Bruce Wyman  03:20

Oh, that's super cool. How long have you been out in Colorado? Did you only teach at one school for one year? Or was that a couple years? I can't remember how long.


Bruce Wyman  03:55

Yeah, we're about halfway through our second year. First year I was a K through five STEM teacher and this year the middle school teacher that I had found out that I had a 3D printing background so she said would you like to teach 3D printing and 3D design all day? I'm like wow, that sounds pretty cool. So that's what I'm doing. I had to create a curriculum, which was really hard but with your help with all the all the teachers PE teacher things that you provided me it got got me got me going really easily. Thank you for that.


Naomi Meredith  04:54

Ah, you're welcome. I thought it was helpful because that you have way more experience in 3D printing than I do so that means a lot because like, you know, with a lot of this STEM stuff is just a lot of trial and error and trying things out and see what's going to work and what do the students like. So that's really awesome. How has the transition to middle school been? Have you seen a huge difference? Like, is there a lot? How did the kids react to 3D printing? I know the little kids are obsessed with it. How's it been with middle school?


Bruce Wyman  05:25

Yeah, it's been really cool that, like you said, elementary kids are completely obsessed. We find kids when the 3D printers are running, they'll just stare at it for hours and hours and hours. So getting their attention sometimes away from the 3D printing, to the teaching is a challenge at times, but it's okay, it's fine. Middle school kids, same way. I mean, I'm in a low income area and these kids just didn't have any exposure or background in 3D printing. So when they first see these things, it's kind of the same thing. I can see those little elementary eyes inside those giant middle school heads. They seem to like it so far. They like to, you know, the projects we're doing and just to see this thing, create you know it, they're pretty cool. If you've ever seen one of your viewers, or I know you've seen them and worked with them. It's pretty cool. The first time you're exposed to it.


Naomi Meredith  06:14

Oh, yeah, they're super! I thought they were more complicated than what they actually are. I had, there's this really good video I show my students, you might have watched it with your kids. But it's I think it's National Geographic Kids, and they explain it that it's like a hot glue gun icing a cake. So it's just basically melting the plastic and a pattern, which, oh, that's a great explanation for it.


Bruce Wyman  06:37

Yeah, I use that at the beginning of the semester. So far, I've used the Nat Geo Kids.


Naomi Meredith  06:43

Yeah. Okay. Okay. I thought that's what it was. I don't know if I'm right about that. Um, so like, when you're teaching your classes, because you said the kids haven't seen it, like, how do your classes go? Because they might not have a whole lot of experience. Have you found that as a middle school kid, when they're going into 3D design, How is that transition for them? Because I can imagine just based on their technology skills, it's it would just change how you teach your projects.


Bruce Wyman  07:10

It's, it's really true. One of the first things we use is a 3D pen. Like when I tried to introduce them 2D versus 3D, we use an online program called Doodle 3D, which is just a free open source thing, which is kind of fun. So they can see on the split screen, 2D versus 3D. They just use their finger on an iPad and it creates 3D, and then the actual 3D pens, they can actually create three dimensional things in the classroom. So that's, that's kind of a cool way to transition or, you know, share the concept of 3D to them. Because again, a lot of them just don't have that background.


Naomi Meredith  07:44

Hmm, that's a really, that is so smart to do that. I haven't used the 3D pens in there. I have one. Actually, Tiana. I'm pretty sure it's Tiana. She was on this podcast, she got a grant for 3D pens. Would you recommend getting those for the classroom? I haven't used them.


Bruce Wyman  08:00

I have the first one I bought when when before we moved here, my wife and I moved here. We were in the Washington, D.C, area for a long time. I used, I can't remember the name of the company, but it was this plastic one. It wasn't very good. But if it's okay, I can tell you the name of the company, the ones we use now. 


Naomi Meredith  08:16

Oh, yeah. Tell me. 


