Maker Mindset Conference this Saturday in Virginia
4th annual event for educators is organized by the University of Mary Washington’s College of Education
The fourth annual Maker Mindset Conference at the University of Mary Washington’s College of Education in Stafford, Virginia will take place Saturday, Feb. 7. The theme is “Beyond the Build: Empowering Creative Problem Solvers.” The conference gives current and future educators “the tools they need to spark innovation, agency and purpose in K-12 classrooms and prepare students to thrive in today’s unpredictable world.”
“The idea was to offer an affordable professional learning opportunity for educators in our area,” said College of Education Director of Clinical Experiences and Partnerships Kristina Peck, who launched the event in 2023 with Assistant Professor of Education Danielle Ott. “So many conferences are so expensive that many teachers are unable to take advantage of them.” The cost of the conference is $40.
The keynote speaker is Dr. John Spencer, a former middle school teacher and current university professor who is passionate about seeing teachers unleash the creative potential in all of their students so that can thrive in an unpredictable world.
Spencer’s talk is titled “The Depth Advantage.” He will be “exploring how to cultivate the habits of deeper thinking, sustained focus, and meaningful learning across content areas.” You’ll learn practical strategies to foster mastery, curiosity, problem-solving, resilience, and communication in your classroom, even in a fast-paced digital world.
UMW Professor of Communication and Center for AI and the Liberal Arts Director Anand Rao will lead a workshop titled Vibe-Coding with AI, exploring an artificial intelligence-powered no-code approach to designing creative solutions to social and market challenges.
The conference website offers an excellent definition of the maker mindset:
Anyone can be a maker. A maker mindset requires creative and critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and perseverance. These are all skills that not only help students to succeed in the classroom, but also in the world around them.
Registration deadline is Wednesday, February 4.