woodshopcowboy

This Week In the Classroom: The Garden & Experiments in Wood

It’s been quite a week here on the range. My sawing post made Make Magazine’s Blog. Traffic soared. My father finally subscribed to my blog, which is intensely gratifying. He taught me most of what I’m passing along. At work, we had some great stuff happen. The kids worked very hard and made great stridesContinue reading “This Week In the Classroom: The Garden & Experiments in Wood”

A Quick Thank You

Over this past week, I’ve been linked/promoted by WordPress’s “Freshly Pressed” page and http://www.makezine.com. I’ll be honest, I am completely stoked that Make’s Blog editors took me up on my suggestion. They do check that “Site Suggestion” box! Anyways, thank you to the new visitors and I hope you stick around. Thanks to the newContinue reading “A Quick Thank You”

How To: Teach Sawing to a Young Student

I have a perfect record in the woodshop. No fatalities. I have had two injuries though this year (I average about one a quarter or semester). Both happened due to good sawing habits gone bad. This picture shows my basic hand-saw set up when I cut a board to size. I’m right-handed and for south-pawed students,Continue reading “How To: Teach Sawing to a Young Student”

This Week in the Classroom: SNOW DAY!

It’s going to be a snow day in Houston! we canceled school two days early…. The last big piece of work I’ll do this week: I can’t really explain this one. Context is nothing when you have a big cow sculpture hanging out the back of your truck. It’s like trying to explain missing homeworkContinue reading “This Week in the Classroom: SNOW DAY!”

This Week In the Classroom: Computers Ain’t Everything

Took over our conference room to work through some design challenges today. My students used Google SketchUp to start creating jewelry boxes, art car vehicles and bookshelves. During the Art Car class, I led the group building a 3D model on the big (like 50-60″ screen) TV. Computers+big screen TV+3d modeling software+we are building aContinue reading “This Week In the Classroom: Computers Ain’t Everything”

This Week In the Shop: Internet as a “Presentation”

An Idea: have students present projects to the internet in a controlled, safe way with my school’s brand on it. I’m unsure the success or necessity of this particular brand of teacher-activism because it’s mainly driven by my need to go HOW COOL IS THAT! If I could spend half my day yelling “how coolContinue reading “This Week In the Shop: Internet as a “Presentation””

This Week in the Classroom: Quality from a Student

Finished only one true project this week in the shop. Instead of trying to complete projects with the students, I slowed down and tried to focus on the journey, and focus on quality. What does it look like in my shop, and do I facilitate it, or do my students discover it for themselves? WhatContinue reading “This Week in the Classroom: Quality from a Student”

This Week In the Classroom: New Tools and Old Tools In the Shop (It’s Not What You Think)

Just got the best new, free tool in the woodshop today. It looks like this: It’s a printed out (thank god the paper-waster nazi wasn’t around) version of the ENTIRE trilogy of Mission Furniture and How to Make It published by Project Gutenberg via Popular Mechanics from 1910. The students flip through it and findContinue reading “This Week In the Classroom: New Tools and Old Tools In the Shop (It’s Not What You Think)”

This Week In the Classroom: Progress in 2011

What a student-driven, project-based learning can result in: The joints look remarkably tight in this photo, and the stain quite even, but don’t be fooled. This is about as rough as work gets. (Not including the Clock, which may be finished and rejected this week…) It was the first attempt at an entire project likeContinue reading “This Week In the Classroom: Progress in 2011”

This Week In the Classroom: Curriculum Plan for Spring of 2011

Good week for struggles and not-quite-there-yets in the woodshop this week. Three projects left the floor complete. The first, chalkboard that has been wind-blown, vandalized and otherwise destroyed three times. We’ll see if it sticks this time. The other two projects I failed to take a picture of. On Mon or Tues, I’ll put upContinue reading “This Week In the Classroom: Curriculum Plan for Spring of 2011”