Bruce Wyman  08:17

Yeah, it's Mynt 3D, M-Y-N-T 3D. They're fantastic.


Naomi Meredith  08:23

Okay, I'm going to link this and look it up. So they don't clog as often as like those cheap ones.


Bruce Wyman  08:28

Haven't had a single clog. 


Naomi Meredith  08:30

Oh, that's so good. Okay, that's good to know. Because, yeah, that can be really frustrating.


Bruce Wyman  08:36

Right! The first ones I bought, were terrible. They clog all the time.


Naomi Meredith  08:41

Okay, that's good to know. I'm gonna find this and we'll link it. So I think you have all this experience. But your story when you were talking to me about this, I think your story about with 3D printing is so interesting. I think it's so valuable and helpful for the kids. So if you wouldn't mind sharing, what is your background in 3D printing? I know you had a business that related, which is super cool.


Bruce Wyman  09:05

Yeah, I mean, hopefully the your listeners will think it's interesting. Yeah, so I find out about this company, again, in the Washington, D.C. area that they were a 3D printing reseller, and they were looking for a teacher. I had zero experience in 3D printing. So I didn't have a clue what I was doing. What worked for these guys, they said, don't worry, we want a teacher because we want to sell these printers to the schools. So they needed someone who could speak to teachers and administrators and decision makers in the schools. I had a little bit of a business background so I was a sort of a business consultant for them. They got me up to speed on the 3D printers, 3D scanning, 3D design, you know, the CAD design stuff, so I learned a lot from them. Then we went into the schools and we sold them. I started my own business called 3D Me and we did stuff in the schools as well. We also did work with the fitness industry to make ends meet. We were doing this during COVID as well. I actually teamed up with a guy from Eastern Europe and we made PPD 3D printed PPE things for for people.


Naomi Meredith  10:12

Oh, that's so that's so smart and just like make it more accessible. I know, I was 3D printing some ears savers during that time, and I actually got my 3D printers a few weeks before the shutdown. So I brought them home and I was printing some of that. But I mean, you know, the filament isn't that expensive when in consideration. So that's really cool, you're able to help out and that way was your background. That's a good story for your students to have. Okay, so you have a picture about you and this machine. So back to your fitness industry? How did that connect with 3D printing? Because there's a picture you sent me and you're standing in this machine, like, how does that all connect together?


Bruce Wyman  10:57

Yeah, I couldn't afford a machine like that. Because those are $100,000 machines. It's a 3D scanner, that's got about 130 cameras in it that all take a picture at the same time. It captures this figure for you to be able to 3D print. I've got a a 3D scanning device that was made for the fitness industry. So you stand on this thing and you spin around, and I've shown the kids I have it in my classroom, you have to come and see.


Naomi Meredith  11:23

This thing you have in your classroom?


Bruce Wyman  11:25

I do, you should come get a scan of this thing. I could create a 3D full size Naomi. I did this for the teachers, I made about 30 or 40 of them this year. That was so cool. You have to get it, I'll just send you the files for free for nothing. 


Naomi Meredith  11:40

That is so nice. I know I need to see this. Like, I mean it just visually. So does it just scan you and creates a model or does that gather other data as well?


Bruce Wyman  12:02

It does what this was, again, created for the fitness industry. So it actually gives you data on your body measurements. It's actually used for fitness, the fitness industry. So it gives you you know how big your wrist is, or your neck or legs or whatever. So people use it for weight loss. But also we've found that people who are like bodybuilders, they want to track their weight, their muscle gain grew over time. So we've actually have used this with personal trainers as well.


Naomi Meredith  12:34

Oh, that's awesome. That's okay, so you have all this cool stuff. You like the perfect stuff for a 3D classroom? So what do you teach with the kids when they're like thinking about your year, and even taught, you could talk about what you've done in elementary. I know you did some 3D printing. What are some favorite projects you've done with your students? And how do you make this relevant for them? Because I know a lot of times, teachers when they think about 3D printing, it seems overwhelming. Also, what is the point? I've also heard teachers like should I even teach 3D printing? Like why does that matter?


