Last year we began having a Unified Makerspace session in the Learning Commons. I was to select a craft project each month in which the students and their mentors would do together. The idea was always to create something and to be able to spend time in the Learning Commons integrated with mainstream students but having the support of student mentors. Initially I tended to pick projects that usually involved painting of some sort. 

     One of the first projects was stained glass involving crayon shavings between pieces of waxed paper. I always had to be cautious of heating elements and time limits. Every project became a creation beyond my intended product. Each student created something different and I learned quickly the colors or themes that interested them. I have learned to adapt projects to time allotments and the varying abilities of each student. This year’s leaf project was once again stained glass. I tested the project four times changing different elements. Each student was given a stained glass frame made with black glue gun sticks on transparency pages. Then each student chose to paint the channels with either watercolors or acrylic paint. 

     Once dried I coated each channel in clear glue, unfortunately when the glue dried it pulled away from the black glue gun frame. Finally, I used UV resin to fill in these channels and it worked well. Next time I think we will start with the uv resin as a base, paint on top of it, then a final coat of UV resin will be put on top. All projects teach me something new and I learn how to plan and adapt activities better for the students while keeping them interested in returning.