An analog maker kit is for when things go wrong. You can read how I came up with the idea for the maker kit and a more detailed explanation of how I use it, if you want, but if you just want to see what’s inside and some examples of what you can do, keep reading. You too can be always ready if you just carry an analog maker kit in your backpack or cart. You can hold a conference session when the WiFi won’t work, you can take your learning outside, you can make sure that even learners without smart phones can share the same learning experience: educational equity is always important.

So what does an analog maker kit look like? Well it can look a little like this:

So what’s inside? Well here are just a few things you can put inside:

I would also add: Expo whiteboard markers, colored card stock, blank copy paper, chalk, sidewalk chalk, wooden blocks, a stapler, a long-throw stapler etc… you can add more, it just depends on where you are going and what you think you might want to do. Here is what the case looks like when you open it.

and as you can see it fits perfectly in your backpack, or crate.

 

So what can you do with an analog maker kit? Probably hundreds of things, but here are just a few ideas.

A S.T.E.A.M wall of ideas

A one page response to literature, a reading, a concept.

A noticing wall created with an Expo marker after taking a noticing walk.

Or use that Expo marker to share new ways to create community in the classroom.

Index cards or post-its could create a #whyIwrite/teach etc.. wall. Or create another type of prompt or challenge. This one was created by one of my fellow FVHS teachers- Ms. Lawler. She put it in the hallway at school so everyone could share in the activity. She’s awesome.

Below are some pictures from an activity that we did at the New Teacher Tomorrow Conference. These are high school students who are considering a career in teaching. I ran the entire session from a single analog maker box.

We were talking about what scares the things we are scared of

You could bring in a reading and then have your audience/students create a blackout poem. I think this would inspire more than a word cloud.

What if you analog maker box contained Post-its that were in a certain shape? Or you had a box full of fish and created a school of fish on a wall?

What if instead of people taking notes in class or at your session you had them create a fanzine? You might want to show up with some images already cut out of magazines for people to mix and match.

Heck, you could even have some images already photocopies on some blank paper so people could riff and create something new.

Some Cintascotching?

What if you brought some mini tubs of PlayDoh in your maker box so people could create a response to something?

Did I mention some unusual candy? Something that makes people feel young again?