Bruce Wyman  13:09

Right? Yeah, well, I've found too just the searching when I started this program in middle school, it's really hard to find 3D printing curriculum. I mean, I look everywhere. One British company that had some pretty good supplemental stuff. But as far as projects go, we did a kids made a custom fridge magnet that had their name and pictures and different things on it for their, you know, to take home to their family. We did piggy banks, which was kind of cool, because then you have to design you know, get a figure, but then you have to make it hollow. So that was a little bit of a challenge for the kids in the design process. We made cellphone stands, we did board games, and a lot of these kids didn't know what a board game was. 


Naomi Meredith  13:10

Interesting!


Bruce Wyman  13:11

They created a board game. Then they had to make their own custom player pieces. Then they get to play each other's games, which was kind of fun. But my favorite one is the way the kids had to choose a favorite teacher and then they designed a manipulative based on a lesson that they've used. They had the right to have a formal letter and then give them give them the 3D printed device. I couldn't believe the reception and the impact it made in my school. My principal was just they were all just kind of blown away. You know, nothing great that I did. It's just the kids that kids does such a great job with that project. I think I share that with you. I'm not sure.


Naomi Meredith  14:29

I think you did. What were some of the things that they made? Like what were some of the examples?


Bruce Wyman  14:33

Yeah, they made for the science teacher I saw there was an animal, cell there was a plant cell, or the history teachers they did I mean all kinds of historic buildings. They did compass rose for geography, but I know a bunch of my kids did an Edgar Allan Poe like a raven and different things for literature. I mean, it was  wide open. It was amazing. They probably did hundreds of different things that they did. Customized and they put their name, they use the CAD software to put their name on the model, and then give it to the teachers. I think some of the teachers were crying when they received these from some of the kids. Yeah, it was pretty much and it was crushed. I'm always looking for more stuff like that I'm trying to create more cross curricular because I don't want it to be just technology, we print out a little gadget and then they you know, use it or you know, fidgets spinner, whatever.


Naomi Meredith  15:24

Oh, yeah. 100%. Like, and then that's so good that you said that, because I've had kids who've come into my class from other schools in my district or not. And they see if 3d printers are like, Oh, you have a 3d printer, can I just like, send you all this stuff to print? That's what my old school did. And I'll say, you know, we're gonna actually create something. That's the I'm glad you're excited about it. But I think that's important, too, that we need to have students be creating with this technology. Literally, just finding something and printing it is kind of just being a consumer, they're not really doing anything with that item. So I know that can be hard. I mean, it is hard. That's good. That means their brains working, that's a good challenge for them to create something out of, did you do the same projects in elementary school as well? Or did you do other things with your kids?


Bruce Wyman  16:18

We did, I guess we did, we didn't really do a lot of the design. I exposed them to Tinkercad, which was our favorite CAD design software, which is good for beginners. So they did work with that. They did design a few things I was able to print out, you know, one thing for each kid, but I had, you know, as you I think you're aware of I was a K-five STEM teacher and I have over 500 kids. And we know that 3D printing is not lightning fast. So it's nothing, but every kid got to design one thing and have to keep the one thing too. So at a smaller scale for sure. 


Naomi Meredith  16:51

Now, I can say I do also one for every kid. I say I'm actually starting. So we're, we are recording in February, I'm going to start in like a week. So end of February, I will be printing for the rest of the school year. So you know, it takes a long time. So if it's teachers, I know, like I said, it can be scary with 3D printing. And some teachers actually don't even have 3D printers. So are there any tips that teachers should be aware of? So like, if someone doesn't have a 3D printer? What could they do now? And then if they do have a 3D printer, what do you recommend?


Bruce Wyman  17:32

Right? If they don't have a 3D printer, actually, there's a lot of local libraries that have that. You can use them so the teacher could use that. But then again, you know, it could get expensive, and there's the you know, the time constraints. Do you want to sit there for six hours while these things are printing? The 3D pens are a really good way to, you know, to start with this type of thing and too so the kids can understand the difference between 2D and 3D, so the pens are nice. If you don't have a 3D printer, you can you can actually find them now for about $300 or $400. So they're not terribly expensive for pretty good printers. Maybe find somebody who has one. There's actually here in Denver area, there's a place called, oh gosh, but it's like there's a Makerspace. A lot of major cities have maker spaces where you can go and experiment with them. Tinkermill, I believe is the place here in Denver. But you know, start using Tinkercad, the 3D design software, it's open source and free. So that's probably the best way to do that just to get up to speed slowly or, I mean, they could they could email me. Oh, that's true. As well, Teachers Helping Teachers.


Naomi Meredith  18:44

Oh, yeah, absolutely. I think that's so smart. Like, you maybe not even starting with the kids right away. I remember, like I said, I had no experience with this. I had a classroom with an old 3D printer. I travel a lot. One year we went to Chicago for summer, and we went to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. Have you been to that museum?


Bruce Wyman  19:06

Yes. Amazing.


Naomi Meredith  19:09

Oh, it's so good. I've been twice. I love that museum. But anyway, they have like special experiences you can do. I ended up taking one about 3D printing that was for children. So it was me and a bunch of kids and adults teaching it. But I told the instructors, I'm a teacher, I don't know how to teach 3D printing. I really just want to hear you explain it to other kids. And just hearing the vocabulary that they used and it was super helpful. What I made was super ugly, and they printed it. But it was really helpful just hearing that language. So I absolutely agree just even watching other people teach or playing around with it. I've also recommended Tinkercad like you said. I've had teachers create items with Tinkercad so they can do a whole project. But maybe they just can't print it that year. And that's okay, they can still do the whole project. And really, I don't know about you, but I feel like with 3D printing, a lot of the actual printing is teacher management anyway, at least in elementary, it's not really on the students at that point, like all the design they can do. And then it's up to you as a teacher to manage the rest.


Bruce Wyman  20:28

Right. It's important also, that my first week when I teach these things now, especially in middle school, is 3D printing safety because that nozzle can get really, really hot. So I show the kids how to use different tools. So when they take their print off the model off, it has those supports, sometimes depending on what you're building, and they love taking the supports off their own models.


Naomi Meredith  20:52

Oh, yeah, that's really good. Yeah, especially with middle school, they can definitely do that stuff. So that if a teacher does have a 3D printer, so okay, they have let's say they have one now, they've done some trainings, like, what would you recommend, like getting into that? Like, then where should you start after that, with 3D printing? 


Bruce Wyman  21:14

Yeah, I mean, I would teach them the three ways that you can create a model. So one is download free like on something like Thingiverse. There's tons of free models online. It'd be great if they could show the kids in some way 3D scanning. They're 3D scanners that you can just attach to an iPad. Those work pretty well to capture a 3D image. Then the other one is on like, on Tinkercad, where you go and create it yourself. So Tinkercad is really a fantastic, again, open source, free software type of thing that integrates really well with 3D printing, the 3D pens. Yeah, as soon as they get the the printer, a lot of the companies also will provide some curriculum, and provide support, depending upon the you know, the printer that you get, and then you know, things like YouTube and you know, online, there's so many great starter lessons, or you can reach out to Naomi on teachers pay teach.


Naomi Meredith  22:12

I do have some lessons with 3D printing. Yeah, I use Tinkercad with second through fifth grade, my first project I ever did was with fourth and fifth grade. This is with literally no experience, and they created a bubble wand. I also had to explain what a bubble wand is. So that was just like with you and board games. So they created a bubble wand that could be given to our before and after care program for the summer. So that could be an activity for the kids to use. I actually didn't print all of their designs, because I knew I wouldn't have time, my printer was super old at the time. So what they had to do is convince me and sell me on as to why their bubble wand should be chosen and kind of write a persuasive piece to me and sell it. And sometimes some simple designs actually sold me based on their writing. So that was a good starter project. I don't do that one anymore. But it was simple enough where students were in Tinkercad, like using the given shapes. I feel like it's like building with digital blocks. That's what I tell them. It's just mushing digital blocks together. So a bubble wand is not super complicated. So that was a fun starter project, you could really look into the standards. For math when it comes to shapes and geometry, I feel like there's so much math when it comes to 3D printing. Have you seen that as well with the math piece?


Bruce Wyman  23:42

Yeah, when we did the cell phone stands, that they had to measure their phones, because they're all different sizes. So they actually and we talked, and we left I intentionally left ours on millimeters, because I wanted them to learn metric. And so we they had to measure how wide their phone was so they could create the right size standard and you know, doing prototyping and making mistakes. You know, I'm a big promoter of making mistakes and fixing it using the Engineering Design Process and going through that. That whole thing is really, really useful. Or things like keychains? That's a really good one to start with, too. I think Tinkercad has got some really good introductory keychain things too. I'd love the bubble one. I haven't seen that one. I love that idea.


Naomi Meredith  24:26

Yes, feel it especially um, yeah, if you're getting started with kids, and I don't think it was my original idea to be honest. Or even if it was an after school club, I love doing after school clubs and I know you're running one, you said. But after school clubs are an awesome way to try things because if 3D printing is scary, host an after school club and you guys figure out 3D printing together. Then maybe next year, you're ready to do it as a unit for fourth and fifth grade. And then the next year you do second and third grade and then after that k-1. I am crazy in doing K-five, but I did. I wasn't like that the first year. So it does take a lot of growth, for sure. And just being more confident in what you're printing, I feel like, because it's a lot.


Bruce Wyman  25:15

Agreed, yeah, when we, actually that middle school principal just asked me if I'd be willing to teach a 3D printing to classmates. So in the fall, for the next level, doing predominantly problem based type things and project based type things, those are two are two big things. And you know, we do everything collaborative.


Naomi Meredith  25:35

Yes. That's good to know. Because you would think with 3D printing, it's on the computer, you can't collaborate? How do your students collaborate on their projects? Like how do you have them work together? Because it is based on the computer? And some people have misconceptions about that? 


Bruce Wyman  25:50

I know, right? Well, I'm just super intentional, when I put together the grading rubric and put together the instructions and put together all the things where it's kind of I don't want to say forced collaborations. Because a lot again, I see a lot of students these days, at least in middle school and upper elementary have a really hard time collaborating, you know, dealing with, you know, with groups of people and knowing that if you're in a group, and I tell them the same thing with teachers, if I'm in a group of teachers, there's usually at least one teacher that might not be my favorite teacher, but I need to be able to work with that teacher. So those types of skills are really, really important. And again, sometimes it doesn't work out. Sometimes there's plenty of ways that we, you know, we have to change groups, or we figure out a different way to collaborate. But you know, it's a good good lesson for you know, later when they are doing more of that stuff in high school or, you know, eventually having jobs. Having to deal with people that may, it may be a struggle or challenge for sure.


Naomi Meredith  26:50

You're not just teaching a 3D printing class, you're teaching them those soft skills. That's what we're in the business of secretly, we have the cool tools, but really, we're teaching them things that they're going to use the rest of your life, that most of them might not even use 3D printing, but they need to know how to be nice, even though they're not their BFF forever.


Bruce Wyman  27:09

Right? Yeah, I've heard that. As far as STEM goes, I read somewhere recently, that close to 70% of the future jobs are going to come under that STEM umbrella. So is it important? Yes, it is.


Naomi Meredith  27:22

Absolutely, I completely agree. Okay, any last things that teachers should know, if they're scared of trying 3D printing or anything else that they should know if you were to even to tell your past self, about 3D printing? What would you say?


Bruce Wyman  27:40

Yeah, I would say first thing is don't be scared of 3D printing. It may look daunting, just like any new concept, or new technology or something like that. It's not super difficult. A lot of the printers now are just plug and play. You know, once you just win it, I mean, again, it's a printer just like you think like the 2D printers, the old Xerox, HP, whatever printers, you hit a button and it prints. Most of the fun creative part comes beforehand, you know, when you're doing the creative portion of it. So I think having fun with the creative part of it, because when it comes to the printer, you know, the difficult one of the more difficult things is the maintenance. So getting to know your machine is good and experimenting with materials as well is a good thing. And then again, to reiterate, don't be afraid because if I can do it, and any of you guys can do it as well.


Naomi Meredith  28:33

I agree and it's so much fun. You feel so proud of yourself that things get printed. I get excited, like oh my gosh, it printed I can't believe it or the best, I don't know if you do this. The best is when you leave a print before you leave school and you come back in the morning and there's no errors and it works.


Bruce Wyman  28:54

Right that's really true. We used to, at the last company I worked at, they actually they set up a program where they had cameras to monitor the prints and then they could remotely, we had smart switches, stop the print to save the material if something went wrong.


Naomi Meredith  29:10

That's awesome. I feel like my printers do that. I think mine do have cameras. Nice. Very cool. Well, thank you so much for chatting with me. I just remember when we chatted in person and was like I have to have you on my podcast and I don't think my podcasts was a thing yet. You and I were talking about I was gonna do one and then I just knew with all of your knowledge and expertise that I would have to have you on here and I know you're being even modest because you know a lot more than you even say you know sometimes but you're super helpful and all your information will be linked to in the show notes. But is there any specific place that you would prefer for teachers to reach out to you?


Bruce Wyman  29:50

Um, yep, my personal gmail is fine: bwyman19@gmail. I've got you know, a school email address and Facebook LinkedIn. Actually, LinkedIn is a good place. Just, you know, just search my name and you can find me there as well. And I'm more than happy to share with whoever because it's fun to get other people excited about it.


Naomi Meredith  30:08

Well, thank you so much. And I feel like everyone's gonna feel so much better about 3D printing after listening to this and just be excited for that next journey in their STEM classroom. So thank you so much again for your knowledge.


Bruce Wyman  30:23

For sure. Thank you for being an influencer and a STEM promoter.


Naomi Meredith  30:26

Ah, of course, I try. Thank you again.


Bruce Wyman  30:31

My pleasure. Take care.


3D Printing in Classroom

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More About your host, Naomi Meredith

Naomi Meredith is a former classroom teacher turned current K-5 STEM teacher and coach. Her role not only includes teaching over 500 students in her school, but also leading professional development and co-teaching with teachers to help them integrate STEM & Technology.

With over a decade of experience along with a M.Ed. in STEM Leadership and STEM certificate, she helps teachers navigate the best practices, strategies and tools out there.

She truly believes that any teacher out there can learn how to use STEM & Technology in their classrooms effectively. She can’t wait to connect with you and be your guide!

More About The Elementary STEM Coach Podcast

Are you tired of scrolling online for your next great STEM lesson? Do you feel like there is no time to plan, research and test meaningful STEM lessons, so you throw together a hands-on activity and hope that it works? What systems and routines should you set in place to help students be creative, critically think, and collaborate? 

The Elementary STEM Coach is a podcast for K-5 STEM teachers, classroom teachers, GT specialists, and homeschool parents looking for actionable STEM solutions. Each week, Naomi Meredith will share tools, resources and lesson ideas that are actionable in your classroom and create highly engaging experiences with your students. You’ll learn systems and routines that will create control in the chaos and that will keep you organized all year long. 

Your mindless scrolling days are over! Your new STEM-best friend is now here in your ear buds!